Legendary model maker Henri Baigent built this exquisite Lotus 49-Cosworth miniature as a tribute to two-time Formula 1 World Champion Jim Clark. See the masterpiece up close in this original color newsreel piece.

The late Henri Baigent (1910-1972) was a painter, an inventor, and a pioneer in diesel-rail and electric slot-car racing, but he is remembered today mainly for his exquisitely detailed model cars. From a garden garage behind his home in Ensbury Park, Bournemouth on the southern coast of England, he hand-crafted miniature automotive masterpieces of all kinds, from Rolls-Royce Silver Ghosts to Ferrrari SWB Berlinettas, usually working in 1:12 scale and using tools of his own invention, including drills fashioned from sewing needles. A biography and some samples of his work can be found at the tribute website maintained by his family, Henri Baigent.com.  

The model featured here, a 1967 Lotus 49-Cosworth built as a tribute to two-time Formula 1 World Champion and 1965 Indy winner Jim Clark, took 2,800 hours of the master’s work and is perfect and complete to the final detail. Fortunately, we have a wonderful close-up view thanks to British Pathé News, which did a feature on Mr. Baigent’s masterpiece shortly after Clark’s tragic death. Video follows.