Eight Lotus 16s were built in total. The Lotus 16 had been intended for use from the beginning of the 1958 Formula One season. However, delays owing to the need to reposition the engine within the chassis meant that the first Lotus Formula One car was in fact a converted Lotus 12, which made Lotus's Grand Prix debut at the 1958 Monaco Grand Prix. The Lotus 16 finally saw light of day three Grands Prix later, at the 1958 French Grand Prix on 6 July. A single car was entered for this event, to be driven by works driver and sometime mechanic Graham Hill. The 16 did not perform well, posting the second slowest time in qualifying, only beating team-mate Cliff Allison's 12. Although the 16 was very aerodynamically efficient, thanks to Costin's bodywork, the high speed Reims-Gueux circuit did not favour the 16's rather under-powered 2-litre engine; Hill's car overheated on lap 19. Lotus 16s were entered for all of the remaining rounds of the 1958 World Championship season, sometimes in Formula Two configuration, but they often failed to finish the race. Commonly this was due to engine overheating or associated failures, but failures of other mechanical systems were far from uncommon. Although Hill and Allison did manage to nurse the 16 to the finish on a few occasions, most often they had completed too few laps to justify an official finishing classification. For the 1959 Formula One season the works cars were finally upgraded to the full 2.5-litre specification, and mechanical upgrades had been made to improve reliability. In addition to the works team, Lotus 16s had also been sold to a number of privateer entrants. As the season progressed the works cars were gradually developed still further, and their qualifying times began to fall. Reliability was still a major issue, however, and too often the cars failed to complete a full race distance. Although regular works driver Hill failed to finish even a single race during the season, his team-mate Innes Ireland's car held together long enough to take five World Championship points, with fourth place in the Dutch Grand Prix and fifth in the season finale in the United States. In the opening round of the 1960 Formula One season the works team fielded two 16s for Alan Stacey and local driver Alberto Rodriguez Larreta, while team-leader Ireland was equipped with the new Lotus 18. Following yet another retirement and a non-points finish Team Lotus abandoned the 16 entirely, in favour of the new model. However, with sponsorship from Robert Bodle Ltd., David Piper entered a lone 16 for the 1960 French and British Grands Prix, but again the car failed to trouble the Championship scorers.