Team Lotus

[futuretiger9]

What are people's views on Team Lotus?

They were a curious team. Usually at the forefront of F1, but with a kind of maverick status, because of their technical innovations and reputation for mechanical fragility.

It could be argued that the team was held together by the charisma and forceful personality of Colin Chapman. The slow decline following Chapman's death was to some extent masked by the efforts of Ayrton Senna in the cars from 1985-87. After Senna left, the team became a sad shadow of its former self, and should probably have been disbanded before it actually was.

I personally still miss the presence of Lotus in F1. Any views?

[Rippers]

Too young to really say I miss them, but it would be a nice to have a team that has such a rich heritage like Lotus in F1.

Top Drivers such as Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Jochen Rindt, Emerson Fittipaldi, Ronnie Peterson, Mario Andretti, Nigel Mansell, Nelson Piquet, Mika Hakkinen (young I know but still drove for them ;) ) and of course Ayrton Senna all drove fo this team and apart from Ferrari and maybe Williams and McLaren, no other team can claim to have had top drivers such as these. Which is why its even more sad that a team as rich in history as Lotus is not in F1 no more.

Agree with you though tiger, It does seem the death of Colin Chapman was in fact the death of Lotus, Ayrton Senna only kept it on a life support machine. does seem a shame no one bothered to try and bail them out and save them though :(

[GJD]

To anyone interested in Lotus, I thoroughly recommend Mike Lawrence's book Colin Chapman - Wayward Genius.

[ArrowsFA1]

In many ways Lotus epitomise Grand Prix racing for me. Jim Clark. Colin Chapman. Lotus 49. Gold Leaf & JPS. Lotus 79. Andretti. Innovation. Hethel.

The 49 & the 79 are two perfect examples of what racing cars should look like. Chapman may have sailed close to the wind at times but racing as a whole would be poorer without his influence.

For me Lotus as a F1 team died with Chapman. The efforts to return the name to F1 (Pacific-Lotus anyone?) should never have happened, nor should the name ever return. It belongs in the history books, and with Classic Team Lotus (http://www.classicteamlotus.co.uk), where the memories, races and people can be remembered and the cars seen.

[sonic_roadhog]

A team like lotus couldn't exist in modern F1. They were always at their best in the Chapman era when inovation was encouraged, today if Chapman was still alive any new technology he tried to introduce would be banned long before it saw the light of day. The team belongs as a memory to a by-gone era.

Sonic :)

[futuretiger9]

Yes, Colin Chapman was already having problems in the early 1980s, what with the banning of his "twin-chassis" Lotus and the like. For someone who was always pushing the envelope, and innovating, the restrictive nature of modern F1 technical regulations wouldn't hold much interest for a wayward genius like Colin. Also, I suspect he would have resented the massive influence of the manufacturers.

[ClarkFan]

I would even argue that Chapman's end in F1 was hastened by his own innovation - ground effects. The forces developed put structural stresses on cars that Chapman's design biases couldn't compensate for.

Going back to the earliest days of Lotus in the 1950's, Chapman always emphasized lightness as the cardinal virtue of a race car. In that era when most cars didn't make it down to minimum weight, his cars were almost instantly competitive, starting with the Lotus 11 sports car.

Throughout the first decade of Team Lotus, through the design of the 49, light weight was the signature of Chapman/Lotus designs. But by 1968, other manufacturers (Matra, McLaren) were also producing cars which were at minimum weight for Formula 1. At that point, Chapman was able to find a new inspiration in aerodynamics, possibly through the design of the Type 56 turbine car for Indianapolis.

The final product of this era was the Type 79. It was able to generate enough downforce to torque the chassis, which still reflected some of Chapman's earlier focus on light weight. In interviews, Mario Andretti has commented that the team had to dial back the amount of downforce in the 79 in 1978 because the chassis could not take the stress. And in 1979, when a reinforcing hoop around the cockpit was added to stiffen the chassis, the redistributed forces started popping some of the rivets in the monocoque! :eek:

Banning the 88 was probably the last straw for Chapman. F1 chassis progess for the last 25 years has really been a matter of moving forward in baby steps through tireless effort. That never was Chapman's style - his cars at their best were about inspiration and stunning leaps that left the competition years behind. But from 1960 to 1980, Colin Chapman's ideas defined the evolution of all F1 cars. I wish he had made his car stonger and prepared them better (small, stupid failures cost Jim Clark 3 World Championships and the 1964 Indianapolis 500), but I sorely miss the excitement his designs brought.

ClarkFan

P.S. And the real Team Lotus died with Chapman.

[tinchote]

I still miss those days when you could tell one F1 from another without looking at the livery :mark:

[ShiftingGears]

I guess if Chapman hadn't died Lotus still would've been in the dumps for a long while, due to Chapmans role in the DeLorean fraud. But still, great team with many of my favourite drivers. F1 is worse off without his innovative mind, and REGULATIONS that allow for such innovations.

[gm99]

My earliest memories of motor racing are of Elio de Angelis in the JPS Lotus in the early 1980s and in my view, these cars are still the most beautiful ever to take the F1 grid. Lotus to me symbolize all that F1 should be about - insane riks and technical innovation as opposed to going for a safe 2nd place to help win the constructor's championship.

[Bolton Midnight]

To anyone interested in Lotus, I thoroughly recommend Mike Lawrence's book Colin Chapman - Wayward Genius.

Also

Colin Chapman: The Man and His Cars - The Authorized Biography (Hardcover) by Gerard Crombac

Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: J H Haynes & Co Ltd; New Ed edition (21 Feb 2002)
Language English
ISBN-10: 1859608442
ISBN-13: 978-1859608449

[futuretiger9]

Also

Colin Chapman: The Man and His Cars - The Authorized Biography (Hardcover) by Gerard Crombac

Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: J H Haynes & Co Ltd; New Ed edition (21 Feb 2002)
Language English
ISBN-10: 1859608442
ISBN-13: 978-1859608449


The Crombac book is excellent, although there have been suggestions that the author ducked some of the more contentious issues, given his close links to the Lotus team.

[Bolton Midnight]

I seem to recall a tale about Chapman spray painting some paper with silver paint and claiming it was then a fire proof bulkhead !!

[speedy king]

There is still a huge amount of heritage of the team being run at competetive level, overseen by team principle, his son, Clive Chapman. With the cars that took Aryton Senna to victory still being raced across Europe in various classic series, such as this weekend at Hockenheim we have three cars out, one John Player Special and 2 older 'Junior' cars. Earlier in the month we secured a 2nd place in Italy. The team has retained some of the key figures to the F1 success, our chief engineer and team manager is still Chris Dinnage, engineer for Senna back in the day and 40 years on we still have Bob Dance. Still to this day we are building brand new cars to the original prints and designs for customers.

Lotus may no longer be in F1 but many of the cars are still in racing condition and prepared to the same standards for race day :)

[AAReagles]

Throughout the first decade of Team Lotus, through the design of the 49, light weight was the signature of Chapman/Lotus designs.

His influence on Ford to help fund Cosworth engineering for the DFV engine had a dynamic impact on the sport as well. Not so much in the victories the engine itself acquired over its' duration, but also the freedom the DFV provided to some other constructors to allow their efforts to focus on other issues than the engine while attempting to develope a competitive package. Ferrari, Matra & B.R.M. being the most notable exceptions.

I would like to add that I'm very glad that Chapman chose to compete at Indy as well. Not only for him and Clark to demonstrate their capabilities, but to also motivate the stubborn likes of the stateside good ol' boy regime to finally see the light and start adapting to rear-engine racers. Which really was another great influence on the sport (here in the US anyhow) if you think about it.

[futuretiger9]

Colin Chapman served as a catalyst to break motorsport in Europe and the US from its complacency and inertia, particularly in areas of car design. He was not everyone's cup of tea, but his legacies to the sport are undeniable.

[V12]

I'm afraid to say my only first hand experience of Team Lotus is of Johnny Herbert and Mika Hakkinen's minor giantkilling efforts in those Castrol cars of the early 90's, but having read and found out all about Colin Chapman and his famous marque, F1 is undoubtedly poorer without them.

One thing though - given F1's current political and rules climate, there is no doubt that were Chapman alive today, he would definitely NOT be involved in F1.

[ArrowsFA1]

One thing though - given F1's current political and rules climate, there is no doubt that were Chapman alive today, he would definitely NOT be involved in F1.
Possibly. His comments at the time his Lotus 88 (http://www.f1technical.net/f1db/cars/473) was banned showed his frustration at the restrictive rules applied by FISA, and that was back in 1981!!

[futuretiger9]

I remember that when the whole furore over the Lotus 88 erupted, Chapman stormed off to the US to watch the Space Shuttle launch, in order to get some inspiration, and to put F1 politics in perspective.

[Don Capps]

Colin Chapman served as a catalyst to break motorsport in Europe and the US from its complacency and inertia, particularly in areas of car design. He was not everyone's cup of tea, but his legacies to the sport are undeniable.

It might be small-minded on my part to point out that Chaparral 2 series was miles ahead regarding innovation and technology compared to what was being done in Europe at the time. It is conveniently overlooked by those with an Euro-centric view on things that there was more of a two-way street regarding things than realized.

As for being a catalyst, Chapman was actually following others in appreciating the US as an emerging market for lining the pockets of European-based racers. Beginning about 1958 with the introduction of professional sports car racing, the US began to emerge as a place for Europeans to come across the pond and take hold bags of US dollars by participating in the various US Fall Season events. However, the success of Lotus at Indianapolis and Milwaukee in 1963 certainly did change the way things were done in USAC. While not THE catalyst for the merging of US & European (primarily British to be exact) motor sport during this period, he was certainly a part of that effort.