Hazel was the best thing that ever happened to Chapman. She was beautiful and as sharp as a pin. I wonder if without her he would have have kept up the momentum of his ambition. There should be a documentary about this remarkable lady.
Colin Chapman was a genius. His F1 cars were revolutionary and he made competitors cars redundant on no less than five occasions with the Type 25, 33, 49, 72 and 78. No one has done that since, just as no fluke wins seven world championships by accident.
As a marginally talented 17 year old in 1970, I did track testing for a Datsun-Lotus dealership that was involved in racing. Since he paid me very little, the boss gave me a "present" of paid admission to a competition driving school at Brands Hatch. While there, I had the great pleasure of meeting two of my "heroes", Colin Chapman and Graham Hill. Both reminded me of WWII RAF pilots! I remember Hill spinning one of the track Lotuses, sliding into a tire wall. We all rushed over to see if he was OK. As he was pulling off his helmet, he very calmly and quietly said, "That was a tad nasty!" in a tone of voice and concern like he'd merely taken a sip of sour milk! Balls of steel.
Adrian Newey, Gordon Murray, Rory Byrne, Derek Gardener, Tony Southgate etc etc. and that's just F1 - you'd be surprised at how many of the world's top car companies have British designers in the top roles. Chapman was a genius - but not the only one :)
Colin Chapman put the British on top of the podium (and stayed there) when the government backed glamour teams (Ferrari, Renault, Mercedes etc) ruled for so long. We are the best in the world when it comes to formula racing...Makes you proud to be British.
Dani Kahn British cars are unfairly criticized, mostly do their build quality temporarily dropping during the British Leyland years. As a 10-year-old I was forever taken by the British approach to automobiles, including lots of wood and leather, and very fast - thanks to my Dad's Jaguar Mk II. We lived in Ottawa, Canada's capital, and I came across an Austin Princess, the British Ambassador's car. Its chauffeur was standing beside it, awaiting his boss. I peppered him with questions and he patiently answered them. For a long time in my childhood I wanted to be a chauffeur - only later did I find out what a bleak job it is. In my youth I rode in my grandfather's Humber Super Snipe, a fabulous anachronism of a car. For a while my mother drove a baby Austin. When I was 18 my Dad bought a Rover 2000TC, which quickly became “my” car. It was light years ahead of BMW's 2002 series but by this time many of the British car dealers were switching to German brands. Nevertheless I had an E-Type at age 29, and over my middle years have owned three XJs. Now I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Jag capital of the USA, and have by 2001 XJR serviced by a privately owned (non-dealership) Jag-only shop. This was the last of the steel-bodied, low-slung X308 series sedans built on the Coventry line - and, I think, the high point of the XJ series. I intend to keep it until I am too senile to drive.
Mercedes weren’t backed by the German government after WWII. The allies put in place laws to separate industries from government interference, in case they were used to build armaments.
I wonder how Chapman would do at Dallara? The new Indy cars are designed for safety first and that is because of regulations not brilliance. The Lotus cars ended more careers than they made. The cars in the 50's were all death traps but if you compare a Lotus to a Jaguar or Maserati etc. you marvel at the difference. Look at last weeks Indy 500 crashes and imagine what would have happened in a 60's Lotus!
my father, helped build ,the mk7 , the first one in the country , also the mk 11 , at Tottenham lane in 1954-1957 he used to build the bodies, I knew mike hawthorn , and graham hill .
Robin Hepworth All three of the men you mention died tragically, long before their time. Each of the three had the killer instinct that all successful racers share. Hawthorn and Hill hid theirs more effectively than Chapman. But then Chapman changed the face of racing, battling the establishment and doing whatever was necessary to win.
Just the other day I was watching the McLaren documentary. As fascinating as it was, I kept thinking "why hasn't Colin Chapman gotten a big budget documentary/movie like this one." Perhaps if Lotus had as big a market share today as McLaren does, he would. In the pantheon of racing/auto development, I think he's just as deserving.
Robin I'm researching a chap called Bill Shaw as he raced my AC Ace in 1961. Bill had a body shop and I'm told he did quite a bit of work for Colin and had an unregistered (no tax paid!) Lotus 11 that Chapman sold him which he raced in 60. Is your father still with us, perhaps you could ask him if he recognises the name 'Bill Shaw' or William J Shaw? Many thanks. I'm contactable at jeastwoo@ford.com.
I believe driver safety was 'not' one of Chapman's priorities..the guy wanted to win at just about any cost & the Lotus GP F1 cars were built for speed so tended to be very light weight - this contributed to many deaths in the 60's & 70's..I met CC once during the 1975 British GP at Silverstone, where he kindly asked me to leave the Lotus pit during the race..Ahhh happy times indeed !! RIP Ronnie !!
Chapman was a man of his time, and a legend today, some hate him, some like him, he cared more about winning than anything else, to the success and death of some of his drivers.
It's not like any of the other teams at the time were hugely different. Anyone would think Lotus were the only cars that crashed. Look at Von Tripps crash at Monza in the Ferrari. His car went into the crowd killing spectators, but those incidents are never mentioned. Also, it's no big secret that drivers like Clark, Hill and Moss didn't care about safety. They thought it was part of the spectacle and sorted the men from the boys. This is why Stewart had such a battle with trying to improve safety. The fact is that many of the top drivers at the time just didn't want it!
I used to do work on Lotuses for a sports car dealer who handled Lotus, Porsche, Jensen and a couple more makes. Invariably these were trade-ins against a new(er) or better car and I drove them frequently. They were pretty crap, poorly glued together and not very reliable. I recall one trip I took in a Europa over 100 miles each way to the Lake District along mountainous twisty roads. The car went well and was good on corners - but hell was it uncomfortable! I also considered buying a used Elite which was going cheap. Fortunately I came to my senses in time! The mention in the video of allegations that his cars caused, or contributed through weakness in construction to the death of Rindt is valid I believe, as is the cause of the death of one of the greatest drivers of all time, Jim Clark.
Years ago while browsing the net searching for any witnessing about Rindt's fatal accident, I came across an interesting veritable document: a handwritten letter by J.Rindt addressing Chapman about the hazardous engineering of Lotus singleseaters.He was asking for Lotus to try and be a tad more concerned about reliability and safety. After Rindt fatality reportedly Chapman tryed to have the great J.Stewart scheduled but as far as I recall Jackie felt pretty much doubtful while it's widely confirmed that his beloved wife Helen authoritatively put a firm veto to the deal.
If you sit ina lotus Europa your legs are trapped ,in a collision you will sustain damage to yor knees,skin bone and your hip gp figure without metal guards
if you dumbasses knew anything, you would know that Vanwall was the first British team to win the championship..... and Colin Chapman was employed there and designed the car. idiots
Vanwall won in 1957 before Cooper won and their winning car was designed by Colin Chapman and Frank Costin. These type of documentaries are well researched and done with the help of people involved in that era of racing but if you know better.
@Thomas Jefferson Have you heard of Vanwall, they won the constructors title in 1957 which is before Cooper's win and who designed that 1957 Vanwall why it was Frank Costin and Colin Chapman.
Disagree. Chapman and Lotus dominated F1 from 63 to 78. Cooper certainly was also a major figure, and he and Chapman worked together on and off. But more than that, Chapman was a - if not the - leading innovator that brought F1 into the beginning of the modern era. That includes bringing in major sponsors and decking out the livery in advertising and turning it into a major international business rather than a weekend playground for the well heeled. Bernie Ecclestone is the other person who commercialized F1 and made it what it is today.
So who won the World Drivers Championship in 1962? Who won the World Manufacturing Championship. Why a chap named Graham Hill with a car made by BRM. Both I believe were British.
Tony Vandervell hired Colin Chapman in 1956 and listening to Chapman's advice also hired Frank Costin and it was their Vanwall designed car which won the 1957 Formula 1 Constructors Championship so Chapman did start off the British wave with Frank Costin. Following that win Jon Cooper's chief designer the legendary Owen Maddock designed back to back constructors title winning Cooper Climax cars in the 1959 and 1960 F1 Seasons. BRM won 6 years after Chapman and Costin's designed Vanwall.
This is more BS! Cooper and Vanwall won 1958-60 while Lotus was still developing. No British driver! What about Mike Hawthorn and the late Peter Collins. And of course this ignores Stirling Moss.
Some great successes but Lotus cars ruined more careers than they made, all cars of that time were death traps but the Lotuses notoriously much more so
Thank god there were and stil are i hope chapmans in the uk " show us all the way forwrd" You have to be a rouge to be a champ !!!! God bless all that see Rebbbbbels as an entity
There were no winning British cars in Grand Prix racing until Chapman came along?.......BOLLOCKS! Moss won the British Grand Prix in 1957 in a Vanwall.
Although Chapman was employed as a consultant on the Vanwall project. His Lotus 16 was, in essence, a "mini" Vanwall. However, Sunbeam, Connaught and Coopers were all British makes and all won GP events before Lotus ever did.
Bollocks, maybe you should look to who designed that car, the famous film of Chapman crashing, he's in a Vanwall. Tony Vanderfell under advice hired up and coming designers Colin Chapman and Frank Costin to work for him and they largely designed the car that began winning for Vanwall with most of the credit due to Costin. Frank Costin's brother Mike also worked with Chapman at Lotus before he left to form to Cosworth with Keith Duckworth whilst Mike was always a paid consultant.
Man, I feel like I'm watching a different documentary to everyone else! He didn't do anything wrong - there was nothing wrong with the Delorean thing, and if he wants to take amphetamines then that's his own damn business.
LOTUS ! Loads of trouble usually serious.My bought an Elite 501 in 1976.The Morris Marina door handles fell off,the head lamps won't go up and the "creaking", universal joints,miss out on lubrication during manufacture.It looked wonderful, but replaced by Porsche 911 Turbo very quickly.
He would never have been knighted..Too much blood on his hands..He was a Formula1 team owner who saw death as a hazard of trying to win races & was more than happy to send drivers out in fast, nimble, lightweight, 'deathtraps' - Plus Lotus were sponsored by John Player - a tobacco company, responsible for thousands upon thousands smoking related death & misery..A knighthood ? You must be flippin' kidding !!??
Riki Newton At that time tobacco and alcohol brands advertise anything. Its not only Lotus, is almost every team and not only in motorsports. The public judgement goes too fast and too wrong. People need to understand that when someone is pushing boundaries having tragedies its not something we want, yet it just happens. Its circunstancial everytime you go further to the unknown, it raises the probability a lot and at the time testing the cars like we did today wasnt a practice. Saying that Chapman is responsible for the crashes its like saying that all the F1 is responsible for all the crashes inside F1 because in fact its just because they are racing that the accidents occur. Unless some negligency is made to the car in order to make it crash on purpose, we cant say chapman was responsible. Crashes cost him money. Drivers know the cars, know the risks and still raced. Unfortunately they died, but wasnt nobody fault.
