story colin chapman
in

A Period Report On Colin Chapman

COLIN CHAPMAN PHOTOS: TEAM LOTUS 

That fortune favors the bold is one of those clichés that are not always fulfilled but that sometimes… They seem to materialize. Something like this was what happened to Colin chapman when in the 60s he linked one and another victory in F1 thanks to being the most daring when it comes to the conception of his Lotus cars. While most of the builders were absorbed in how to make the engines of their racing cars more and more powerful, this ingenious English gentleman disdained the accumulation of horses knowing that although they give you greater speed in the straight ... The lightness gives you it in all the sections of the circuit.

Under this premise, Chapman spurred on his engineers and mechanics in order to work without a break that only came when the car "Weighed 50 kilos less than what was established in the regulations". Little by little this constructive philosophy permeated all the cars - and also sports series - of the brand until in 1962 the appearance of the Lotus 25 changed the concept of racing cars forever thanks to the incorporation of the monocoque chassis.

Then the happy years began with the pilot Jim Clark and his victories in the F1 Drivers' Championship in 1963 and 1965 in a race to success that could only stop his death three years later, precisely at the controls of a Lotus. Meanwhile, Chapman's audacity continued to create a list of innovations that are now common use in the premier class of motorsport: the "Ground effect" taking advantage of the air that flows under the chassis as a grip element designed for the first time for the Lotus 78, the side radiators of the Lotus 72, the use of the engine as an anchoring element for the suspensions in the model 49 from 1967 ...

colin chapman bbc documentary

An encyclopedia for lovers of engine engineering that, however, never ceased to have the artisanal stamp of Chapman. Despite having fully entered the Formula 1 circus, Lotus was for decades a family business where Colin and his wife devised competitions from their home in the English countryside. Something that this report from the with the BBC that 1968 It showed through a long interview and accompaniment to the races the beginnings and establishment of Lotus.

RECORDED AT THE RIGHT TIME: 1968

For many, 1968 was precisely the year to mark the climax of Colin Chapman's career and his legacy for F1; It is not that from that moment on it stopped innovating - enormous advances such as the ground effect actually arrived during the 70s, a decade in which Lotus continued to be the mainstay of innovation in the use of aerodynamics - but it is true that it did occur a great change of attitude following the death of his pilot and friend Jim Clark.

In fact, there were several voices that pointed to Colin as more or less directly responsible for the death of some pilots, since his obsessive search for lightness made many Lotus cars assemble parts made with not very solid materials, not even being able to finish some racing due to breakdowns or accidents caused by breakage. Perhaps an excessively harsh criticism because, although it is true that Chapman's competitive nature made his cars explore certain limits, driving those cars was a risky undertaking in which the driver knew perfectly where and what he was playing.

colin chapman bbc documentary

For all this Colin's dealings with his pilots became elusive since Clark's death; not for a lack of manners -which he had in the exaggerated manner of a good English gentleman capable of not losing his composure even at the worst moment- but out of fear of, as counted fittipaldi remembering his time at Lotus, putting too much esteem on someone who could die at any moment. In fact a few years later, in 1978, Ronnie peterson He died after the Italian Grand Prix due to the complications that 20 fractures in his legs caused until he ended up in a fat embolism that led to his death.

COLIN CHAPMAN: A LIFE DEDICATED TO ENGINEERING

In 1982, death surprised Chapman in the form of a heart attack when he was only 54 years old, right at a time when it just closed some shady affairs with John DeLorean and the manufacture of the mythical -and unique- model of the brand founded by this North American in the factory that the English government provided him in Northern Ireland.

In that subsidy dance aimed at promoting employment in an area that served as a fishing ground for militants for the IRA, DeLorean swindled about 10 million pounds from the London government, starting a trial dance where drug trafficking matters followed until his death in 2005. , four marriages, conversion to a branch of radical evangelical Christianity, 40 lawsuits with the North American justice… Judge for yourselves.

colin chapman bbc documentary

Business aside, the truth is that Colin Chapman is, without a doubt and in his own right, one of the great names in the history of Formula 1. He character from a novel life In which, after studying Structural Engineering and serving for a time in the Royal British Air Force, he led a modest English team to the top.

A story so dazzling that, to continue being written in increasingly complex times, it required the Chapman family to leave the company's bridle. in the hands of partners and consortia where one no longer knows to what or who belongs what you are buying when you enter a dealership. Maybe because of it it is worth recovering this short documentary recorded in an intimate tone in 1968, because even if it does not tell the whole story ... It stays right at the moment when it most resembled a fairy tale.

What do you think?

avatar photo

Written by Miguel Sánchez

Through the news from La Escudería, we will travel the winding roads of Maranello listening to the roar of the Italian V12; We will travel Route66 in search of the power of the great American engines; we will get lost in the narrow English lanes tracking the elegance of their sports cars; We will speed up the braking in the curves of the Monte Carlo Rally and we will even get dusty in a garage while rescuing lost jewels.

Subscribe to the newsletter

Once a month in your mail.

Thanks a lot! Do not forget to confirm your subscription through the email that we have just sent you.

Something has gone wrong. Please try again.

60.2 kHappy fans
2.1 kFollowers
3.4 kFollowers
3.8 kFollowers