The British Car Company that Changed F1 Racing Forever: The Story of Lotus
It's no secret that the British car company, Lotus, has had a profound impact on the world of Formula 1 racing. With its name inspired by a beautiful flower and its founder faking his own death, allegedly, Lotus is a story that is full of twists and turns. In this article, we'll delve into the fascinating history of Lotus and explore what makes it so special.
Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman was born on the outskirts of London, England in 1929. His dad ran a hotel, and as a result, he grew up surrounded by the damp and cloudy weather that would later influence his philosophy about life. Luckily for us, Chapman studied structural engineering and spent time in the Royal Air Force Reserves while in college at the University of London. This experience with aeronautical engineering proved to be crucial in his future endeavors.
Chapman's first project was modifying a 20-year-old Austin 7 for local trials racing in 1948. Trials were essentially long endurance races over a variety of roads and terrain, and Chapman made enough money from it to build out a Mark II version of the car. This marked the beginning of a tradition that would see all of his cars numbered, setting the stage for the creation of over 100 Lotus models.
After trials racing, Chapman tried his hand at 750cc formula racing. Working nights in his garage after his day job at British Aluminum, he took a third Austin 7 and modified everything the rules didn't forbid. This included boxing the frame rails, adding tubular cross members for stiffness, beefing up the engine, and replacing the stock tub with a lighter, more aerodynamic aluminum body. He called this the Lotus Mark III, the first of his creations to sport the name of a revered flower.
The success of the Mark III led to Chapman's company becoming a force to be reckoned with in the world of Formula 1 racing. The team officially entered F1 at the 1958 Monaco Grand Prix with a pair of front-engine cars and did okay, but once they switched to mid-enginemonocoque Type 25 cars in 1960, their luck changed. By the end of 1963, the company was on top, with driver Jim Clark winning seven races that season and the first of sevenConstructors' Championships for Lotus over the next 15 years.
Lotus's success in F1 racing paved the way for the creation of other iconic cars, including the Elan. The Elan was the first car Lotus made only for the street, but with sweet handling, four-wheel disc brakes, a double overhead cam Ford engine, and the company's new F1 winning reputation, people raced them anyways. Around the same time, Lotus teamed up with Ford to put the Elan's hot motor into one of Ford's own cars, resulting in the beautiful 1966 Europa, which was Lotus's first stab at a mid-engine street car.
The Elan proved to be a game-changer for Lotus, and the company continued to innovate and push the boundaries of what was possible with its cars. The Europa, designed by Ron Hickman, was another example of this innovative spirit, with its beautiful front half and sleek design. However, not all of Lotus's endeavors were successful, and some of its cars have become legendary for their failures.
One such car is the Europa. Despite its beautiful design, the Europa was plagued by reliability issues and poor performance on the track. This made it a bit of an oddity among fans of the brand and has led to it being remembered as one of Lotus's biggest failures. However, despite this setback, Lotus continued to push forward with its innovative designs and commitment to quality.
In recent years, Lotus has experienced a resurgence in popularity, thanks in part to its revival by the Malaysian government. The company's cars are once again being built with the same attention to detail and passion for innovation that they were during Chapman's time at the helm. Today, Lotus is more relevant than ever, and its commitment to pushing the boundaries of what is possible with its cars has never been more evident.
Power to Ratios: The Lotus Way
Lotus has always been about power-to-ratios, baby. This philosophy, which emphasizes the importance of balance and harmony in a car's design, has been at the heart of the company's success for decades. According to Chapman himself, "the most important thing is not the horsepower, but the way it makes you feel." This approach has resulted in some of the most iconic cars in history, including the Elan and the Europa.
The Elan, with its fiberglass monocoque, independent suspension, and .29 coefficient of drag, was a true marvel of engineering. Powered by a 1.2-liter Coventry Climax four-cylinder engine that made it around 95 horsepowers, the Elan was not just fast but also agile and responsive. This made it a favorite among racing enthusiasts and drivers alike.
The Elan's success can be attributed to its power-to-ratio. With an aerodynamic body and good fuel economy, the car could accelerate quickly without sacrificing efficiency or handling. This made it a standout on the track, where speed was often more important than outright power.
Lotus has never been about trying to have more power, baby. Instead, it has always focused on finding the sweet spot between performance and practicality. This approach has resulted in some of the most memorable cars in history, including the Elan and the Europa.
The Legacy of Lotus
Today, Lotus is a company that continues to push the boundaries of what is possible with its cars. With its commitment to innovative design and quality, it remains one of the most respected brands in the automotive industry. The legacy of Anthony Chapman and his team can be seen in every car that rolls off the assembly line at Hethel, from the Elan to the Europa.
Despite its humble beginnings as a company founded on a passion for racing, Lotus has become a global brand with a reputation for building cars that are both beautiful and functional. From the sleek lines of the Elan to the innovative designs of the Europa, every car that comes out of Hethel is a testament to the company's commitment to quality and innovation.
As we look back on the history of Lotus, it becomes clear that the company's success was not just about speed or power but about balance and harmony. According to Chapman himself, "the most important thing is not the horsepower, but the way it makes you feel." This approach has resulted in some of the most iconic cars in history, and continues to inspire car enthusiasts around the world today.
WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en(classical music)(engine revving)(classical music)(engine revving)(classical music)(engine revving)- It's the British car companythat changed F1 racing forever.It shares its name with a beautiful flowerand its founder fakedhis own death, allegedly.You guys have been asking for this onesince we started this show.Ladies and gents, this is everythingyou need to know to getup to speed on Lotus.(playful music)Okay guys, Lotus is amassive story turns outso bare with me becauseI'm going to do my best.Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman was bornon the outskirts ofLondon, England in 1929.His dad ran a hotel and the weatherwas always cloudy and damp.So what was a pasty, Britishboy with too many names to do?Luckily he'd studiedstructural engineeringand spent time in theRoyal Air Force Reserveswhile in college at theUniversity of London.Turns out aeronauticalengineering experiencecomes in pretty handy for makingfast, fun, four-wheeled stuff.It's probably what led to his famousphilosophy about pretty much everything.Simplify then add lightness.Colin Chapman's firstproject was modifyinga 20-year-old Austin 7 forlocal trials racing in 1948.Trials were basically long endurance racesover a variety of roads and terrain.The Austin had 15screamin' shetland poniesand Colin made enough money with itto build out a Mark II versionwhich began the tradition ofnumbering all of his cars.There have been way morethan 100 Lotus models,so there's only time tohit a few of the bangers.But, if you like a lot moredetail and listen to podcasts,Donut has a new one called Past Gasthat covers some of the radautomotive history in depth.Each episode is over an hourlong and no one is there.It's literally my favorite thing to do.Check it out whereveryou get your podcasts.Also,(burps)After trials races, Colin tried his handat 750cc formula racing.Working nights in his garageafter his day job at British Aluminum,Chapman took a third Austin 7 and modifiedeverything the rules didn't forbid.He boxed the frame rails.Added tubular cross members for stiffness.Beefed up the engine andreplaced the stock tubwith a lighter, moreaerodynamic aluminum body.He called this the Lotus Mark III.The first of his creations to sportthe name of a revered flower.If you want to know whyhe picked the name Lotus,you're gonna have to take your DeLoreanup to 88 mph and goback in time and ask himbecause the dude neverofficially told anybody.But sit tight, the DeLorean isgoing to come up again later.That's called foreshadowing.(laughing)It was soon clear that the Lotuswas the fastest 750formula car in the country.And other races wanted in on it.So in 1952, Colin Chapmanand his friend Colin Dare,two Colins don't make a right,officially turned his racecar hobby into a business.The Lotus Engineering Company.They set up a factory in the empty stablesbehind the hotel thatChapman's dear old dad managedand got to work movinghorsepower back into the build.You get it?It was a stable and now they do car stuff.Horsepower.(horse neighing)Success came quickly with the newMark IV model and within two years,team Lotus was split offfrom the engineering companyto be dedicated entirely to racing.In 1957, Lotus launched the Mark VII.An open air, street legal track car.Due to a loophole in the law,people could buy it as a kit,pay for it on two separate invoices,and avoid paying sales tax.Freaking genius.One of the purest and simplestsports cars ever made.It was Lotus' first big sellerand came to be known simply as the Seven.Low to the ground and without doors,some said it was like drivinga motorcycle with four wheelsand since they could be street registered,you could race them on Sundaythen drive them to work on Monday.They're very practical.Lotus sourced engines froma variety of manufacturersso their specs almostalways varied over time.But the general idea wasthat even a small motorcould make a 1,200 horse power...Was that even a small motorcould make a 1,200 pound car go fastand small motors were easy to get.The overall concept wasso ridiculously goodthat Caterham took over therights to build it in 1973.And they still makebasically the same car today.Over sixty years later.(engine revving)But Lotus was just starting to bloom.Flush with cash from sales,the Seven Lotus developed the Elite.Their first car with a roof.Kind of a nice feature if youlive in the rainy, rainy UK.Taking it a step beyond the Corvette,which had a fiberglassbody on a steel frame,the Elite had a fiberglass monocoque,independent suspension anda .29 coefficient of drag.That's low even by today's standards.And it's extra impressive becauseit was designed without awind tunnel or computers.Computers didn't evenfreaking exist back then.It was sleek and gorgeous from every angleand powered by a 1.2liter Coventry Climax.(laughing)Four-cylinder engine thatmade it around 95 horsepowers.Lotus has never really been abouttrying to have more power, baby.It's always been aboutpower to ratios, baby.The Elite 1700 pound curb weight,aerodynamic body and good fuel economyhelped it win its class six timesat the 24 Hours of Le Mans.The Lotus race teamofficially entered Formula Oneat the 1958 Monaco Grand Prixwith a pair of frontengine cars and did okay.Once they switched the mid-enginemonocoque Type 25 in 1960,the Lotus way of looking at thingspaid off and the wins started coming.By the end of 1963, the companywas a force to be reckoned with.Driver Jim Clark wonseven races that seasonand the first of sevenConstructors' Championshipsfor Lotus over the next 15 years.Just a couple of years later,they were also the first to winthe Indy 500 with a mid-engine car.Back home at the factory,production of the delicate Elitegave way to the Elan.They kept the whole fiberglass bodyand added a steel backbonefor extra stiffness.A basic platform they'restill using today.It was the first car Lotusmade only for the street.But with sweet handling,four wheel disc brakes,a double overhead cam Ford engineand the company's newF1 winning reputation,people raced them anyways.So, Lotus eventually builtout Elans for competitionand bumped the 1,500pound car's horsepowerfrom 100 all the way upto 160 sportier ponies.Around the same time,Lotus teamed up with Fordto put the Elan's hot motorinto one of Ford's own cars.Lotus took the two door Cortina.It's a beautiful car.Redesigned the rear suspensionand added lightness, lightness,lightness, lightness.Ford homologated it for agroup two touring car racingand the boxy little 1.6liter Ford banger sedansbeat everything but the FordGalaxies with seven liter V8s.(engine revving)Lotus proved again.They could punch above their weight class.The 1966 Europa was Lotus' first stabat a mid-engine street car.It also looked like itwas designer Ron Hickman'sfirst stab at designing acar even though it wasn't.It's like he spent the entire classjust making the front half beautifuland then the teacher's like,"All right, pencils down."And Colin's like,"Oh, crap."Colin wanted to branchout beyond Ford engineso they tuned up a 1.5liter Renault inline-4and mounted it longitudinallyin the back behind the cockpit.It was as fun to drive as previous Lotusesbut with no trunk or rear visibility.It wasn't all that practical.Meanwhile,(engine revving)the new type 49 F1 car wasrunning a new Cosworth V8and kickin' some serious,serious tush all over the world.It was the first car to use the engineas a structural part of the chassis.Lotus was also the first to introducebig money sponsorships intoracing by painting their carswith another company's colors and logos.That is such a huge part of racing today.They're the first guys to do it.Sadly, this super town to Jim Clarkcrashed in a Formula Two raceand didn't make it out alive.It was a serious,serious blow to the team.But Graham Hill carried the Lotus torchand won that world championship that year.Around the same time, Lotusalso developed a gas turbinepowered car with all-wheeldrive for Indy racing.And the first all-wheel drive F1 car.I don't think these guys ever slept.Chapman experimented withsmall front and rear wingson the Type 49 but made arevolutionary breakthroughwith overall design and aerodynamicswith the next car in 1970.The Type 72 was wedged shaped,had inboard front brakes,side mounted radiators,torsion bar suspension,and larger front and rear wings.The changes were so significantthat it ran 12 mile per hour fasterthan its predecessor, the Type 49.(engine revving)Once the suspension was sorted,driver Jochen Rindtwon four races in a rowbefore dying in a qualifying crash.Racing for Lotus kinda seemedlike a death wish at this pointbut it was just acceptedthat racing cars were risky business.Emerson Fittipaldi jumped into the empty driver's seatfor the rest of the seasonand held off Ferrari to winthe championship for rent.That same year, the carstarted wearing the colorsof their soon to be longtimecommercial sponsors,the black and gold JohnPlayer Special Livery,that is now forever tied to Lotus.You still need more proofthat Lotus were race car geniuses?They were the firstconstructor to win 50 F1 races.They even beat Ferrari to punchwho've been racing for seven years longer.Your last major F1 success came in 1978after doin' a little extraaeronautical research himself,Colin passed his findings to the race teamwho went and and shaped the undersidesof the new side pods likeupside down airfoils.And holy burnoly principal Batman,the airfoil shaped sidepods sped up the airtraveling underneath thecar creating a vacuum.(engine revving)Colin took things a step furtherby mounting radiators so thatthe hot air they expelledflowed over the top of the carand created even more down force.The design was literally based on a WorldWar II fighter plane just witheverything flipped upside down.After ironing out a few kinks,the new aerodynamically optimized Type 79sregularly annihilated the competition.They came in first andsecond more often than notand Mario Andretti won both the Drivers'and Constructors' Championships in one.Around the same time,the first Lotus Espritdid a slow lot charter to seem.Reaching 60 miles per hourin eight to 10 seconds.That might sound weird.I know guys.The mid to late '70s were bad yearsfor speed on four wheels but hey,the Esprit was designedby Giorgetto Giugiaro.(engine revving)This time Lotus used a mid-mountedtwo liter inline-4 of their own designthat made 140 horsepowers.In typical Lotus style, the whole caronly weighed 2,200 poundsso it handled like a champ even thoughit could've used...Where is he?They wanted to compete with Ferrari thoughso in 1980 they bumpedup interior quality.Gave it a spinny whooshengine making 210 horsepowersand proper exotic car price tag.In America, we didn't get thesefor three more years because you know,(beep) us, right?Like almost all specialty sportcar companies of the time,Lotus struggled to stay in business.By the '80s, they were sellingfewer than 400 cars a year.We make more than 400 videos a year.No, we don't.We probably do.They turned to partneringwith other manufacturersto make extra money and reducethe prices of their own car.They helped Toyota developthe Mark II Supra Celica.Yeah, I said Supra.And Toyota gave Lotus enginesfor their new Excel model.But their more infamous connectionwas with another U.K. based car maker.- Live the dream today.- As the DeLorean Motor Companystruggled to find someone to help themmake their new rear enginestainless steel sports cars,Lotus stepped up and saidthat they could do it.If you ever get to see anaked DMC 12, lucky you.It's obvious how closely it'srelated to the Lotus Esprit.Now shortly after Lotusfinished the project,the DMCs went into production in Ireland.Founder John Z. DeLoreanwas busted in an FBI stingfor trafficking cocaineand his company collapsed.It was soon found that alot of tax payers moneyhad disappeared in the processof developing those failed sports cars.If you wanna learn more about that,check out this link.In the mean time, Lotus'amazing new carbon fibertwin chassis F1 car hasjust been banned by the FIA.Street car sales were way downand the entire business was lookin' bleak.The weight of all that must'vebeen really hard on Colin Chapman.And on December 16th, 1982,he died of a sudden heart attack.But the conspiracy theoristsand I'm not sayin' that I'm one of thembut know it might be.They wanna believe thatJohn DeLorean poisoned himor that Colin faked his owndeath and fled to Argentina.If he'd been around for DeLorean's trial,the judge said he would've thrown Colinin jail for at least 10 years.Whatever you believe, Colin's philosophyof simplify then add lightness lived on.The F1 team did pioneering workwith active suspensions which admittedlyare neither simple or light.They did pretty well with drivers.Nigel Mansell and Ayrton Sennabefore those guys went on to greatness.But the Lotus team itselfnever reached the heightsit had when Chapman was alive.The last Lotus F1 car to win a racewas Senna in the active suspension 99Tat the 1987 Detroit Grand Prix.There's not much worth mentioningabout the F1 team after that so,you know, we're not gonna.The production side ofLotus was also in trouble.They didn't have any money.The founder of British carauctions, David Wickins,routed up some investors in 1983and saved the companyfor a few more years.General Motors took control in 1986then offloaded it in'93 to Romano Artioli,a rich ass businessman whoalso owned Bugatti at the time.He bailed quickly and he sold Lotusto Malaysian car maker, Proton, in 1996,when Post Malone was only a year old.While Lotus owners bounced around,they made a few coolcars but not much money.The only front wheel-driveLotus ever made,the Elan M100 Roadster, was launchedas a sports car for the masses.Under GM's ownership, they pouredtons of money into developmentbut they never got it back.This is a shame because a lot of peoplecalled it the best handlingfront-wheel drive car everbut it cost $40,000 back thenand was powered by 130 horsepoweror 162 horsepower Isuzu four-cylinder.(engine revving)Sales were cannibalized by much cheaperand more powerful Corvette andthe brand new rear-wheel drive Miata.They sold fewer than 5,000of them over six yearsand only 559 of those were in the U.S.Not exactly the mass market sales figuresthat they were looking for.Then there was the Lotus Carltonnamed after the FreshPrince's cousin, Carlton,which was a reworked boxed all sedanpowered by a turbocharged inline-6.Making 377 horsepower and419 pound feet of twerks.Sick.But,thing caused 92 grand in 1990.Desperate to make money, Lotus finallywent back to their roots in 1996.The new mid-engineconvertible Elise arrivedwith a fiber glass body shellon a bonded aluminum chassis.The series one had aRover 1.8 four-cylinder.Makin' 118 ponies.But it has super low center of gravityand a 1,600 pound curb weight.A whole slew of special editions followed.With...More power, baby.(engine revving)Then, Lotus decided to moveall traces of rear visibilityby giving the Elise a roofand renaming it the Exige.A revised series twoElise came out in 2000with more refined styling.And by more refined, I mean lookedlike a freakin' alien built it.They ditched the Roverengines for Toyota 1ZZ-FEand 2ZZ-FE four-bangers and threwa supercharged model into the mix.The naturally aspirated 190 horsepower 2ZZpulled a mind bending1.06 Gs on the skid pad.Did not to 60 in four and a half seconds.There were also a million and a halfversions of the series twoso I cannot possibly cover them all.(engine revving)The company honestly didn't expectthe Elise to be that big of a hit.And it ended up saving Lotus' whole ass.GM used the Elise tomake the Opel Speedster.Hennessey used it as abasis for the Venom GTand Tesla built thefirst gen roadster on it.(engine revving)In 2009, Lotus debuted their firstall new car since the Elise.The slightly more practical Evorawith a tiny back seat that you mightfit your Springer Spaniel.And a mid-mounted 3.5 liter Toyota V6.They're still in production and now,they're all supercharged.They make 400 plus sleek yet buff horses.(engine revving)Today, Lotus is owned by Geely.And the current talk is ofthe upcoming fully electricEvee-ga, E-viga, Eve-ja?- It's Evija.- Evija.The new Evija hypercar.They're only gonna make about 130 of thembut this thing is supposedto have 1,970 horsepowersgoing into all four wheels.It looks wild.It's gonna have insane down force.I don't thinK I'm gonna be ableto afford that one quite yet.I only make a million dollarsfor each of these episodes.Lotus might be one one of, if not,the spunkiest car companiesin the history of cars.Did you know their powertrain departmentdesigned and developedGM's Ecotec four-cylinder.They did the LT5 V8 forthe C4 Corvette ZR1 too.They also designed the cylinder headon the turbo charged1991 Dodge Spirit R/T.They held Aston Martinwith the DB9 chassis.Helped Nissan tune the suspensionand handling of the new GTR.And that's only a few examples.Lotus has touched way more than you thinkor way more than I thoughtwhen we started researching this episode.Through it all,they made indeliblemark on both motor sportand the entire automotive market.- I always like to succeedin everything I try to doand I always say, Ialways feel that I'm...Yes, I suppose I am, Ialways like to try to doanything better than Isee it being done before.- Hi, baby.(smooching)Can you hear her chewing? (laughing)I love you.And I love you.(smooching)Her cue is so cute.
