Why you should love ... Colin Chapman

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Written by Kate Walker

Saturday, 06 March 2010 14:52

Everyone knows the name Colin Chapman. The man was behind the legendary Lotus 79, a car which changed the shape of Formula 1 as we know it.

In 1952 Chapman founded Team Lotus, one of the most successful teams in motorsport history. Not to be confused with the Lotus currently found preparing for Bahrain, Chapman's racing outfit had a trophy cabinet groaning with victories – seven Formula One World Constructors' Championships, six World Drivers' Championships, and the Indy 500, to name but a few.

Colin Chapman first became involved in motorsport in 1948, when he began to compete in local private events. What started as a hobby became a passion, and within ten years Chapman's Lotus 12 had won the F2 class in the International Trophy at Silverstone. 1958 also saw Lotus' Formula 1 debut, at the Monaco Grand Prix.

Within two years of his first race as an F1 constructor, Chapman had begun to make his mark on racecar design. While other teams were running front-engined cars at that point, in 1960 Chapman and Team Lotus launched the Lotus 18, a mid-engined car that challenged the traditional approach to racecar engineering. The team wouldn't see its first Formula 1 win until the following season, but fans were talking about the new design.

Team Lotus took their first world championships in 1963, when Jim Clark ably piloted the Lotus 25 to seven wins and claimed both crowns for the team. In 1964 the team were in the championship until the final race, but suffered reliability issues at the last hurdle. The following year saw Team Lotus back on form with the Lotus 33 and another double win from Clark. Here's an on-board with Clark in his Lotus 25 at Oulton Park in 1963:

The list of former Lotus drivers is a list of legends – a who's who of motorsport greats. Between 1958 and 1994 Team Lotus played host to Clark, Graham Hill, Stirling Moss, Emerson Fittipaldi, Nigel Mansell, Ayrton Senna, and many more besides. And while Chapman isn't responsible for the talent found in that list of drivers, he is responsible for building the cars – and the reputation – that attracted such talent to the team.

When it came to designing cars, Chapman was a true revolutionary. A lot of what we take for granted in modern F1 – ground effect, composite materials, a reliance on aerodynamics, the monocoque chassis – came from Chapman and his team. What he didn't originate, he developed to the limit.

There's no doubting that Colin Chapman left a great racing legacy behind him when he died, legacy which lives on to this day. But is there better legacy than the clip below, of a song recorded by Team Lotus to celebrate Emerson Fittipaldi's 1972 championship wins? It certainly puts Jenson Button's sing-song in the shade...