From May 13 to 15, 2022, the Grand Prix Monaco Historique was dedicated to the Lotus racing car brand, its founder Colin Chapman and his recently deceased wife Hazel. Chapman suffered a fatal heart attack on December 16, 1982, making the end of 2022 the 40th anniversary of his death - reason enough to celebrate the seven-time Monaco winner with a lap of honor.
Stirling Moss achieved the maiden victory for Lotus with the Type 18 in Monaco in 1960, exactly 62 years ago. The Briton followed this up in 1961. Graham Hill achieved the same feat in 1968 and 69 with the Type 49B. In 1970, the unforgettable Jochen Rindt was the winner in the princely box with the 49C.
In 1974, the Swede Ronnie Peterson won in the Type 72E and the last success was achieved by the Brazilian Ayrton Senna in 1987 in the yellow Camel car 99T. Seven victories in the Principality adorn the palmares of the racing car designer of extremes.
Chapman's son and 37 vehicles on site
Clive Chapman, son of the unforgettable automotive genius, was on site himself and with a total of 37 vehicles, there were probably more Lotus racing cars in Monaco at the same time on the May weekend of 2022 than ever before.
From the Type 10, the racing sports car from 1955, to Marko Werner's Type 92, 37 vehicles completed their laps.
Goal-oriented
Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman, whose initials (ACBC) can be recognized on the traditional Lotus logo, was a man of great direct determination. Within just four years, he had completed his "structural engineering" studies, obtained his pilot's license in the Air Force and nothing prevented him from rebuilding an Austin Seven so massively that he christened the new creation "Lotus".
He founded his own company on January 1, 1952 in Crouch End, London, at the age of 25. In the same year, thanks to the support of his wife Hazel, it was converted into a limited company with a sum of 25 pounds.
As early as 1955, he competed in the small class of the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans with the Type 10 sports car. In 1960, he then won the first Grand Prix with Stirling Moss, in Monte-Carlo of all places. A well-known image of Colin Chapman as team boss was his traditional and unique victory ceremony, in which he catapulted his cap into the air with a huge leap of joy when his driver crossed the finish line in the middle of the home straight.
Lightweight construction was the key to Lotus' success right from the start. Stirling Moss also won the first race for the brand with the small four-cylinder in Monte-Carlo.
A genius
On December 16, 1982, the technical genius died of heart failure. Bruno Schaffner, a great Swiss Lotus connoisseur, wrote in his obituary at the time:
"Often a story begins with the words: 'He was one of those...'. This does not apply to Colin Chapman. He was never 'one of those' or someone who could have been compared with other people - no! Colin Chapman was unique, ingenious and full of ground-breaking ideas right up to the last day. All his inventions, which were realized under his leadership, led to unforgettable successes. They repeatedly led to new standards in racing, as well as in chassis technology in general. They also led to 72 Grand Prix victories and 7 world championship titles, to the Indianapolis victory, to numerous rally and sports car victories and, last but not least, they also led to our beloved road sports cars, such as the Elite, Elan, Europa, Esprit ...
Chapman built vehicles in a lightweight design that were absolutely unrivaled at a time when other teams were still struggling with vehicles weighing tons, leaf springs and poor power-to-weight ratios. It often took years for other teams to even understand Chapman's technique.
Colin Chapman deserves to be called the best and most successful chassis designer of all time. He also used aerodynamics, thermals and, more recently, electronics to keep his vehicles optimally on the ground. Electronic chassis tuning while driving was Colin Chapman's last idea."
Survived by his wife
Hazel Chapman, Colin's wife, met her husband at the age of 16 while dancing and later became the mother of three children: Jane, Sarah and Clive. She recently passed away on December 13, 2021, at the age of 94. Even after her husband's death, she quickly realized that Lotus could only be saved from ruin with a large investment and so sold their life's work together.
However, she remained operationally active as Director of "Classic Team Lotus", together with her son Clive. In 2018, she signed the 100,000th Lotus road sports car.
No longer present in Formula 1 today
It's just sad that such a successful name as "Lotus" had to leave the stage so sadly in the end. Team names such as Alpha Tauri, Force India, Toro Rosso, Racing Point, Manor Racing and Virgin Racing came along, and in their place, well-sounding brand names such as "Lotus" and "Brabham" had to go by the wayside.
