Colin Chapman

Colin Chapman (1965)

With Jochen Rindt after his victory at the Dutch Grand Prix in 1970

Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman (* 19th May 1928 in London , † 16th December 1982 in Norfolk ) was an English racing cars - design engineer . He was the founder of the racing brand Lotus .

Career

Colin Chapman studied civil engineering at University College London and then aeronautical engineering at the University Air Squadron. With numerous innovations in racing car construction, he was always able to set new standards. His most important inventions were the introduction of the monocoque construction in the 1960s, the invention of the so-called wingcars in the 1970s (with an aerodynamically shaped underbody) and the legendary Lotus 88 with the double chassis .

Colin Chapman founded Lotus Engineering in 1952 . Two years later, the Lotus racing team was launched. Chapman first made a name for himself as a racing car designer with the aerodynamic Lotus Mark 8. With the success of Mark 8 in the back Lotus came in 1958 with the front engine type Lotus 12 in Formula 1 and this altered by technical innovations.

Chapman died of heart failure on December 16, 1982. After his death, rumors surfaced that he had not died but merely went into hiding. Allegedly, he and John DeLorean , founder of the DeLorean sports car brand , moved £ 17.6 million, made up of £ 5 million in government funds and £ 12.5 million from private investors, to private accounts in Switzerland. In addition, he is said to have been involved in a drug affair.

He and his wife Hazel had a son, Clive Chapman.

statistics

Le Mans results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1955	Lotus engineering	Lotus Mk9	Ron Flockhart	failure	Disqualified
1956	Lotus engineering	Lotus Eleven	Herbert MacKay-Fraser	failure	drive shaft

Sebring results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1957	Lotus Company	Lotus Eleven	Joe Sheppard	Dick Dungan	11th place and class win
1958	Team Lotus	Lotus Eleven	Cliff Allison		Rank 6

Individual results in the sports car world championship

season	team	race car	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th
1954	lotus	Lotus Mk4	BUA	SEB	MIM	LEM	RTT	CAP
							DNF
1955	lotus	Lotus Mk9	BUA	SEB	MIM	LEM	RTT	TAR
						DNF	11
1957	lotus	Lotus Eleven	BUA	SEB	MIM	ONLY	LEM	KRI	CAR
				11
1958	lotus	Lotus Eleven	BUA	SEB	TAR	ONLY	LEM	RTT
				6th

literature

• Hugh Haskell: Colin Chapman. Lotus engineering. Theories, Designs & Applications. Osprey Automotive, London 1998, ISBN 1-85532-872-0 .

Web links

Commons : Colin Chapman  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Colin Chapman in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Motorsport news. Issue 2, 20005, ISSN  1421-8488 .