Lotus Cars

Lotus Cars is a British manufacturer of sports cars and racing cars based in Hethel, Norfolk, formed as Lotus Engineering Ltd. by the engineer Colin Chapman in 1952. Lotus was active and competitive in Formula One racing from 1958 to 1994.

Formula One

Main article: Team Lotus

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The company encouraged its customers to race its cars, and itself entered Formula One as a team in 1958. Major success came in 1963 with the Lotus 25, which - with Jim Clark driving - won Lotus its first World Championship. Clark's early death - he crashed driving a Formula Two Lotus 48 in March 1968 - was a severe blow to the team and to Formula One. He was the dominant driver in the dominant car, and remains inseparable from Lotus's early years. That year's championship was won by Clark's team-mate, Graham Hill.

Related Topics:
1958 - 1963 - Lotus 25 - Jim Clark - Lotus 48 - 1968 - Graham Hill

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Several drivers were to perish in Lotus cars, partially due to Chapman's concept of the perfect race car being one which fell to pieces immediately after crossing the finishing line. Light weight was the be all and end all, earning Chapman the nickname of Chunky - his design genius was such that he would see a drawing of a part, and note that 'we could have a chunk out here, and a chunk out there', in order to save an extra pound or two.

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Until the mid-1980s, Lotus was still a major player in Formula One. Ayrton Senna drove for the Lotus team from 1985 to 1987, winning twice in each year and achieving 17 pole positions. By the company's last Formula One race in 1994 the cars were very uncompetitive. Lotus won a total of 79 Grand Prix races.

Related Topics:
1980s - Ayrton Senna - 1985 - 1987 - 1994

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Formula One driver's world championships:

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• 1963: Jim Clark
• 1965: Jim Clark
• 1968: Graham Hill
• 1970: Jochen Rindt - the only posthumous world champion
• 1972: Emerson Fittipaldi
• 1978: Mario Andretti