Collectors & Aficionados
The mystery of Colin Chapman's death, the man who created the Lotus
Colin Chapman, the genius behind the Lotus brand's success in Formula 1, was known for his ruthless pursuit of extreme technology and lightness in his cars.
In 1978 Colin Chapman placed the seventh constructor’s trophy on his mantelpiece after becoming the highest-decorated manufacturer in Formula 1: at the time Enzo Ferrari had six, McLaren just one and Williams had yet to win a race. It was a period in which the Lotus brand reigned supreme and the prestige generated by these successes translated into abundant profits thanks in no small part to the lucrative sponsorships of the tobacco industry. A Formula 1 sponsorship he had invented in 1968.
No one doubts Chapman’s genius. His was, however, a ruthless genius, who routinely applied the principle of making the most extreme cars possible both in terms of technology and lightness, and then correcting the defects that made them crash. In other words: I give my best to the driver but if I go too far in the design, he’s the one to pay the consequences. Just to mention the best known cases, those of two World Champions: the inexplicable death of Jim Clark at Hockenheim on the forest stretch when he was alone and way back in the rankings, therefore not under any pressure to take risks and that of Joken Rindt, at Monza, after a failure on his car's front brake shaft. In other words, a ruthlessness that became somewhat of a trademark of the British manufacturer.
Scenes from another era: Colin Chapman celebrates in Monza with Jim Clark the victory of the 1963 F1 World Championship
