Lotus History The Lotus brand is the masterpiece of British gentleman Colin Chapman. Chapman was a typical British gentleman, with a neatly trimmed mustache. There are many such gentlemen described in movies, but they are rare in Britain today. In the decades after the war, the British engineer's name had a huge impact on world motor sports. The Lotus team under his leadership has won the F1 race seven times since 1958 and created a variety of outstanding models that will go down in history. Chapman started from scratch and, driven by the enthusiasm for motor sports, personally built the racing car of his choice, and then created brilliant achievements in both automobile manufacturing and racing. This can be regarded as the most beautiful story in the history of the world's automobiles. The incident began in 1947. As a young student obsessed with car racing, Colin Chapman, who was still studying engineering at the University of London at the age of 19, modified a simple Austin Seven racing car by himself. This is more of a stunt car than a racing car. After the war, it became popular in Britain to compete in amateur racing in the muddy woods. Chapman's home-built race car was such a success that he sold several cars for parts. The design is successful, of course you have to give it a name. Chapman had a sudden idea and called it "Lotus". As for why it is called Lotus, Chapman has never revealed the details. The Lotus racing car that the young Chapman achieved through a little trick in his spare time would determine his life. He spent his spare time and long nights concentrating on designing the car of his choice, and registered the Lotus brand to become its own brand. Among them, although MkIII and MkIV have limited power, their appearance design is very consistent with the requirements of car racing, so they have achieved outstanding results. Chapman, who was young and successful, established Lotus Engineering Company on January 1, 1952, and began to manufacture cars of this brand, and gradually formed industrial production. When the Lotus brand started, it did not have the ability to design and produce its own engines, so it focused all its energy on body design and adhered to the principle of reducing the weight of the body as much as possible and maximizing the limited power. It was also based on this concept that the MkVI, which came out in 1952, adopted a honeycomb structure tubular frame. This technology is already quite common in aircraft manufacturing, but this is the first time it has been used in automobiles. The Ford engine used in this car has only a measly 40 horsepower (29 kilowatts), the brake device is an ancient cable type, and the gearbox only has 3 speed ratios. However, because its body only weighs 400 kilograms and has excellent road grip, it has left many high-power opponents behind in the car race. The Lotus car factory gradually developed small-volume production, but did not give up racing. The two businesses were not officially separated until 1959. The MkVI, which was discontinued in 1955, was later renamed the Lotus Seven. The Lotus Seven still retains motorcycle-style fenders and a doorless body. But the style is more modern. The body structure still uses a variety of tubular frames, and the aluminum plates of the body are directly fixed to the frame. The front wheel suspension is a triangular cantilever type with an anti-sway bar. The rear wheels only use hard axles. The Lotus Seven model was still sold in kit form, but due to its low price, it quickly became an ideal car for many small competitions. It is a great British tradition for racing enthusiasts to organize small car races on Sundays. The Lotus Seven became an instant success after its launch in 1957. Strangely, Chapman did not like this model and decided to discontinue production after only 10 years, much to the disappointment of fans. Fortunately, a London car dealer reached an agreement with Chapman in 1967 and purchased all the molds and tools for the car to continue manufacturing. Now 43 years old, it continues to be produced. The Lotus brand has gradually become famous in the automotive industry. It first participated in the F1 race in 1958 and became famous. Especially the MkVIII, MkIX and MkX cars stole the show in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France. However, Chapman's most proud achievement is F1. The integrated single-seater racing car he designed was of epoch-making significance and dominated this event for 20 years. While Chapman was accumulating championships on the racing circuit, he continued to develop unique sports cars. The Elite, launched in 1957, was a beautiful sports car.

The body is made entirely of plastic and is divided into three parts that are glued together like a sandwich. Although the car was amazing, its sales performance was poor. Because although the road-holding performance was excellent and the driving was intoxicating, the reliability was poor, so sales were low and Lotus almost went out of business. Chapman learned from this and continued to work hard, launching the Elen sports car in 1962. The car is extremely strong, with a beam-and-post frame for its body, and its road performance is surprisingly good. Since 1965, a 2 2 convertible sports car has been launched, which has continuously consolidated its status. With the expansion of its performance, Lotus Automobile Factory launched a Europe-type ultra-modern convertible sports car in 1966. But up until this point, Lotus had used engines from other brands. Chapman had been worried about this for a long time, and the situation changed dramatically in 1974 when he produced 100% of his own Elite models. The car uses a 2-liter capacity 4-cylinder engine and has 4 spacious and comfortable seats. It is a genuine luxury sports car. This created a glorious era for the brand, but also greatly disappointed the original customers of Lotus sports cars. Because previous Lotus cars always strived to be simple, lightweight, and only took into account the driver. After blazing a new trail, Lotus Motors launched another Esprit in 1975. This car was more powerful and more luxurious, and was already a strong rival to Porsche and Ferrari at the time. This Lotus sports car continued to be upgraded in the 1980s in accordance with Chapman's wishes, with a power of 268 horsepower (197 kilowatts) and a top speed of more than 260 kilometers per hour. At the same time, the Lotus brand continues to participate in various competitions. As early as the 1960s, Chapman modified a Ford Cortina into a brand new racing car and won multiple trophies. Of course, the Lotus team's most glorious performance is still in the F1 arena. In 1970, Chapman launched a Type 72 single-seater racing car. This extraordinary racing car set a new trend. The design concept is to move all the weight to the rear of the car to improve dynamic performance. For this reason, the rear wheels of the car were surprisingly large, the front wheels were surprisingly small, and the angular body of the car was unprecedented at the time. This Type 72 racing car won 20 competitions and 3 brand awards in the 5 seasons it participated. Chapman then launched the John Player Special Lotus 79 racing car. This new racing car, which came out in 1978, significantly improved the driving system and defeated all opponents. So that opponents have followed suit. Chapman Racing won a marque award with this car. Edit this paragraph Colin Chapman Colin Chapman died of heart disease on December 16, 1982, at the age of 54. A superstar in the history of the world's automotive industry has fallen. Although Chapman led a powerful industrial complex, he was never a boss in the ordinary sense. Until his death, he was personally responsible for designing and manufacturing all Lotus models. Chapman has always been personally involved in various designs and events, and even drove new cars to test himself. Not only did he excel in design, he was also an excellent driver. It is extremely rare in the world for a single person to create an entire series of automobile brands like this.