Colin Chapman

Biography

Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman was born in Richmond, Surrey, on 19 May 1928. In 1948 he built his first car, a modified Austin 7 that he raced privately and called the Lotus Mk1, and in 1952 he founded Lotus, at first running it in his spare time.

The Lotus Seven of 1957 was the company's breakthrough, and the 1958 Elite used a glass-fibre monocoque body, one of the first production cars built that way. In racing, the 1962 Lotus 25 popularised the monocoque chassis in Formula One: Jim Clark won the 1963 title in it and in 1965 took the Indianapolis 500 in a Lotus 38, the first mid-engined car to win there. Chapman persuaded Ford in 1966 to fund Cosworth's DFV engine, used wings for downforce from 1968, and the ground-effect Lotus 79 dominated the 1978 season.

Between 1962 and 1978 Team Lotus won seven constructors' titles and six drivers' championships. Chapman was appointed CBE in 1970 and Royal Designer for Industry in 1979; from 1978 he also worked with John DeLorean on a stainless-steel sports car. He died of a heart attack in Norwich on 16 December 1982, aged 54.