Chapman was a genius - flawed in many ways - but an incredible innovator. I miss him. F1 misses him too !! RIP Colin. Rx

What makes me sad about this whole ultra tight F1 management we see today is to think about how many great minds it is blocking, how many great innovations we are missing. It is kind of sad... On the other hand, about Colin. An impressive man, a genius, it is awesome to see how many fantastic inventions he made that endure to these days. RIP Colin.

1:25 Kind of weird citing five drivers who were "atracted by Lotus", and leaving out Rindt, Fittipaldi, and Peterson as if they were lesser drivers

Impresionante el vídeo...grande Colin Chapman!

Chapman was a genius,his firsts owed nothing to anyone else in motorsport,some of his ideas came from aviation.First use of true venturi,first monocoque,first to understand the true signifigance of weight etc.I could go on and on.No other race car designer comes close. Just try naming one team who comes anywhere near lotus for innovation.

I hadn't realized this is an advertisement; disregard my comment below.

True and honest video This man when racing or they let him race always first and the only man that pissed on the doors of Maranello He came he won he pissed on the little horse nobody saw him or heard him he went like a gentleman!

Epic Video ❤

At 6:18, it says the 1973 World Constructor's Championship was won by a Lotus type 74. I believe it was a Lotus type 72.

He took all that ground effects from Texan Jim Hall in Cam-Am who had been doing it years before, ditto for Gordon Murray who copied Hall's fan car concept but just served it up differently 8 years after Hall (Hall's used a separate engine so it generated downforce even standing still, Gordon's downforce decreased w/ speed, the opposite of what you want). Hall did not just do wings, he was doing active rear wings years before F1 was even doing wings. You won't see this on Chapman's Wiki entry, but here's Jim Hall's: : "Hall pioneered wings, movable aerodynamic devices, side-mounted radiators, semi-automatic transmissions and composite monocoque chassis structures, all of them innovations later adopted by and still present today in every Formula 1 car." Hall's Chaparral 2J was using articulated polycarbonate skirts 7 years before the Lotus 78, and Hal's' skirts had a system of pullies and wires to harmonize them w/ the suspension so the seal was perfect. Hall's Chaparral 2E moved the radiators from the front to the sides in 1966!!!! That's four years before the Lotus 72! "History does not repeat itself; the historians repeat each other." - Max Beerbohm

precioso video!

Great upload!

If it looks right it is right. Simple and elegant. Americans sneer at the philosophy, 'you don't want to make a bridge stronger than in needs to be. But if the carriage or car is heavier than it has to be it, it won't be fast or efficient or sellable. In wartime he would have been a air marshall. Even he did not judge a driver on shear speed. The essence of GP, was the pass, the duel and to win you had to finish.

Read the book "Colin Chapman - Wayward Genius" by Mike Lawrence. It is an extremely frank review of Chapman's achievements - and how he relied on the knowledge of others and used their skills to make more successful racing cars. Despite what you say, he was rarely the first to do anything (not even a monocoque) but he often did it BETTER than anybody - and therefore set trends which others followed.

Not a soft sport. Look at Andretti tracking Gilles Villenueve at Brands in 1979- Its like Randal Cunningham in a F4 Phantom running against a Mig 21. Watch Scheckter shiver when he find out at the last minute Andrettis taken the second front row position at Anderstrop from Amon. The thought of that Black Lotus 77 with the silver stripes alongside alongside him on the starting grid sends visible shivers down Jody's composure

Although Lotus (rightfully) can claim some firsts, IN FORMULA 1, it often borrowed on ideas which had first been tried in other motor sport categories. Other teams can also claim lots of firsts too.

As much as I admired Colin Chapman for his racing car philosophy of 'adding lightness', one must remember that Lotuses were very fast, but also very fragile as the deaths of Lotus drivers Alan Stacey, Jim Clark, Jochen Rindt and Ronnie Peterson will attest.

Chris Amon never drove for Lotus, although in many senses Ensign N175, N176 and N177 were the last conventional Lotus the alt Lotus 76, 77 and 78 that might have precluded ground effects for a generation and preserved real GP to about 1986. That the charge against Colin, he destroyed the sport he loved like Admiral Nelson. My view is that every driver who drove those F1 Ensigns was selected by Chapman from Amon to Geoff Lees.

Does anybody have any idea what songs are used in this video?

Fittipaldi?

12 Senna

BECAUSE NOT MENTIONED THE EMERSON FITTIPALDI

Chapman a genius?? maybe just maybe but one fact is very clear he was a very dangerous man , ruthless , had no interest in the health of his drivers with his very fragile cars!! all in all a dangerous man he was !!! personal responsable for many unneccesary deaths!!!!!!!!!!!!!! period!!!

He gave a shit about the drivers safety, period. Thanks Collin

what is the name of song starting at 6:55 ?

Chapman is gone much too early (54 years)! With an older Chapman, Lotus would have been the most successful Formula 1 Team!

To my mind one of the most egocentric crooks in racing business. He killed Jim Clark and Jochen Rindt with his poor engineering. To Rindt he mostly talked through Bernie Ecclestone. They both were done with each other. Good, Chapman died early before killing more superb drivers.

Don't dispute the fact that Chapman was an innovative genius, because quite simply he was, totally undeniable. He was also an unscrupulous crook (see the De Lorean affair) who had a cynical disregard for the safety of his drivers, several of the all time greats (Clark, Rindt, Moss and Peterson) to name but a few either died or ended their careers in his fragile creations. And the business about Senna joining Lotus because of Chapman's genius..utter horseshit! Seem to remember that Senna debuted in a Lotus in 1985 - three years after Chapman died...obviously Senna would have been very aware of Chapman's legacy but to claim that he signed because of Chapman is stretching it a bit...seem to remember that Sennas cars were actually designed by Gerard Ducarouge...this clip is PR at its worst...