Clive Chapman discusses his early involvement with Team Lotus, experiencing the racing world from a young age through his father, Colin Chapman. He describes Team Lotus in the 1970s as a small, family-like team with around 10 mechanics, which achieved extraordinary success by winning world championships despite its size.
After Colin Chapman's death in 1982, his mother, Hazel, kept the team going, but as Formula 1 became big business, it eventually ceased to exist in its original form. Clive then focused on preserving the collection of cars, leading to the creation of Classic Team Lotus. This new venture, now located in a modern purpose-built structure at Hethel, restores and maintains old Lotus cars, often inspired by invitations to events like the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Clive emphasizes the special feeling of firing up cars driven by legendary drivers like Jim Clark, Ronnie Peterson, and Ayrton Senna, who are no longer with us.
The video highlights the Lotus Type 72 chassis number five, built in 1970, which became Emerson Fittipaldi's second Grand Prix car. Clive recalls the launch of the car at Hethel and how it significantly impacted him. The Lotus 72 was a radical design, featuring a distinctive wedge shape due to the radiators being moved to the sides of the tub, and minimized unsprung weight by relocating the brake discs and calipers from the wheels. It also incorporated torsion bar front suspension for optimized tire performance. Powered by the Ford Cosworth DFV engine, the car weighed around 500 kg and had about 500 horsepower, giving it an outstanding power-to-weight ratio. The Lotus 72, particularly chassis number five, was rebuilt by fabricator Steve Jess, preserving about 90% of the original monocoque despite severe damage from an accident. Emerson Fittipaldi was reunited with the restored car at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2019.
Clive reflects on his personal contribution to Classic Team Lotus, feeling that he is now actively making a difference in preserving his father's legacy, unlike his earlier role as a "hanger-on." He notes that Colin Chapman believed a racing car's sole purpose was to win races, and the Lotus 72 achieved this more than any other F1 car in history.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c25YaFtvxME&t=16s
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c25YaFtvxME&t=16s
