Lotus
It is rare for an F1 marque to rise to the top of the sport, then, after a period in the doldrums, sweep all before it once again. That is exactly what Lotus did in the '60s and '70s, though it actually competed at the top level in five decades.
The man behind Lotus was Colin Chapman, one of the greatest innovators in the history of motor sport. In 1954, two years after founding Lotus, he drove a Mark 8 model to victory on the undercard to the British GP. With its spaceframe chassis, the Lotus 8 was beautifully engineered, a sign of things to come when Chapman made his bow in F1 four years later.
The debut season saw Graham Hill and Cliff Allison compete in the Lotus 12, Chapman's first single-seater. Allison outshone the future champion, taking fourth at Spa, then, in the new Lotus 16, vying for the lead at the Nurburgring when his radiator sprang a leak.
"Chapman follows Cooper's lead"
Hill and new partner Innes Ireland suffered a string of retirements in 1959, but the next generation model, the Lotus 18, became a serious contender. Chapman, noting Cooper's success, saw that rear-mounted engines represented the way forward. It was Moss who gave the marque its maiden win, however, driving a Rob Walker Lotus 18 to victory at Monaco in 1960. Team Lotus fielded a number of drivers that year, and although Ireland earned plaudits for 18 points and fourth in the championship, it was a young Scot, with eight points from six outings, who would have a much greater impact on Lotus and F1. Over the next 8 years, until his death in an F2 race at Hockenheim in 1968, Jim Clark and Lotus formed a formidable partnership. Apart from winning the title in 1963 and 1965, on both occasions with perfect scores, Clark might also have won in 1962 and '64 had his car been more reliable.
"First monocoque"
Chapman consistently produced vehicles worthy of the greatest driver of the era. In 1962 he introduced the Lotus 25, the first F1 car with a monocoque chassis. It was both lighter and more rigid, and, unsurprisingly, was soon copied by other chassis designers. Its arrival signalled the death-knell for the spaceframe chassis. In 1967 the Lotus 49, with a new Ford engine was unveiled. With a little prodding from Chapman, Ford had agreed to add some glamour to their brand by producing a racing engine. For one year it was agreed that Lotus would have exclusive use of the Cosworth DFV unit, and at Zandvoort '67 Clark gave the engine the first of over 150 victories. After the Scot's death the following year, Graham Hill gave Lotus its third championship, and the 49 was also the vehicle for the last privateer GP victory, Jo Siffert winning at Brands Hatch for Rob Walker.
Chapman was at the forefront of experiments with wings and stalk-mounted aerofoils. There were safety concerns over the earliest modifications, but it was the birth of the downforce era which would soon become common F1 currency.
Jochen Rindt became the sport's first posthumous champion in 1970, taking five wins in the wedge-shaped Lotus 72 before losing his life at Monza. Chapman was already grooming a new young star, Emerson Fittipaldi, and two years later the Brazilian became F1's youngest champion in the latest incarnation of the 72 model.
"Ground-effect revolution"
The final golden period came six years later, when the Lotus 79 came on stream and Mario Andretti and Ronnie Petersen took a championship one-two. Chapman's design created a vacuum which literally sucked the car onto the track; soon all F1 marques were studying the 'ground-effect' principle.
Chapman gave Nigel Mansell his debut in 1980, but succumbed to a heart attack before his latest protégé - topped the podium. Elio de Angelis and Ayrton Senna brought Lotus some respectable results in the mid-'80s but the marque never recaptured the heights it had attained under its inspirational leader, and folded in 1994.
