h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Good atricle, just a couple of points - the twin Chassis car that was banned before ever racing was the Lotus 88 not the 86. It's believed that Chapman was so angered by this banning (as the car was perfectly legal) that much of his desire to compete in Motor Racing was lost there and then, and this may well have contributed to his heart attack.

Nigel Mansell's autobiography gives an excellent insight into Colin Chapman.

....as does this link,

http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/con-lotus.html

BTW, excellent article, well done!

Fixed

I have just had my attention drawn to this website and am amazed that so many mistakes about the early days of the Lotus company have gone un-challenged.

A few examples: "spending his National Service as a pilot in the RAF." He did not do his National Service. Instead he enrolloed on a three year short service commission course and resigned after 2 years.

"...he founded the Lotus Engineering Co Ltd, using a small loan from Hazel Williams, his future wife, to buy and sell used cars."

In the first place the story about a loan from Hazel was just a nice story invented by Chapman with no basis in fact, and secondly (and much more important) it was NOT to buy and sell used cars. That was something he had done four years previously, long before Lotus was even thought of.

"In 1954 Chapman was able to take up running Lotus Engineering as a full-time job." Actually 1955.

"Mike Costin - the latter became Lotus's chief aerodynamicist, having previously worked for de Havilland)." This was Mike's brother Frank Costin.

I realise that the truth can often spoil a good story, and that no-one is really interested in the facts any more, but I still feel that it is worth getting the story right if it is to appear on a BBC website.

I won't bore you with all the other mistakes, but I would be happy to list them to someone who could correct the website. To whom should I write?

Peter Ross
Who was there from 1948 onwards.

Dear Peter,

Please continue to make you comments/corrections in this thread and we'll correct the entry. Thank you very much for your comments.

h2g2Eds

Hi,

Sorry it's taken me so long to notice this was here - and about the errors, which are my fault However, the Entry as corrected is still incorrect, if you see what I mean.

It now says that Frank Costin founded Cosworth. What Peter was pointing out was that Mike Costin founded Cosworth (and was an early collaborator with Chapman) and his brother Frank later became Lotus' chief aerodynamicist.

You've removed the reference to Chapman being a pilot in the RAF. Every source I can find (including the Lotus website and Jabby Crombec's offical biography) says this is the case, so perhaps Peter meant it wasn't National Service? Or it's another story created by Chapman himself? I'm confused. It's significant, because Chapman's knowledge of aircraft lead to several of Lotus' innovations in racing car design, notably the spaceframe and monocoque chassis designs.

Finally, for some bizarre reason I've included a link to Lotus Cars USA, but not to the main Lotus Group website - www.grouplotus.com. Could you add that in as well? Thanks.

Peter, if you're still around I would greatly appreciate your help in identifying any remaining errors in this Entry.

Gif