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Colin Chapman's headroom
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Lotus' Colin Chapman was, by all accounts, a bit of an odd 'un. Undeniably clouted hard with the genius stick, like most such high-functioning types he had little-to-no regard for the rest of us lumpen dullards and was undoubtedly a tough boss.
Chapman enthused over a memo on Lotus design from engineering director Tony Rudd, which stated that "The most elegantly effective and traditionally Lotus solution is the one with the least number of parts, effectively deployed."
All good sense and it led to as many parts as possible fulfilling dual roles - for example, stressed member engines in the Lotus 49 and the fuel tank being part of the Lotus 25 chassis. What's perhaps not so well known is that sign-off was achieved only when the road cars were large enough to seat 5'8" Chapman. Any bigger was deemed wasteful. This changed when Mike Kimberley took the reins at Hethel. He stood 6'5" tall in his socks.
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10Comments
13/09/2012 22:59
13/09/2012 14:46
15/09/2012 20:30
14/09/2012 07:26
17/09/2012 14:15
13/09/2012 15:07
As for the Phaeton, while a lovely well engineered , quiet car, who would spend all that money for something that looked like a bigger Passat?
The Veyron while a real tour de force is so over the top, the speeds can be achieved by far lighter cars and in some cases cheaper, no wonder they made a loss on every one.
What the article does not say is that in the MB Gull wing you have to remove the steering wheel so that you can get in - it's designed that way!
The 2CV was a success because it could be fixed by any mechanic/blacksmith in the French countryside and it was CHEAP, bloody awful car though.
The Veyron while a real tour de force is so over the top, the speeds can be achieved by far lighter cars and in some cases cheaper, no wonder they made a loss on every one.
What the article does not say is that in the MB Gull wing you have to remove the steering wheel so that you can get in - it's designed that way!
The 2CV was a success because it could be fixed by any mechanic/blacksmith in the French countryside and it was CHEAP, bloody awful car though.
14/09/2012 07:33
14/09/2012 09:26
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e and it led to as many parts as possible fulfilling dual roles - such as stressed member engines in the Lotus 49 and the fuel tank being part of the Lotus 25 chassis. What's perhaps not so well known is that sign-off was achieved only when the road cars were large enough to seat 5'8" Chapman. Any bigger was deemed wasteful. This change
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