Well done on bad mouthing the dead .
Colin Chapman CBE was responsible for some amazing innovations. Lets take two, the introduction of mid engined cars to F1 and the design of the Lotus 7. To say the man who did those, even if he had achieved nothing else was not a talented designer is nonsense.
He had some financial issues later in his life, but to attack him as you do, just to fit in to your personal agenda leaves a bad taste in the mouth and frankly makes you look like an idiot.
"Well done on bad mouthing the dead"
What is wrong with the truth?
If everybody has to go all hand-wringy and soppy simply because somebody has died the books on Adolf Hitler will not only be slim but simply not tell the truth.
Chapman was at least as much an business-man as he was a designer.
Maurice Philippe was designing monocoque racing cars back in the fifties, long before Chapman "invented" them.
BTW, where did Philippe end up working?
For Chapman at Lotus, where he contributed substantially to the design work of many of, "Chapman's cars".
Many other designers worked for the team too, "genius" Len Terry was there even before "genius" Philippe.
Often people credit Chapman with single-handely coming up with designs all on his own that he did not, for example, the 49 or 72, as does anybody foolish enough to bleat the throwaway, uninformed and inaccurate line, "Chapman was a genius"
Of course, such uninformed people know nothing of the 80 and 93 to name but 2 of Chapmans failures.
They will also talk of Chapman's fabulous Lotus 79.
Here's the TRUE design team..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_79
Yes he was clever, but not everything he did was a success, much of his fame and fortune are indeed owed to Jim Clark, who could easily have done a Fangio and moved to the best team each year.
"Colin Chapman CBE was responsible for some amazing innovations. Lets take two, the introduction of mid engined cars to F1 ......."
What on earth gave you that idea?
You seem as poorly informed as ma, although at lest you are old enough to use the caps lock key where it is appropriate.
Cooper actually introduced mid-engined cars, not Chapman, and as we all know, or should, there will be a few exceptions, even that is only in the modern era.
".....and the design of the Lotus 7"
and the Lotus 7 is not a Formula 1 car so doesn't count in your defence, hence I'm sorry to say your 2 amazing innovations are no such thing, only another two examples of poorly informed people defending something they don't know enough about.
Curiously, Chapman seems to be the only "designer" constantly creditied with work he didn't do.
Another Chapmen story.
At Brands Hatch one year a Lotus leading a sports car race ran out of fuel because the mechanic mis-calculated how much he had put in. Chapman sacked him on the spot.
About half-an-hour later Chapman walked into the transporter to find the mechanic in tears.
He gave him his job back.
Now..... THAT'S a great man!
"Colin Chapman CBE was responsible for some amazing innovations. Lets take two, the introduction of mid engined cars to F1 and the design of the Lotus 7"
Re-reading that comment I see I mus-understood your comment and you were not claiming the Lotus 7 is anything to do with F1, so I apologise to you for my mistake.
However, I am afraid that (in my opinion) the Lotus 7 was/is nothing special.
Based in the days when many people built their own racing cars the Lotus 7 offered a way to build a street legal car you could race, to anybody with the money.
Fun, good, generally a damned sight more reliable than anything else Lotus produced but innovative?
I don't think so, especially when taken in context of the era.
In their life-times both Clark and Chapman accepted each was an enormous help to the career of the other.
But certainly, once Clark was dead and gone Chapman had a much more inconsistant career.
It does rather prove the point, to me at least.
However there is a school-boy troll on this forum (not you, obviously) who will happily extol the virtues of Vettel, while ignoring Newey, but write off Clark's sublime, possibly greatest ever talent, with, "Chapman designed his cars and he was a genius".
That is simply as ignorant of motor sport as anyone can be, but I suppose for a troll ignorance comes with the territory.
Well, for that troll it does, anyway.
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Chapman and Clark – a Guide for Kids
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posted on 3/7/13
Well done on bad mouthing the dead .
Colin Chapman CBE was responsible for some amazing innovations. Lets take two, the introduction of mid engined cars to F1 and the design of the Lotus 7. To say the man who did those, even if he had achieved nothing else was not a talented designer is nonsense.
He had some financial issues later in his life, but to attack him as you do, just to fit in to your personal agenda leaves a bad taste in the mouth and frankly makes you look like an idiot.
posted on 3/7/13
^well said^
posted on 15/7/13
"Well done on bad mouthing the dead"
What is wrong with the truth?
If everybody has to go all hand-wringy and soppy simply because somebody has died the books on Adolf Hitler will not only be slim but simply not tell the truth.
Chapman was at least as much an business-man as he was a designer.
Maurice Philippe was designing monocoque racing cars back in the fifties, long before Chapman "invented" them.
BTW, where did Philippe end up working?
For Chapman at Lotus, where he contributed substantially to the design work of many of, "Chapman's cars".
Many other designers worked for the team too, "genius" Len Terry was there even before "genius" Philippe.
Often people credit Chapman with single-handely coming up with designs all on his own that he did not, for example, the 49 or 72, as does anybody foolish enough to bleat the throwaway, uninformed and inaccurate line, "Chapman was a genius"
Of course, such uninformed people know nothing of the 80 and 93 to name but 2 of Chapmans failures.
They will also talk of Chapman's fabulous Lotus 79.
Here's the TRUE design team..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_79
Yes he was clever, but not everything he did was a success, much of his fame and fortune are indeed owed to Jim Clark, who could easily have done a Fangio and moved to the best team each year.
"Colin Chapman CBE was responsible for some amazing innovations. Lets take two, the introduction of mid engined cars to F1 ......."
What on earth gave you that idea?
You seem as poorly informed as ma, although at lest you are old enough to use the caps lock key where it is appropriate.
Cooper actually introduced mid-engined cars, not Chapman, and as we all know, or should, there will be a few exceptions, even that is only in the modern era.
".....and the design of the Lotus 7"
and the Lotus 7 is not a Formula 1 car so doesn't count in your defence, hence I'm sorry to say your 2 amazing innovations are no such thing, only another two examples of poorly informed people defending something they don't know enough about.
Curiously, Chapman seems to be the only "designer" constantly creditied with work he didn't do.
Another Chapmen story.
At Brands Hatch one year a Lotus leading a sports car race ran out of fuel because the mechanic mis-calculated how much he had put in. Chapman sacked him on the spot.
About half-an-hour later Chapman walked into the transporter to find the mechanic in tears.
He gave him his job back.
Now..... THAT'S a great man!
posted on 16/7/13
"Colin Chapman CBE was responsible for some amazing innovations. Lets take two, the introduction of mid engined cars to F1 and the design of the Lotus 7"
Re-reading that comment I see I mus-understood your comment and you were not claiming the Lotus 7 is anything to do with F1, so I apologise to you for my mistake.
However, I am afraid that (in my opinion) the Lotus 7 was/is nothing special.
Based in the days when many people built their own racing cars the Lotus 7 offered a way to build a street legal car you could race, to anybody with the money.
Fun, good, generally a damned sight more reliable than anything else Lotus produced but innovative?
I don't think so, especially when taken in context of the era.
In their life-times both Clark and Chapman accepted each was an enormous help to the career of the other.
But certainly, once Clark was dead and gone Chapman had a much more inconsistant career.
It does rather prove the point, to me at least.
However there is a school-boy troll on this forum (not you, obviously) who will happily extol the virtues of Vettel, while ignoring Newey, but write off Clark's sublime, possibly greatest ever talent, with, "Chapman designed his cars and he was a genius".
That is simply as ignorant of motor sport as anyone can be, but I suppose for a troll ignorance comes with the territory.
Well, for that troll it does, anyway.
Page 1 of 1