Talk:Colin Chapman

Family life
I already know that throughout most of his life he was married to his wife Hazel. Does anyone else know if they both had any children?

Lostinsidemyworld 15:35, 31 July 2007 (UTC)
 * I know Colin has a son, Clive, who runs Classic Team Lotus. I don't know for sure that Hazel is Clive's mother, but that would be my guess. DH85868993 15:45, 31 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Two daughters as well, I think Sarah and Jane but I'd have to look it upMr Larrington (talk) 13:41, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

Birth Date
The authorised biography (G Crombac 1986 ISBN 0850597331) clearly and unambiguously states on page 15 that Chapmans's date of birth was 19th May 1928)

The article at http://www.oldracingcars.com/bydriver/watn.asp?letter=C was incorrect in stating 9th May and has been incorrectly quoted as a primary source. This source has now, at long last, appeared to be have been corrected. M100 (talk) 17:36, 22 February 2008 (UTC)

Add lightness
Shouldn't an article about CC include his most famous quote?24.125.19.104 (talk) 05:20, 4 August 2008 (UTC)Anon

I was actually just about to ask this same question. 216.124.10.6 (talk) 19:56, 21 October 2008 (UTC)

Other Innovations
Chapman also developed four wheel drive and turbine powered racing cars. The 4WD turbine powered Lotus 56 nearly won the 1968 Indianapolis 500. He put forth new technology at a startling pace, but what was more remarkable is that new innovations were always competitive and not merely interesting. He appears to have been a truly brilliant engineer. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.173.197.1 (talk) 00:51, 4 May 2008 (UTC)

No sources
Doesn't this weakness of sources lower this article to O.R., if not outright fiction? BannedBeyondAllEternity (talk) 15:43, 30 July 2012 (UTC)
 * There are actually 11 sourced citations on this article. This would only be OR if no reliable sources could be located supporting the information. Michael (talk) 20:04, 1 August 2012 (UTC)
 * The weakness in the sources is not the number (although five old car mags seems pushing it), but that they are not made clear in the article. There are paragraphs, and even sections (Career and Personal life), with no source at all. Shouldn’t you use at least some “ibid”s?


 * I was curious about the man, but “Certainly” offended me. And the rest of the article looks like intellegent and informed, but not encyclopedic. More like a conversation. Especially Innovations and legacty. “Following the race, Chapman...1987” has only one source? For all that info?


 * Someone should clean up the basics.99.172.55.172 (talk) 12:40, 2 August 2012 (UTC)

AW11 MR2 derived from Delorean
I did a little research, and other sites like http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_MR2 state no such relationship exists.

"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_MR2":

Some rumors have persisted that the MR2 was designed by Lotus. This is a reference to the Lotus M90 (a.k.a. the X100) project, but this was scrapped after a single prototype was built. This used the same engine and gearbox as the MR2. At the time, Toyota, along with the Chapman family was a major share holder in Lotus, but General Motors later acquired majority control. However, the MR2's suspension and handling were designed by Toyota with the help of Lotus engineer Roger Becker.[6] Toyota's cooperation with Lotus during the prototype phase can be seen in the AW11, and it owes much to Lotus's legendary sports cars of the 1960s and 1970s. Toyota's active suspension technology called TEMS was not installed. Built very strong, with five bulkheads, the MR2 was quite heavy for a two-seater of its size — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.4.76.46 (talk) 05:30, 29 October 2014 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to 1 one external link on Colin Chapman. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive http://web.archive.org/web/20110520091232/http://web.mac.com/dennisgray711/grayincolor/Colin_Chapman_files/Colen%20Chapman_1.jpg to http://web.mac.com/dennisgray711/grayincolor/Colin_Chapman_files/Colen%20Chapman_1.jpg

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true or failed to let others know (documentation at Sourcecheck).

Cheers.—cyberbot II  Talk to my owner :Online 03:55, 28 February 2016 (UTC)
 * Archive URL doesn't work, so I have replaced it with a working one. DH85868993 (talk) 04:28, 20 March 2016 (UTC)

Active Suspension
Didn't Lotus run active suspension before 1987? Mansell's car had it in 1983 until he got fed up with it trying to kill him IIRC. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.18.24.176 (talk) 20:18, 15 April 2016 (UTC)


 * Yes, the article says it was being tested on the day he died... in 1982. See Lotus 92. Eagleash (talk) 20:40, 15 April 2016 (UTC)

Tube-frame chassis paragraph
This paragraph makes no sense on many levels, quoting "Tube-frame chassis" - "the material has changed from sheet aluminium to carbon fibre". The "chassis" is better described as Monocoque, or more recently engineers referring to it as the "tub", with tubular suspension, both components once made of aluminium and now carbon fibre. ''This design concept fairly quickly replaced what had been for many decades the standard design formula in racing-cars, the tube-frame chassis. Although the material has changed from sheet aluminium to carbon fibre, this remains today the standard technique for building top-level racing cars.'' — Preceding unsigned comment added by 109.149.86.96 (talk) 22:47, 6 July 2018 (UTC)


 * I'm afraid I don't follow the logic of your comment. The paragraph you refer to (and the preceding one) is about monocoque design in motor sport. The only place that the word 'chassis' is used is in relation to the technology that monocoque designs were replacing. Pyrop  e  05:09, 8 July 2018 (UTC)

Can there be a seperate page that houses all the information on the Delorean Scandal
The Delorean scandal was so big i'm suggesting a seperate page that houses everything.MoanerTonight (talk) 13:42, 20 May 2020 (UTC)


 * It is certainly an interesting part of the later career of Chapman. If you'd like to write more about it I suggest that you start by augmenting the Delorean Motor Company page. If the amount of content on the scandal gets large enough to require spinning out to a separate page then we can discuss that when the issue arises. Pyrop  e  17:56, 20 May 2020 (UTC)

Place of Birth
I have removed contradictory information from the infobox. In my first edit I made it agree with the main text, but an editor has reverted the old information back in. As the old information is unsourced, and per MOS:INFOBOXPURPOSE, I have removed the parameter. Now looking at the place of birth, it is indeed possible that Chapman was born in Richmond, but nothing on the page says so. The source we are using for the birth is to this:, albeit without the link (I'll fix that shortly). This is a local history society page. Such pages tend to be pretty good, but their sources are often unclear. A better source would be appreciated. There is no indication in that page that his birthplace was not Muswell Hill, but the phrasing does leave the question open. If his birthplace is Richmond, that should be in the main text before it is re-added to the infobox. Sirfurboy🏄 (talk) 07:37, 23 January 2024 (UTC)


 * This page says he was born at the Orange Tree pub, Richmond and then moved to North London. It is likely correct but still the sources are unclear. Also it would be good to know when, or at what age he moved. Sirfurboy🏄 (talk) 11:14, 23 January 2024 (UTC)