Picture Of

Classic Lotus Cars

Lotus Mark IV was a trials car by Colin Chapman built on a Austin 7 chassis. Colin Chapman’s success at building trials Lotus cars brought another previous customer, Mike Lawson, to order a second trials car in 1952 to replace his Lotus Mark II, in which he won the Wrotham Cup. Once again Colin Chapman chose an Austin Seven as the starting point, reinforcing the frame and installing a four-cylinder 1172cc (71.5ci) Ford sidevalve engine. Colin Chapman used all the tricks he had learned in his previous cars, constructing a lightweight aluminum body with a rounded nosecone. He fitted a 3-speed transmission taken from a Ford 8 and the divided front axle as on his previous cars.



Mike Lawson won his class in the very first attempt in this car, following up with others, solidifying Colin Chapman’s reputation as a designer and engineer. The success of this car, and other requests for more cars, led Chapman and Michael Allen to establish Lotus Engineering in a disused stable in Hornsey.

Ford Sidevalve Motor
Configuration: S4 SV
Displacement: 1172 cc
Bore/Stroke: 63.5mm x 92.456mm (2.5x3.64")

Picture Of

Classic Lotus Cars

Classic Lotus Cars Mark III was a single-seat sports car from Colin Chapman as a 750 racer built.

In 1951, Colin Chapman began to focus on a car for the road, rather than processes, in the formula 750 Motorcycle Club, who compete the Austin 7 Cars as the base. To comply with the rules, Colin Chapman was among the seven chassis, engine, transmission and rearend, with the help of Nigel and Michael Allen, they changed the boundaries of the rules hold. Colin Chapman boxed the rails and has 14-gauge cross tubes torsional rigidity. An elegant aluminum two-seater body, which weighed only 65 kg. (29.5 kg) was added to reduce drag, and the engine was very coordinated. The car, for all his apparent delicacy, proved to be a surprisingly faster than the competition. It led to a request for copies (better B Mark III was built for Adam Currie, for example) and a copy of the previous Mark I. It was clear by the end of the season, the Lotus Cars Mark III was the best car in the Formula 750 in the country.


At this time, Colin Chapman was still working full time at the British Aluminium, and create car at night, and they ran, with the help of enthusiastic volunteers, over the weekend, but it was clear from the performance of the Lotus Cars Mark III and the demand is not there here's a chance. Following on the success of this year, 1st January 1952 Colin Chapman founded Lotus Engineering Company, to Michael Allen was the first commercial partner of Colin Chapman. They set up shop in a former stable in Hornsey.