A report on an evening with Classic Team Lotus

Liverymen and friends were invited to a rare and privileged virtual ‘walk around’ the Classic Team Lotus restoration workshops with Clive Chapman as he gave us a personal tour of his significant collection of Grand Prix cars.

It was only the second time that Clive has allowed such an event, and so it was not lost upon anybody that this was rather a special moment. Team Lotus has won seven Constructors’ Titles and six Drivers’ Championships as well as the Indianapolis 500.

We were treated to Clive talking to us about each car as he walked around the motors of Graham Hill, Emerson Fittipaldi and Ayrton Senna.

We were then taken up onto the second floor of the new modern factory building, past cars driven by Stirling Moss, Jim Clark and Mario Andretti, with a brief pause at the team founder, Colin Chapman’s Austin 7 Chummy to remind us that this was a car that had started the whole Lotus Engineering story.

Clive then took questions from the Zoom audience via our own Liveryman Christopher Tate, who is no stranger to interviewing team principals as he was previously Circuit Director at Donington Park race circuit and live commentator for the Le Mans 24-hour motor race.

It was a wonderful evening and a truly unique opportunity to see behind the scenes and hear from the Lotus founder’s son and how the team is keeping the tradition alive.