Lotus Design Technology

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=50 BGCOLOR="#339933" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>Lotus Design Technology</B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=175 BGCOLOR="#336600" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <B>Lotus 86/88</B></div> <div> <B>1979-1981</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Double</B></div> <div> <B>Chassis</B></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=430 BGCOLOR="#00CC66" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>The Double Chassis and the Demise of Team Lotus</B></div> <bR> <div> Two years later in 1981, after the movable skirts enabling the ground effect had been banned, Chapman was ready to unveil another concept - the double chassis, in which an inner softly-sprung chassis shielded the driver from the harshness of the track, while the outer stiffly-sprung chassis with fixed skirts and side pods would transmit the aerodynamic download directly to the wheels. Upon trying to enter the Lotus Type 88 at Long Beach to test this concept, which Lotus had been working on for 3 years, the governing body FISA issued a 'clarification' of  the rules, in reality a new rule apparently concocted to prevent this particular technology from being introduced. The car was banned at every other Grand Prix it entered and the concept was never allowed to be developed.  Chapman issued a prophetic statement after the Argentine GP that year: "I have unfortunately seen what in the past was fair competition between sportsmen degenerate into power struggles and political manoeuverings between manipulators and money men attempting to take more out of the sport than they put into it."  He then left doubting whether Grand Prix racing was still the pinnacle of sport and technological achievement.</div> <bR> <div> The photos of the double-chassis car, the Lotus 88, below were taken at Long Beach, CA in 1981 by Dale LaFollette of Vintage Motor Photo and are used with permission.</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="783" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 388 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="5f4427e0.jpg" border=0 width="578" height="382" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="5f3cb7c0.jpg" border=0 width="203" height="380" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> The next year (1982) Colin Chapman died from a heart attack at the age of 54. Lotus tried to carry on in Formula I doing development in computer controlled active suspension which eliminated the spring/damper suspension. Their fortunes generally went downhill until 1994 when they lost sponsorship and withdrew from Formula I competition, leaving only the engineering and production arms of the company.</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id267.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Lotus Design Technology"><U>Space Frame</U></A>   <A HREF="id292.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Lotus Design Technology"><U>Monocoque Elite</U></A>   <A HREF="id293.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Lotus Design Technology"><U>Backbone</U></A>   <A HREF="id294.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Lotus Design Technology"><U>F-I Monocoque</U></A>   <A HREF="id295.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Lotus Design Technology"><U>Ground Effect</U></A>   <A HREF="id297.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Lotus Design Technology"><U>Elise</U></A></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>