Description
Author: Mark Whitelock, Hardbound, 192 Pages, ISBN: 9781845845209, 1st Edition, May, 2016
Colin Ch4pman's previous attempts at producing a Formula 1 car had been a complete disappointment.
Despite his cars being technically advanced, their extreme lightness and consequent speed came at the expense of strength, and led to numerous structural failures.
In 1960, Chapman decided to start with a clean sheet of paper, assessing the basic requirements for a contemporary Formula 1 car, and identifying how to achieve them in the most straightforward, uncomplicated way.
The result - a U-turn on his previous thinking - was one of Chapman's greatest creations: the Lotus 18 - a car that set new performance standards and changed the face of racing car design.
Generously supplemented with stunning contemporary photographs, this book describes the history of the Lotus 18 throughout its seven-year competition career, with pacy, detailed accounts of the races it ran, and biographies of the drivers, designers and owners who made it famous.
The detailed appendices chart the fascinating individual histories of all 28 chassis that were built. Full race results are also presented, along with driver achievements.
Mark Whitelock's enthusiasm for motor sport started in 1957, when his father took him to Goodwood. On Easter Monday 1960, he was at Goodwood again, cheering Innes Ireland and the Lotus 18 to victory over Stirling Moss, giving him a special affinity with both that car, and that driver.
By the early '90s, disillusioned with contemporary Grand Prix racing, Mark turned his attention to historic racing and cars, and became an early supporter of the return of motor sport to the Goodwood circuit.
Mark retired from a career in banking in 1999, and took up writing for pleasure. His first book, 11/2-litre Grand Prix Racing 1961-65, is also published by Veloce.
