Engineers Colin Chapman ( Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman) and Colin Dare formed Lotus Engineering Ltd. in 1952, although origins began earlier in 1948 when Chapman constructed his first racing car in a garage. Initially, the company built racing cars for privateers and trialists, and its earliest road-going car was constructed as a kit to save on purchase tax. The era of 'kit cars' ended in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when the Lotus Elan Plus Two became the company's first road-going car available in the non-kit form.
The Lotus Seven of the 1950s was an open two-seater utilizing lightweight materials and construction methods, and was a formidable competitor in its era, lasting into the early 1970s. The company's first fully enclosed aerodynamic race car was the Lotus Mark VIII that also relied on lightweight methodology. Chapman insisted the vehicle's weight be approximately 1,100 lbs and its engine be capable of delivering upwards of 85 horsepower. Construction of the Mark VIII began in late 1953 with its design created by Chapman and DeHavilland aircraft engineer Frank Costin. Construction was assigned to Williams & Pritchard and fitted over a Chapman-designed space frame chassis of 1.25-inch 20 gauge steel tubing weighing a mere 35 pounds. Peter Ross and Gilbert McIntosh aided in the design of Lotus' first true spaceframe vehicle. The fully triangulated chassis consisted of just nineteen members and incorporated a divided front axle independent suspension system that Chapman had used on earlier cars. It had a de Dion layout with inboard brakes at the rear. One of the drawbacks of the spaceframe was that in order to install the modified MG 1500cc engine and transmission, the framework had to be disassembled and then reassembled. A stressed undertray was used to reinforce the chassis and increase rigidity.
The inaugural race outing for the Lotus Mark VIII prototype (designated P3) was at Oulton Park where Chapman set the fast lap but was unable to complete the race due to a blown head gasket. The following race was at Silverstone where this time Chapman won the 1,500 cc class. On July 17th of 1954, Chapman drove the Mark VIII and Peter Gammon drove the Mark VI at the RAC British Grand Prix at Silverstone, finished first in class, and beat the works quad-cam Porsche piloted by Hans Herrmann in the process.
A total of eight examples were eventually built and many of the aerodynamic principles used in the Mark VIII were later incorporated into future Lotus vehicles. The design inspired other vehicles as well, including the Frank Costin/Colin Chapman-designed Vanwall VW9-10 that won the first Formula 1 World Constructors Championship in 1958.
by Dan Vaughan