Lotus Mark III

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Lotus Mark III

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lotus Mark III was a single-seater sports car built by Colin Chapman as a 750 Racer. It was the first car to ever be called a "Lotus".^[1]

In 1951, Chapman began to focus on a car for road racing, rather than trials, to compete in the 750 Motor Club formula, which used the Austin 7 as a basis. To conform to the rules, Chapman had to retain the Seven's chassis, engine, gearbox, and differential.^[2] With the assistance of Nigel and Michael Allen, he modified the car to the limits of the rules. Chapman boxed the frame rails and added 14-gauge tubular cross-members for torsional stiffness. A sleek aluminium two-seater body, which weighed only 65 lbs. (29.5 kg), was added to cut down drag, and the engine was extensively modified to produce more power. The car, for all its seeming delicacy, proved startlingly faster than the competition.^[2] It led to a demand for copies (an improved Mark IIIB (registered as ONK 408) was built for Adam Currie, for instance, was the first Lotus to be sold to a customer and the first car to wear the Lotus badge), as well as copies of the earlier Mark I. By the end of the racing season, it was apparent the Mark III was the best 750 Formula car in England.

The Mark III could reach 50 mph in 6.6 seconds and had a top speed of 90 mph.^[1]

At this time, Chapman was still working full-time at British Aluminium, and creating cars at nights and racing them, with the help of enthusiastic volunteers, on the weekends, but it was clear from the performance of the Mark III, and the demand, there was an opportunity here. Following this successful year, on 1 January 1952, Chapman established Lotus Engineering Company, with Michael Allen becoming Chapman's first business partner. They set up shop in a disused stable in Hornsey.^[2]

References

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Notes

^ ^a ^b "Lotus 1948 - 1950s Heritage". www.lotuscars.com. Archived from the original on 12 September 2018. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
^ ^a ^b ^c Setright 1974, p. 1222

Bibliography

Setright, L. J. K (1974), "Lotus: The golden mean", in Northey, Tom (ed.), World of Automobiles, vol. 11, Orbis, pp. 1221–34

External links

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Motorbase

Lotus Cars timeline

Type	1950s										1960s										1970s										1980s										1990s										2000s										2010s										2020s
	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4
Sports racer					VIII	IX	Eleven		15	17	19		23		30	40		47		62
			Mark VI					Seven																																											340R							2-Eleven									3-Eleven
Roadster													Elan																											Elan M100							Elise
Coupé									Elite							Elan																																			Exige																						Emira
																		Europa									Esprit																														Europa S				Evora													Evija
Grand tourer																		Elan +2							Elite
																									Eclat									Excel
Saloon														Cortina				Cortina																							Carlton																																		Emeya
SUV																																																																										Eletre
Electric

Racing cars	Mark I Mark II Mark III Mark IV Mark V 12 16 17 18 20 21 22 24 25 27 29 31 32 33 34 38 39 41 42 43 44 48 49 56 59 61 63 64 66 69 70 72 73 74 76 77 78 79 80 81 86 87 88 91 92 93T 94T 95T 96T 97T 98T 99T 100T 101 102 107 109 112 114 115 119 T125 T127 T128 F1 T128 LMP T129 E20 E21 E22 E23 Hybrid
Related cars	Caterham Seven Ford Cortina Lotus Talbot Sunbeam Lotus DeLorean Hennessey Venom GT Westfield Sport Isuzu Piazza Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 Opel Lotus Omega/Vauxhall Lotus Carlton Kia Elan Opel Speedster/Vauxhall VX220 Tesla Roadster Proton EMAS Lotus-Radford Type 62-2
Concept cars	APX Elan Concept Elite Concept Elise Concept CityCar Eterne Emotion Esprit M70 Esprit Concept Ethos Etna M250 M90
Future cars	Type 134 Type 135
Key figures	Colin Chapman Tony Rudd Romano Artioli Dany Bahar Len Terry
Group Lotus	Official website Lotus Cars Lotus Engineering Team Lotus Lotus F1

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