Origin of the Name "Lotus"

PostPost by: Foxie » Tue Jul 20, 1999 12:42 am

I seem to remember seeing a film about Chapman which proposed that the name
came from Lotus, a ladies shoes manufacturing company, which Hazel
happened to take an interest in when out window shopping. It was suggested
that as the name was not original, and in any case associated with ladies
shoes, Chapman was reluctant to explain the origin. How did Lotus software
get the name subsequently ?

Sean Murray
Wexford
Ireland






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PostPost by: abstamaria » Fri Jul 23, 1999 11:02 pm

A year ago Rod and I corresponded on the origin of the name "Lotus" -- a
topic that apparently recurs at least once a year. I hope that means there
are always new enthusiasts in the fold. Anyway, my small contribution to
the lomg list of theories follows:









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PostPost by: rodbean » Mon Jul 26, 1999 11:26 am

Mike Causer wrote:


Regarding that Motor Racing article, is there a scanned copy on a website
anywhere? That would make a nice addition to the collection even being
pre-Elan. I have (packed away) most of the year 1955 Autocar (to which I
subscribed before I had a driver's license) and one of them has a nice article
about driving a Mark IX up to northern England on the road.... great stuff.

Rod







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PostPost by: Richy-dick » Mon Jul 26, 1999 12:11 pm



Obviously Chunky was having it away with an Oriental bint at the time and
named it after her. We'll have to wait until Hazel is pushing up daisies
for the true to come out!

Richard A Clifton
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PostPost by: JohnIngham » Tue Jul 27, 1999 11:24 am

Rod wrote:



Lotus were written up a lot in the 50s motoring/racing magazines and only
the long features have made it to Brooklands reprints series. I would guess
it had a lot to do with most motoring journalists of the time having an
engineering background and Chapman certainly supplied them with things to
write about. One autojumble find had a photo and mini-article about a diff
oil cooler fitted to UPE 6 (Chapman's IX). Apparently it came off a few
weeks later becauseit didn't work.

(I'd happily scan what I have, but I don't have a scanner and we just moved,
so the magazines are *somewhere*.)


Also, Chapman's genius must have been very attractive to an engineering
oriented journalist. I owned a VI for a few years and never ceased to be
amazed at how sophisticated the result was from its humble origins,
especially when we pulled up to a Ford Pop at a stop light. No comparison!
With his kind of mind at work, who could have resisted writing about the
cars?

Which reminds me of an anecdote a former 50s racer told me. Staring at the
VI he said, 'Colin was always lying on the grass in that checked shirt of
his with his head propped on one hand, and you'd say 'What are you doing?'
and he would reply, 'Oh...thinking..."

John






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PostPost by: rodbean » Thu Jul 29, 1999 10:08 pm

John Ingham wrote:


Yes, exactly my problem.



Priceless!

Rod







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PostPost by: planejr at worldnet.att.n » Fri Jul 30, 1999 1:23 am

Good engineers do that. That's what I tell my wife I'm doing when my she
asks me to take out the garbage. There is no doubt that Chapman was an
engineer's engineer, which answers a lot of questions about his
personality quirks.


Paul


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PostPost by: rodbean » Fri Jul 30, 1999 4:43 pm

Yes, absolutely. I hope there is always room in the world for engineers like
that. These days, there seem to be different priorities focussed on near term
quick results at the expense of long-term excellence. I'm sure everyone knows what
I mean.

Champion was a rare bird and we can all feel lucky to be able to drive something he
had a hand in.

Rod



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PostPost by: rodbean » Fri Jul 30, 1999 4:47 pm

Oops! My spell checker made "Chapman" into " Champion" and I approved it before I
thought.

Now that I think about it though, that's pretty appropriate.

Rod


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PostPost by: JohnIngham » Sat Jul 31, 1999 5:53 am



Absolutely!

One wonders if he would still be involved in F1, were he alive. At the time
of his death he was making noises about how it had become too bureaucratic
and rule oriented...









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