31 replies to this topic

[Charles E Taylor]

Something for the New Year


A rare insight.



Millionaire





Charlie

[jj2728]

Fantastic!

[Gary C]

You can buy the DVD of this from Classic Team Lotus. It also has a few 'extras' on it as well, I heartily recommend it.

[chrisj]

That was just great! Thanks for the link.

[Emery0323]

Great Video, thanks for posting!

The comments he makes 10:00 - 12:00 or so regarding US vs UK regulations and business culture are interesting.

[Michael Ferner]

Excellent! Thanks, Charles.

[Pat Clarke]

One thing cleared up by this video...

CC refers to Lotus in the plural as 'Lotuses' ;-)

Pat

[roger.daltrey]

only problem is the poster used the Youtube 'stabilisation' feature - so it messes with the framing/composition quite a lot and sort of ruins it for me.

Must buy the DVD if its got any extras on.

I guess they were filming the race at Rouen when JS met his end ?

One thing cleared up by this video...

CC refers to Lotus in the plural as 'Lotuses' ;-)

Pat

Edited by roger.daltrey, 02 January 2013 - 09:28.

[arttidesco]

Top find, funny how the interviewer seems star struck by the idea that Chapman is a millionaire but Colin hardly gives it a second thought.

Watching Graham in the 49 going round the 'ring absolutely priceless, the car appears to have completely outgrown some parts of the track

[john winfield]

Thanks for posting this Charles - very interesting. I enjoyed the talks with Hazel Chapman, Bob Dance, Jackie Oliver etc., as well those with the main man, whose enthusiasm for racing and winning is so evident.
We've mentioned it before, but the scenes in the Rouen pits are entertaining, especially when Colin 'shares his concerns' about his car's structural failure with Bruce McLaren and (?) Tyler Alexander! I might be doing him a complete disservice but I can't help thinking Colin doesn't necessarily have their best interests at heart, particularly if the McLarens continue to run quickly in practice and out-perform the Lotuses....

What do you think Colin was looking for just after the start of the German GP? Perhaps he wasn't sure if Oliver's car had got away cleanly from the fifth row, although it's as if some sort of problem is anticipated right at the back of the grid.

Edit. Re: above, I should have turned the volume up. 'Jack go by?' I think Colin is saying. 'Did you see Jackie?' OT, I never realised that Vic Elford had qualified the Cooper-BRM fifth at the Nurburgring, in addition to taking fourth at Rouen on his debut. Impressive.

Edited by john winfield, 02 January 2013 - 13:20.

[Michael Ferner]

only problem is the poster used the Youtube 'stabilisation' feature - so it messes with the framing/composition quite a lot and sort of ruins it for me.

So, that was that! I couldn't figure out how such a seemingly professional production couldn't come up with someone able to hold the titles steady!

[Michael Ferner]

One thing cleared up by this video...

CC refers to Lotus in the plural as 'Lotuses' ;-)

Pat

No surprise there! I always hate it when I hear that pseudo-intellectual word "Loti"...

[D-Type]

No surprise there! I always hate it when I hear that pseudo-intellectual word "Loti"...

I agree. Perhaps a Roman Lotus wouldn't have been 2nd Declension with the plural "Loti", but 4th Declension in which case the plural would have been "Lotus". But a Lotus was (still is?) English so the plural is "Lotuses".

[kayemod]

I agree. Perhaps a Roman Lotus wouldn't have been 2nd Declension with the plural "Loti", but 4th Declension in which case the plural would have been "Lotus". But a Lotus was (still is?) English so the plural is "Lotuses".

When I worked there it was always "Lotuses", never ever "Loti". I don't think anyone ever used the second term except as a slightly feeble joke, something I've been guilty of myself once or twice in the past.

[Emery0323]

We've mentioned it before, but the scenes in the Rouen pits are entertaining, especially when Colin 'shares his concerns' about his car's structural failure with Bruce McLaren and (?) Tyler Alexander! I might be doing him a complete disservice but I can't help thinking Colin doesn't necessarily have their best interests at heart, particularly if the McLarens continue to run quickly in practice and out-perform the Lotuses....

I found that oddly amusing also - I had to wonder whether there wasn't something passive-aggressive about it, like he's trying to psych-out Bruce McLaren. McLaren appears to shrug it off and goes out to practice anyway. Maybe Bruce knew all too well that it was the Lotus itself and not the Hewland gearbox.

Separate subject - What was the Dollar-Pound Exchange rate in 1968? I know it was something like ~ $4US to 1Pound for a long time after the war but then got devalued at some point.

An online inflation calculator says that $1 in 1968 would be approximately $6.60 in today's money. I'm guessing that a British millionaire in 1968 would be worth something on the order of US ~$20M in today's money, give or take?

Edited by Emery0323, 02 January 2013 - 18:24.

[kayemod]

I'm guessing that a British millionaire in 1968 would be worth something on the order of US ~$20M in today's money, give or take?

Yes, but I'd guess that one million was the figure Lotus finance chief Fred Bushell passed to the Inland Revenue to help them calculate Colin's tax. It's called 'creative accounting', something they were always very good at, though they were not exactly alone in that.

[Geoff E]

Separate subject - What was the Dollar-Pound Exchange rate in 1968?

Devalued from 2.8 to 2.4 in 1967 (but not the pound in your pocket, of course). http://news.bbc.co.u...000/3208396.stm

[D-Type]

Surely rather than being worth $1 000 000 a millionaire has to have an income of $1 000 000 a year

[Emery0323]

Surely rather than being worth $1 000 000 a millionaire has to have an income of $1 000 000 a year

Nowadays at least, "Millionaire" is typically understood to be a statement about assets owned, rather than
income received. E.g., someone with an income of a million but who spends 2 million wouldn't be regarded as wealthy by
financial analysts. Of course, it might have been understood differently by the filmmakers:

http://en.wikipedia....iki/Millionaire

Yes, but I'd guess that one million was the figure Lotus finance chief Fred Bushell passed to the Inland Revenue to help them calculate Colin's tax. It's called 'creative accounting', something they were always very good at, though they were not exactly alone in that.

Would he have had to pay taxes on both wealth and income in the UK?

Devalued from 2.8 to 2.4 in 1967 (but not the pound in your pocket, of course). http://news.bbc.co.u...000/3208396.stm

Presumably PM Wilson didn't want to get into a messy discussion about what that pound in your pocket would be able to buy in imported goods.
It would certainly help exports, of course.

[Pat Clarke]

No surprise there! I always hate it when I hear that pseudo-intellectual word "Loti"...

Michael,

I am sure I read somewhere that when asked, CC declared the plural of Lotus is Lotus !?

Pat

[David Lawson]

Noticeable to me was something during the Rouen pit scene.

Colin Chapman is quite agitated and seemingly genuinely concerned that Graham Hill is circulating in the other 49B, Bob Dance quite matter of factly states he has just gone back out and Chapman snaps back well bring him in then. While this is going on, just a few feet away Bette Hill is sitting impassively with her chart and watches and doesn't appear stressed at all by the possibility that her husband is at risk of having a similar accident.

Doesn't this show just how different the world was back then and what tough characters were involved in motor racing.

David

[Catalina Park]

We've mentioned it before, but the scenes in the Rouen pits are entertaining, especially when Colin 'shares his concerns' about his car's structural failure with Bruce McLaren and (?) Tyler Alexander! I might be doing him a complete disservice but I can't help thinking Colin doesn't necessarily have their best interests at heart, particularly if the McLarens continue to run quickly in practice and out-perform the Lotuses....

I think that Colin Chapman was actually showing concern for Bruce. The Lotus team was playing with wings for the first time, they were also playing with Hewlands instead of the preferred ZF box and Colin was always doubtful about Hewlands. They then had a crash with the gearbox torn off the car the first ime they run with a wing, Colin looks down and sees Bruce with a Hewland box and tells Bruce to check for cracks. I think anyone would have done the same.
There was no way that Colin knew the real reason at that stage. Colin had not long lost Clark and Spence and then sees Jackie Oliver crashing, throwing bits all over the scenery for no apparent reason.

[Alan Cox]

Some of us were treated to a showing of this film at one of RTH's Hertfordshire film shows a few years back and it was much appreciated by the audience at the time. If it's of interest, the DVD can be purchased from Classic Team Lotus with additional features including reminiscences of Jim Endruweit, Bob Dance and Bob Sparshott along with a detailed look at 49B/R10 with Clive Chapman.
http://www.classicte...ntent/shop.aspx

[Tony Kingston]

Michael,

I am sure I read somewhere that when asked, CC declared the plural of Lotus is Lotus !?

Pat

I remember reading that. I'm sure it was in "Autosport", which I started reading regularly in 1970.

[john winfield]

I think that Colin Chapman was actually showing concern for Bruce. The Lotus team was playing with wings for the first time, they were also playing with Hewlands instead of the preferred ZF box and Colin was always doubtful about Hewlands. They then had a crash with the gearbox torn off the car the first ime they run with a wing, Colin looks down and sees Bruce with a Hewland box and tells Bruce to check for cracks. I think anyone would have done the same.
There was no way that Colin knew the real reason at that stage. Colin had not long lost Clark and Spence and then sees Jackie Oliver crashing, throwing bits all over the scenery for no apparent reason.

Michael, watching it again, I think you are probably right. I'm so used to assuming Macchiavellian behaviour on Colin's part, or at least a degree of gamesmanship, that maybe I can't see decent behaviour for what it is. We can see his mind at work while he talks to Hazel, Jackie Oliver and Bob Dance, and, on reflection, the decision to warn Bruce does seem genuine. Your reminder of those he had lost in the previous months is very valid.

[kayemod]

Michael, watching it again, I think you are probably right. I'm so used to assuming Macchiavellian behaviour on Colin's part, or at least a degree of gamesmanship, that maybe I can't see decent behaviour for what it is.

This will come as a shock to many, but I'm as sure as I can be that Colin wasn't really a bad bloke at all, gamesmanship certainly, but a pure racer at heart. No-one was better at using regulations to Team's best advantage, but apart from a fairly minor one-off deception involving LeMans scrutineers, more or less acceptable in most peoples' opinion, I don't think there's a single proven instance of him doing anything untoward. Business on the other hand was a different matter, especially towards the end of his too-short existance...

[Arjan de Roos]

One thing cleared up by this video...

And another at 2:45 being the origin of the Lotus name. However I do not fully hear it properly, but is it: "a bathroom fitting"?

[john winfield]

And another at 2:45 being the origin of the Lotus name. However I do not fully hear it properly, but is it: "a bathroom fitting"?

Your hearing is OK Arjan! '...name on a bathroom fitting.' A monocoque bath tub perhaps? Surely not this:


http://www.google.co...29,r:0,s:0,i:88

Edited by john winfield, 03 January 2013 - 15:06.

[kayemod]

And another at 2:45 being the origin of the Lotus name. However I do not fully hear it properly, but is it: "a bathroom fitting"?

A little-known fact about Colin Chapman, he was a fully qualified sanitary engineer, I've seen his certificate, so he could well have named his entire enterprise after a urinal.

[Mistron]

to immortalise where he met Mr Bushell, in the gents of his Dads pub, was it not?

[jj2728]

A little-known fact about Colin Chapman, he was a fully qualified sanitary engineer, I've seen his certificate, so he could well have named his entire enterprise after a urinal.

might have given the term 'taking the pi**' a whole new meaning had he done so.

[Michael Ferner]

Michael,

I am sure I read somewhere that when asked, CC declared the plural of Lotus is Lotus !?

Pat

Now that you mention it, I believe I read that, too! In German, it's (mostly) also "Lotus".

As for the Rouen scene, I didn't think it was gamemanship by Chunky, but it also made me smile, thinking: "Colin, that's the last thing Bruce wants to hear RIGHT NOW!" Typically, he appears to be completely unflustered by this "treatment", and simply roars off!