9 replies to this topic

[Tim Murray]

BBC Radio 4’s ‘Great Lives’ series this week features Colin Chapman. He has been nominated by entrepreneur Rohan Silva, who will discuss Chapman with presenter Matthew Parris and invited expert Maurice Hamilton.

The programme will be broadcast today (Tuesday) at 16.30, repeated on Friday at 23.00 and then become available via iPlayer or as a podcast:

https://www.bbc.co.u...rammes/m00020yv

[P0wderf1nger]

Thanks so much, Tim. I look forward to that.

 

How objective was it? Did they deal with DeLorean?

 

Paul

[Doug Nye]

Well the authorities didn't - so why would Radio 4?  But, certainly, dear old Maurice will tell it like it was...

 

DCN

[Bloggsworth]

Thanks so much, Tim. I look forward to that.

 

How objective was it? Did they deal with DeLorean?

 

Paul

 

Glossed over...

[raceannouncer2003]

Thanks.  I was able to hear some of it online here in Canada.

 

Vince H., Victoria, BC

[john aston]

I enjoyed it - but obviously 30m would only ever scratch the surface. De L saga deserves its own programme ,  especially if Schadenfreude is your thing , but my interest in ACBC stems from what happened on track , not in the boardroom . And from Emma Peel's Elan too, of course ....  

[Tim Murray]

My heart sank when the programme began with presenter Matthew Parris announcing that he knew nothing about Chapman and thought that motor racing was a waste of time, but it improved after that. Maurice Hamilton was excellent, and it was good to hear the voices of Chapman himself, Jim Clark and Peter Wright.

As John says, there was a lot to cover in a half-hour programme, so on that basis I felt that they did justice to the DeLorean fiasco. The point was made that, with Lotus struggling financially at the time, Chapman had very little choice other than to accept the DeLorean offer, and that Lotus was possibly the only organisation that could have done the job. It was made very clear that the operation turned out to be a scam, and Peter Wright’s description of John DeLorean’s visits to Lotus, accompanied by his sycophantic entourage, was telling.

[Allan Lupton]

We on TNF can't expect the deep and searching analysis we might have preferred and as a half-hour programme for non-specialists, I think a good job was done.

[kayemod]

I thought that what was said about Chapman himself was very accurate, surprisingly so in a half hour programme with mostly non-experts speaking. Maurice Hamilton clearly had the measure of the man, but the lightweight-ness of Peter Wright's contribution disappointed me a little. I thought he'd have got closer to Colin than he appears to have done.

[Tim Murray]

If anyone missed this first time round, it’s being repeated twice this week on BBC Radio 4 Extra, on Thursday at 18.30 and on Saturday at 07.30:

https://www.bbc.co.u...rammes/m00020yv