LOTUS
MARK II
The car that showed Colin Chapman the beauty of circuit racing
THE MARK II: COLIN CHAPMAN’S FIRST QUEST FOR LIGHTNESS
Colin Chapman graduated as a civil engineer in the summer of 1948 and joined the RAF shortly thereafter. He had already begun working on the Mark II. Passionate as he was, Chapman devoted every moment he wasn’t in RAF-uniform to work on the car.
The Mark II was designed to be a state-of-the-art trials car, as well as road-legal.
Chapman’s later obsession with efficiency and weight started to show already in his design choices for the Mark II. It would be his first deliberate attempt to ‘add lightness’.
DUAL-PURPOSE DESIGN
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The Mark II was the first official testament to Chapman’s unique talent for functional innovation. Made to compete at muddy trials, the car would also be usable on the road.
THE FUTURE IS HERE
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