My Lotus Interlude

Toward the end of my first period with Shadow, things weren’t working out too well, money was getting tight and I couldn’t really get on with my job, as I wanted to. There were cutbacks here and there, and it made life difficult. There were lots of promises and no delivery. I remember getting a phone call from Lotus, it was Tony Rudd. I was asked if I would be interested in joining them. At the time Lotus were in the shit, they had the Lotus 77 and were having a lot of difficulties with it. Chapman was tied up with the car and boat business and wasn’t as hands-on as he had been with the design of the other F1 cars. I was asked if I wanted the post of Chief Engineer. I thought this could be an interesting move. Colin had the ability of being everything you wanted him to be at the time. If he had to be hard he would be hard. If he had to be understanding he would be that, too. He knew just how I needed him to be when we met. He said, “Why don’t you come to us and be our Chief Engineer? You can start as soon as you want.” I was free to talk to him as I was out of contract with Shadow. He said, “How much money do you want?” I thought and gave him an exaggerated figure, as you have to, of what I was earning. “I’ll double it; I’ll give you two company cars, and a house.” That took, literally, about two minutes of conversation. It leaves you dead in your tracks. You can’t ask for more, or argue, and how can you refuse? He went on, assuming I would agree to join Lotus, “Do you think we need a new car or do you think we could do something with the current car?” In his mind, he had taken care of the personal issues and couldn’t care less about the personal financial aspect, he wanted to go on and deal with the next problem—the racing car.

I obviously accepted Colin’s offer and we moved to the estate in Norfolk. On the estate, at Ketteringham Hall, there is a stately home, grounds, various cottages, and a little used church, I think it was used every two months or so, adjoining the church is the thatched vicarage—this was to be our home. I visited the place quite recently and found it to be just the same as when we lived there. It would be worth a fortune now. The day you joined Lotus you knew exactly what you had let yourself in for. All the rumors and stories you’ve heard about Lotus and Chapman are absolutely true. For me, I wanted to experience it for myself, just for the heck of it. I had admired him as a person and his previous work as a designer and engineer. I was finishing my last Grand Prix with Shadow, the Spanish GP, which was on the Sunday; theoretically, I became a Lotus worker the next day, Monday. The Grand Prix had been finished, no more than half an hour. Chapman came to the back of the Shadow garage, bag in his hand, he said, “I’m off, are you ready? Get your bag, we’re off. Come on, come on!” I had my bag in my car, as we used to leave the circuit and go straight to the airport. “Hang on, give me five minutes,” I said. I went to the car got my bag and we were off, flying back to England in his plane. That’s how intense the man was, and that was the start of my 15-month contract with Lotus. My job was to sort out the existing car, design a new car and to get things underway until he could be in a position to take more control of the team. It was a fascinating period.