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LOTUS MARK 6
Ben Corley | June 23, 2007
From Motorsnippets by John Sutton and Derek Cattani - Photographs by Douglas Eatwell
In 1953, 25 year-old Colin Chapman owned Lotus Engineering Co., Ltd., which was little more than a garage with a sign saying as much, located at No. 7 Tottenham Lane in North London. Lotus Engineering was a part time business for Chapman, who daily grind was working for the British Aluminium Company.
Chapman had made a name for himself by racing Austin 7 powered specials built for the 750 Formula. Chapman by then had decided to produce a kit car to avoid the heavy British Purchase Tax. The car he planned would be a sporty roadster suitable for club racing, and be sold in component form. The car had to be cheap. Chapman decided to go with British Ford components, breaking away from his earlier Austin-engined specials.
The chassis was to be a steel spaceframe. This was not a new concept as quite a few other cars had by then already been constructed using spaceframe technology. The Lotus Mark 6, as it would come to be known was triangulated, stiff yet lightweight and represented a benchmark for British sportscar design. The spaceframe was built from 1″ and 1-7/8″ tubes, welded together. The body was fully made from aluminium alloy and were rivetted to the spaceframe, enhancing the rigidity of the complete structure.
Construction was farmed out to the nearby Progress Chassis Company, in Edmonton. According to Dennis Ortenburger’s book ‘Legend Of The Lotus Seven‘, the welding jig was fashioned from an old iron bed frame, and chassis brackets were cut from any light gauge steel which happened to be on hand (including junk car bodies and discarded filing cabinets!).
Expert panel beaters Williams & Pritchard fabricated the alloy body panels. This included cycle wings, rear wings, nose cowl, bonnet top and sides, transmission tunnel, trunk lid, etc. In brief everything needed to make the whole thing look somewhat like a rear car. A rigid windscreen or Brooklands type screens were provided, along with wipers and a folding top completing the weatherproofing kit. Headlights and a spare tyre bracket rounded out the package for practicality.
Suspension was a Ford beam axle, converted into a sort of swing axle by cutting the beam in half and adding bushings to the inner ends. Ford components were then altered to produce radius arms and coilover shocks were fitted to complete the package. The result was typical Chapman - an economically produced fully independant front suspension!
It has been reported however, that the swing axle arrangement was in fact from an idea originated by Leslie Ballamy in 1933 for Austin 7 specials. His business L.M.B. Components Ltd was located in Guildford, Surrey.
The engine was a Ford 8 (E93A) engine of 1172cc or the Ford 10 (100E) engine. There was also the sporty engine option - an MG-TF 1500cc motor! Ford 16″ wheels, speedometer, oil pressure gauge and ammeter were standard equipment on the Lotus Mark 6 “Basic”. The “Sports” kit added Lotus-modded lightweight 15″ wheels, tachometer and differential ratio options. Sports kits were sold with an option of selecting the Ford 100E, MG-TF or a Coventry Climax OHC 1097 FWA engine.
Chapman and Mike Costin raced the works demo car, and along with others, the Mark 6 by the end of the first season had earned itself no less than 47 awards in various disciplines, including 19 wins! Production continued until 1955 and by then about 100 cars had been built. The Mark 6 performed well, according to what Chapman had intended and it paved the way for the Seven, even as the numbers went up and up for Lotus products.
ロータス / ケイターハム スーパーセブン ビルダー
SOURCE: LEGEND OF THE LOTUS SEVEN, MOTORSNIPPETS, WIKIPEDIA
Topics: Lotus, Non-Seven, Vendors, Components, Chassis |
September 23rd, 2007 at 5:06 am
when i was searving my time as a motor mechanic a man called HARRY FELLOWS brought a blue lotus 6 for us get running for him .all i can remember was the side valve engine with 2 su carbs and cable brakes and sounding fantastic.do you know of mr fellows or the wearabouts of his car.will you please email back .CHEERS
April 14th, 2008 at 2:58 am
To Peter Wright - Harry Fellows’ Mk 6 still exists - the next owner acquired it in 1993 and rebuilt it and since then it has been regularly used by him and the subsequent two owners. I think Mr Fellows bought the car around 1960. Do get in touch.