Founder of Lotus, Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman passes away at age 54 from a heart attack. Born May 19th, 1928 Richmond, Surrey, England. Colin studied structural engineering at the University College, London, and later working for the British Aluminum Company. Colin started racing an Austin Seven which he modified in 1948, unofficially referred to as the Mk1. Working on race cars and racing part time, he developed the Mk2 ( unofficial ) which Colin sold in 1950 to help finance his racing efforts.The Mk3, the first car to be called Lotus, following Colin's dedication to " performance through lightweight ". Production cars became the vehicle ( pun intended ) to finance racing. Colin and Lotus pioneered light weight construction through monocoque chassis, Chapman suspension, full composite construction ( fiberglass chassis ), bringing the mid engine design to Indy, major innovations in utilizing downforce through wings and skirts....Lotus Engineering designed suspensions for many production cars and designed the prototype for the Delorean and the Toyota MR2. Lotus designed Super 7 is still produced by Caterham Cars.