Colin Chapman, born in 1928, founded Lotus Cars in 1952 (started out as Lotus Engineering Ltd). Lotus began building cars that were designed as cutting edge, light weight and affordable performance sports cars. In 1954 Team Lotus was split from Lotus to focus on motorsport, becoming one of the most successful Formula One teams between 1954 and 1994, winning 6 Driver's Championships and 79 Grand Prix races.

Lotus Cars was one of the few British performance car manufacturers to survive the industrial downturn in the 1970s. It is currently a subsidiary of Chinese auto manufacturer Geely.

Chapman studied engineering at University College London but left in 1948 before finishing his degree (he eventually received his degree in 1949). After a brief stint in the Royal Air Force and selling aluminum, he began designing race cars for local racing, progressing to making kits of race cars for selling. His successful designs were highly sought after and allowed him to progress through higher levels of racing during the 1950s.

Many of Chapman's technical innovations are still seen in motor racing today. He was the first to introduce the monocoque (structural skin) chassis design and brought concepts from aeronautical engineering to race car design for adding downforce to the underside of cars for better handling. A suspension component known as the Chapman strut are still used in a car's rear suspension.

He died of a heart attack in 1982 while at his home in Norwich.

More Info: en.wikipedia.org