Boxcars! The Story of Two Lotus MK VIs

Most people know that “snake eyes” means a high risk (1 in 36), high reward (30 to 1) chance of rolling two “ones” in craps.  There’s the same risk and reward to rolling two “sixes.”  Rolling two “sixes” is called “boxcars.”  Seeing either one is rare and very rewarding.  As a Lotus enthusiast, I felt as though I had won at craps when I saw two Lotus MK VIs at the Lotus Owners Gathering (LOG 42) in East Tennessee in August 2024.  I have only seen one other Lotus MK VI in my fifty plus years of Lotus ownership, and that was a heavily modified car rebuilt as a sport racer.  Even better, both of these VIs had great stories.

Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman and the Birth of Lotus

There is no way to tell how Lotus came about without telling the story of Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman, aka Colin Chapman, the creator of Lotus cars.  Chris Harvey, in his book “Lotus – A competition survey of the sports, GT, and touring cars” said it well: “Like so many other great tales, the story of Lotus is that of one man, Colin Champman, and his cars: a man who dreamed of indolent enjoyment on wheels when he should have been building bridges; a Lotus-eater, if you like.  But unlike the Lotus-eaters of Ancient Greek mythology, Chapman showed no distaste for an active life: He worked day and night to achieve his ideals, driving all and everybody else before him, so that within a short time his dreams became a reality.”