{"id":492917,"date":"2013-02-01T15:00:39","date_gmt":"2013-02-01T15:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportscardigest.com\/\/?p=21532"},"modified":"2024-12-27T03:08:28","modified_gmt":"2024-12-27T03:08:28","slug":"life-at-lotus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/life-at-lotus\/","title":{"rendered":"Life at Lotus"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Bob<\/a>
Bob Dance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I started work with Lotus Components in 1960. I really wanted to join the Lotus Formula One team, but unless you were in the right place at the right time and talking to the right person, it was difficult. It was very curious in the way it worked, you could be passing the Lotus HQ in Cheshunt, bump into someone on the F1 team and ask, \u201cIs there any work for the coming season?\u201d If you spoke to the right person at the right time of year you\u2019d possibly end up with a job, irrespective of your mechanical abilities or qualifications\u2014it was very ad hoc. I joined Lotus Components thinking I could gravitate to the F1 team once they saw my abilities and potential, but it wasn\u2019t that easy! Although all the various Lotus companies were all under one umbrella, if you were any good at your job that particular company wouldn\u2019t want to let you go. So, I started work on the sequential gearboxes, which was about nine months of work, after which I thought I\u2019d give it a try with the race team, otherwise I was considering moving on. I had the chance of working with the UDT race team, which had purchased a number of Lotus 18 and 19 racing cars for the new season, and another team, Camoradi. However, if I\u2019d have joined them they would have jeopardized their chance of buying parts from Lotus because they had lured away a member of the Lotus staff. In other words I was trapped. Not wanting to stay on \u201cthe line\u201d building customer Formula Juniors, or Renault gearboxes, I stood firm on my decision to leave. They were, however, sensible enough to let me move to another department, Lotus Developments, which built specialized gearboxes right from the casting to the finished item. It may surprise you to learn, that it would take about a week to complete one gearbox in those days, there was a lot of fitting and fettling required. At Lotus Developments I worked under Mike Costin, I couldn\u2019t have been under a better man. He was a racer and an excellent motivator and leader\u2014with a sense of humor too! I also worked with the late Steve Sanville in the engine shop. He was a boffin, very sharp, and took great interest in your work. He would let you know exactly what he wanted and how you had to do it. So, within Lotus Developments I was able to stretch myself a little more, working on high-performance engines and gearboxes such as the very early Hewland, Colotti, ZF and one or two of the early Lotus boxes. I felt it was a good move working under some really good people. It also got me closer to Colin Chapman\u2014he\u2019d walk through the shop from time to time. I then got involved with building the prototype Lotus twin-cam engine. We tested it on a little Schenk dyno prior to running it in a Ford Anglia 105E we had brought in from Belgium. We had to use a foreign left-hand-drive car to accommodate the Weber carbs. If we\u2019d used a right-hand-drive car the brake master cylinders would have been in the way. Eventually, in 1962, we took the engine in a Lotus 23 to the N\u00fcrburgring 1000K sportscar race to test it, and that was the start of my going to race circuits. I remember working one Saturday morning and having a conversation with Colin Chapman. He was in a good mood, and he thought a lot of those who worked out of normal working hours\u2014they were putting the extra effort in. From that conversation I was gradually moved to the race team, rising to the heady heights of Chief Mechanic.<\/p>\n

\"Sadly,<\/a>
Sadly, Gunnar Nilsson\u00d5s time was cut short by cancer.Photo: Pete Austin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After a while with the Lotus F1 team, I moved to March, and then to Motor Racing Developments running Brabham cars under Bernie Ecclestone. I joined the team with Kerry Adams and Herbie Blash. Ron Tauranac ran the company. He was a pretty inflexible man with a completely different outlook on life than Colin Chapman. Bernie could be quite hands-on at times, but like everyone else he could have both good and bad moods. If it was the latter, it was best to keep your head down and concentrate on your work. I wouldn\u2019t say he was mechanically minded, but remember his racing career goes right back to the early days of 500-cc racing. He also bought the Connaught team and ran Stuart Lewis-Evans. It must not be forgotten, too, that Bernie was Jochen Rindt\u2019s manager, so he had a connection with Lotus through him. Jochen was tragically killed at Monza, I don\u2019t want to dwell on that point, but it was during the days when you went to a motor race and hoped you came back with a full complement of both drivers and mechanics. I spent a time working with them before rejoining Lotus. I didn\u2019t fall out with Bernie Ecclestone, I just didn\u2019t want to move to the new premises he\u2019d earmarked to move to in Surrey. It all came about by a series of coincidences. At one of the Grands Prix in 1976, I think it was Monte Carlo, I was working on the flat-12 Alfa-engined Brabham BT45. Chapman sent one of his lads to ask if I\u2019d come and explain something about their gearbox as he had a problem with it. There was no problem between the teams and there was more of a sense of camaraderie in those days. I spoke to Chapman and he asked if he could watch me fix it. So, I showed him how to fix it and he was very thankful, we wished each other good luck for the race and I returned to the Brabham pit garage. About a week later, Lotus team manager Peter Warr was on the telephone to me asking if I\u2019d consider rejoining the team. I agreed to meet to discuss the possibility of moving back, but told them I\u2019d see the season out with Brabham, I wasn\u2019t one of those who\u2019d jump ship mid-season. I didn\u2019t think it fair on the team; once I\u2019d committed to a team I was there for the season, and I wasn\u2019t about to let anyone down. Whenever I joined a team, I\u2019d shake hands and tell them I was onboard for the whole season, come what may. Lotus, in those days was quite a hard team to work for. They pushed the barriers far more than any other team, and you worked really hard and long hours for your money\u2014it was total commitment. We would average a 60-hour week for most weeks of the year at Lotus. The last Grand Prix of the 1976 season was at Fuji, in Japan. Mario Andretti won the race in a Lotus 77. He couldn\u2019t help but talk to me about it after the race, saying, \u201cThere you are Bob, we\u2019ve won a Grand Prix to give you a good start for the next season!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n