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Don't worry, Pete - I'm not running it down. It intrigues me, though, that there were a great number of cars whose design teams obviously didn't find their true potential when they were built.
Perhaps, like Chapman, they were pushing the envelope a bit with the stamina of their cars. Who was it who said that a Lotus should cross the line in first place, and then fall apart - anything more and it was excessively strong for the job.
Well, Bruce Halford and others have been running competitive Lotus 16s for more than two decades, so I guess that's one aspect of Chapman philosophy that's been consigned to the out tray.
And I was wondering if much of the improvement in some cars' form is simply down to someone having the opportunity for a bit of calm reflection - a luxury no-one could afford in the hubbub of a competition season.
By the way, I must correct my own deliberate mistake. Gerry Marshall's single-seater Aston was of course the DBR4. The DBR1 was quite successful enough out of the box, as the 1959 World Sportscar Championship will testify. But when they put the same engine in a monoposto DBR4?
Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear...
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