Maurice Philippe (30 April 1932 – 5 June 1989), also known as Maurice Phillippe, was a British aircraft and

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

car designer. Philippe designed his first car in 1955, called the MPS (Maurice Philippe Special), while employed developing the Comet 4 aircraft for De Havilland. Philippe raced a

Lotus 7 The Lotus Seven is a small, simple, lightweight, two-seater, open-top, open-wheel, sports car produced by the British manufacturer Lotus Cars (initially called Lotus Engineering) between 1957 and 1972. It was designed by Lotus founder Colin Cha ...

in 1963 and 1964, and in 1965 was asked by

Colin Chapman Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman (19 May 1928 – 16 December 1982) was an English design engineer, inventor, and builder in the automotive industry, and founder of Lotus Cars. In 1952 he founded the sports car company Lotus Cars. Chapman ...

to be his "design team" at

Team Lotus Team Lotus was the motorsport sister company of English sports car manufacturer Lotus Cars. The team ran cars in many motorsport categories including Formula One, Formula Two, Formula Ford, Formula Junior, IndyCar, and sports car racing. Mor ...

. Philippe and Chapman first redesigned the

Lotus 39 The Lotus 39 was a single-seat racing car produced by Team Lotus. It was originally intended for use in Formula One, to be powered by the Coventry Climax 1.5 litre flat-16 engine. The engine project fell through and the chassis was modified to ac ...

, then produced the

Lotus 43 The Lotus 43 was a Formula One racing car designed by Colin Chapman for the 1966 season. Hampered by its heavy and unreliable BRM engine, it won only one race, the 1966 United States Grand Prix. Concept The Lotus 43 was partially based on th ...

, the classic

Lotus 49 The Lotus 49 was a Formula One racing car designed by Colin Chapman and Maurice Philippe for the 1967 F1 season. It was designed around the Cosworth DFV engine that would power most of the Formula One grid through the 1970s. It was one of the fi ...

, the ground-breaking

Lotus 72 The Lotus 72 is a Formula One car designed by Colin Chapman and Maurice Philippe of Lotus for the 1970 Formula One season. The 72 was a pioneering design featuring inboard brakes, side-mounted radiators in sidepods (as opposed to the nose-moun ...

as well as the

Lotus 56 The Lotus 56 was a gas turbine-powered four-wheel-driven racing car, designed by Maurice Philippe as Team Lotus's STP-backed entry in the 1968 Indianapolis 500. All three cars entered retired from the race, Joe Leonard's car expiring while lead ...

turbine Indy cars. In 1972, Philippe left Lotus and went to work for

Parnelli Jones Rufus Parnell Jones (born August 12, 1933) is an American former professional racing driver and racing team owner. He is notable for his accomplishments while competing in the Indianapolis 500 and the Baja 1000 desert race. In 1962, he became the ...

's USAC team, designing the Cosworth-Parnelli VPJ4 for F1, which was raced in by

Mario Andretti Mario Gabriele Andretti (born February 28, 1940) is an Italian-born American former racing driver. One of the most successful drivers in the history of motorsports, Andretti is one of only two drivers to have won races in Formula One, IndyCar, t ...

. In 1978, he replaced Derek Gardner as chief designer at Tyrrell, with the

Tyrrell 008 The Tyrrell 008 was a Formula One car manufactured and raced by the Tyrrell Racing Organisation team during the 1978 season. Driven by Didier Pironi and Patrick Depailler, it achieved several podium finishes including a win at the 1978 Monaco Gr ...

finishing fourth in the Constructors' Championship. The 1979

Tyrrell 009 The Tyrrell 009 was a Formula One racing car that was designed by Maurice Philippe for Tyrrell Racing for the season. The 009, was powered by the Ford- Cosworth DFV V8 engine and made its competition debut in the first race of the season in Arg ...

ground-effect car was less successful, only scoring four third places. In 1980, the

Tyrrell 010 The Tyrrell 010 was a Formula One racing car that was designed by Maurice Philippe for Tyrrell Racing for the season. The 010, like all Tyrrells before it was powered by the Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manu ...

was introduced and was raced in modified form until 1981. In 1988, he designed the March-Alfa 89CE Indy car, but he died in 1989 before the car ran for the first time.

References

External links

Biography at www.grandprix.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Philippe, Maurice Formula One designers 1932 births 1989 deaths Lotus Cars British motorsport people