Williams and Pritchard were intimately involved with Colin Chapman and Lotus right from the very early days up until the mid-sixties, after John Teychenne commissioned them to body a racer for him, and was so impressed with the results that he recommended them to Chapman. The story goes that Len Pritchard sketched out the bodywork for the Lotus VI at his and Charlie's initial meeting with Chapman, on a napkin in a greasy spoon somewhere in Hornsea, and that was the start of the relationship. W&P then moved into shared premises with Lotus in Hornsea, where they stayed until the move to First Avenue at Edmonton in the mid-sixties. W&P were, in effect, the arms' length in-house bodywork team for Lotus during the fifties. They bodied a series of cars from the 1952 Lotus VI prototype through to Lotus XV and beyond, with prototypes in alloy right up to the Elan. Detailed records survive in the Pritchard family archives. These handcrafted cars are very well documented and a wealth of material on them is held by the Historic Lotus Register and Club Lotus. You can find out more about these cars at the Historic Lotus Register website:
 
The Teychenne JVT-1, bodied by W&P, which led to the start of the Lotus connection ...
Given the level of involvement Williams and Pritchard had with Lotus, it is appropriate for this website to recognise this highest profile part of their work and to include some pictures of some of the beautiful bodywork which they produced. These is not an exhaustive list and in due course we hope to expand this section of the website. It is worth noting that W&P (in addition to the general input they gave whilst producing prototypes) are credited with substantial design input in the own right into the bodywork for several Lotus models, most notably the Lotus VI, Lotus Fifteen, Lotus Seven and various Formula Two bodies. |
