The Lotus 25 was a racing car designed by Colin Chapman for the 1962 Formula One season. It was a revolutionary design, the first fully stressed monocoque chassis to appear in F1. An early brainchild of Chapman’s fertile mind, the original sketches for the car were made on napkins while Chapman discussed his idea while dining out with Lotus chassis designer Mike Costin.

The monocoque made the car more rigid and structurally stronger than typical F1 cars of the period. The 25 was three times stiffer than the interim 21, while the chassis weighed only half as much. As a result, the car was extremely low and narrow with the driver reclined sharply behind the wheel, leading to the nickname ‘The Bathtub’. The 25 debuted at the Dutch Grand Prix prompting John Cooper to ask Chapman where he had put the chassis.

Before it was replaced by the Lotus 33 the 25 won 13 races, took 17 pole positions, and set 13 fastest laps.