Maurice Philippe’s name is one that many people in racing know well. He earned a vast reputation for being one of the best car designers in Formula One car racing and he was a British aircraft designer that many respected.

Philippe designed his first car in 1955. The first one he ever designed was called the Maurice Philippe Special or MPS.

Philippe raced a Lotus 7 in 1963 and 1964. However, design was his passion and in order to design the most effective cars, he wanted the expertise of another man who would become equally well respected in the industry.

In 1965, Colin Chapman joined him at Team Lotus. Philippe and Chapman redesigned a Lotus 39 and went on to produce some of the most incredible cars in the company’s line-up. These cars included the Lotus 43, and the remarkable Lotus 49 along with others.

When it was time to break the mold and come out with a better car, the extraordinary Lotus 72 was designed by the Chapman-Philippe team. It was in 1972 that Philippe would leave Lotus before joining the team that would place Mario Andretti behind the wheel.

When Philippe left Lotus, he joined Parnelli Jones and his USAC team. He then designed the car that Mario Andretti would drive in 1975.

In 1978, he joined the Tyrell team as the chief designer. In 1988, he put together a plan for the March-Alfa 89 CR Indy car. He never saw that particular car enter a race for the first time. Maurice Philippe died in 1989 leaving behind his legacy of being one of the best Formula One race car designers to ever live.