Jay Chamberlain

Jay Clifford Chamberlain (29 December 1925 - 1 August 2001): American racing driver from Burbank, California who in 1950 built a hot rod in his Sherman Oaks garage intended for the California Racing Association dirt-track circuit but lost interest and switched to road racing in sports cars. He was a sports car racer who competed almost exclusively in Lotus cars, for which he was an early US distributor. Chamberlain finished ninth overall at Le Mans in 1957, first in class, driving a Lotus Eleven. He was the United States distributor for Lotus cars and in 1959 reorganized his company into Jay Chamberlain Automotive to sell Lotus race cars and other lines including Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Borward, Triumph, and Lancia.

A separate company called Lotus Cars of America was set up to sell the Elite, Seven, and other road cars. He participated in three World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 21 July 1962, scoring no championship points. He entered the 1962 Formula 1 season in Europe under the Ecurie Excelsior banner driving a Lotus 18, then failed to qualify for the German and Italian GPs. He also participated in numerous non-Championship Formula One races.