All you need to know about Lotus.
Born: 1948 Nationality: British
The first Lotus was a Trials Special based on a 1940 Austin 7 saloon to which founder Colin Chapman's philosophy, that every panel must add to overall strength without adding unnecessary weight, had been applied.
The company developed into full production with the Mark 6, which evolved into the Lotus 7 in 1957, beginning a nameplate that was to endure until the early 1970s when manufacturing rights were taken over by Caterham Cars, which still produces 7s.
Lotus has been responsible for many "firsts", one being the introduction of aerodynamics to racing cars in 1955 with the help of aeronautical engineer Frank Costin. This was developed with the Mk 8 and the Mk 10, and then the Type 11 which became a class winner at Le Mans and set up a 143 mph world record for 1,100cc cars.
The first of the E model names appeared in 1957 with the Elite, which was also the first closed passenger car produced by the company.
In the early 1960s, Lotus again innovated in the racing scene with the 18, one of the first race cars with mid-engined design. It had less power than the main contemporaries but, in the hands of Stirling Moss, its superior handling won Lotus its first Grand Prix in 1960 in Monaco. It was produced for road use under the 19 designation, better known as the Lotus Monte Carlo.
Throughout the 1960s Lotus further developed a number of road and rally cars, and kept its reputation for invention with the Elan, the first Lotus road car to use the steel backbone chassis on which was fitted a glass-fibre body.
The Ford connection was cemented when the blue oval company asked Lotus to build a limited edition of the Cortina GT saloon for competition. Just 1,000 Lotus Cortinas were produced, and between 1963 and 1966 they dominated their class.
Back on the single-seat circuits, Chapman devised what became the standard Formula One racing car design to the present day, cutting off the chassis behind the driver and bolting the engine/gearbox/suspension to the rear bulkhead. His competitors thought it would fold up at the first bend.
For the road, more E cars were produced into the 1980s including the Elite, the Eclat, and the Giugiaro-styled Esprit show car that went into production because of massive public demand. By 1986, this was a 215 bhp flyer with a 0-60mph capability of 6 seconds. The 1990 Elan used advanced construction technologies that made it the torsionally stiffest open roadster in the world.
Lotus continued to tweak saloons for other manufacturers, including the 1990 Lotus Omega for GM, a large saloon with the straight-line performance of an Esprit.
In 1996, the Elise brought the company back to the forefront of sports car production. Very quickly this model derived a supercar version which dropped the steadfast old 4-cylinder Lotus engine in favour of a V8 3.5-litre that gave the car a 4-second 0-60mph. More recent Lotus work has included the Opel Speedster, the amazing Extreme concept, a shopping trolley, an engineless "soap-box" competitor, and even an electric Elise.
Best Car: Probably the 1990 Elan, for its classic sports car lines and concept.
Worst Car: Only for its looks - the 1980 Sunbeam Lotus Talbot, but, boy, could it go on the rally circuit.
Weirdest Car: The Extreme concept car produced in 2000