79-594: Lotus Group (also known as Lotus Cars , and trading as Lotus NYO in China) is a British multinational automotive manufacturer of luxury sports cars and electric vehicles. Lotus Group is composed of three primary entities. Lotus Cars , a high-performance sports car company, is based in Hethel , Norfolk . Lotus Tech , an all-electric lifestyle vehicle company, headquartered in Wuhan , China, and operates regional facilities in
158-519: A 91% stake in Group Lotus for £22.7 million, which allowed GM to legally force the company buyout. On 27 August 1993, GM sold the company for £30 million, to A.C.B.N. Holdings S.A. of Luxembourg , a company controlled by Italian businessman Romano Artioli , who also owned Bugatti Automobili SpA . In 1996, a majority share in Lotus was sold to Malaysian car company Proton . Lotus Cars was awarded
237-589: A complete turnaround in the company's fortunes, for which he was dubbed "the saviour of Lotus." Despite having employed designer Peter Stevens to revamp the range and design two new concept cars, by 1985 the British investors recognised that they lacked the capital to fund production and sought to find a buyer. In January 1986, Wickins oversaw the majority sale of the Group Lotus companies and 100% of North American–based LPCI to General Motors . After four months, Toyota sold GM its stake. By October 1986, GM had acquired
316-738: A garage. The four letters in the middle of the logo represent Chapman's full name, Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman. When the logo was created, Chapman's original partners Michael and Nigel Allen were allegedly told that the letters stood for Colin Chapman and the Allen Brothers. The first factory was situated in old stables behind the Railway Hotel in Hornsey , North London. Team Lotus , which was split from Lotus Engineering in 1954,
395-648: A heart attack on 16 December 1982 at the age of 54. At the time, both Chapman and Lotus were linked to the DeLorean Motor Company scandal regarding the use of UK Government subsidies for the production of the DMC DeLorean , for which Lotus had designed the chassis. Chasing large sums of money that had disappeared from the DeLorean company, Lotus was besieged by Inland Revenue inspectors, who imposed an £84 million legal "protective assessment" on
474-408: A joint venture with Renault–Nissan–Mitsubishi Alliance and its Alpine division to develop a range of electric performance cars sharing some of their future platforms. In April 2021, Lotus announced plans to produce only electric cars by 2028 and increase production numbers from around 1,500 per annum to tens of thousands. Geely and Etika Automotive provided two billion pounds (US$ 2.8 billion) to fund
553-715: A large proportion of Sevens sold in the United Kingdom were delivered in kit form as a result. The Seven Series 1 was used both on the road and for club racing (750 motor club in the UK). The Lotus Seven S2 followed in June 1960 and was supplemented by the Lotus Super Seven S2 from 1961. These were slightly more road-oriented than the Series 1, and received a somewhat simpler chassis. The Series 1's aluminium nosecone
632-644: A mere 383. This situation resulted from the worldwide economic recession combined with the virtual collapse of sales in the American market and limited development of the model range. In early 1982, Chapman forged an agreement with Toyota to exchange intellectual property and applied expertise. As a result, Lotus Engineering helped develop the Mk2 Toyota Supra , also known as the Toyota Celica XX . The partnership also allowed Lotus to launch
711-590: A multi-millionaire industrialist. The car maker built tens of thousands of successful racing and road cars and won the Formula One World Championship seven times. At the time of his death he was linked with the DeLorean Motor Company scandal over the use of government subsidies for the production of the Delorean for which Lotus had designed the chassis . In 1986, the company was bought by General Motors . On 27 August 1993, GM sold
790-419: A personalised Lotus Turbo Esprit, the new American company, Lotus Performance Cars Inc. (LPCI), was able to provide fresh capital to Group Lotus in the United Kingdom. Former Ferrari North America general manager John Spiech was recruited to run LPCI, which imported the remarkable Giugiaro -designed Turbo Esprit for the first time. American sales began to quickly jump into six figures annually. Chapman died of
869-450: A pseudo-wishbone which was semi-independent in nature. This approach worked well with early cross-ply tyres, but with later radials, the configuration seriously affected its adjustability. For the rear suspension, Lotus originally used a live axle (or solid axle ). This approach was very cost-effective since most production saloon cars up to the 1980s used these components. A mixture of Ford, Standard Motor Company and Austin components
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#1732787013873948-508: A purpose-built factory at Cheshunt in 1959, and since 1966 it has occupied a modern factory and road test facility at Hethel , near Wymondham in Norfolk . The site is a former World War II airfield, RAF Hethel , and the test track uses sections of the old runway. In its early days, Lotus sold cars aimed at private racers and trialists. Its early road cars could be bought as kits in order to save on purchase tax . The kit car era ended in
1027-481: A rigid frame with few tubes and very little bodyweight that does not contribute to the frame stiffness. The flat panels avoid difficulties in shaping aluminum sheet into smooth compound curves. On the downside, it does not allow attractive curves or streamlining. Originally equipped with the Ford Sidevalve engine , the Series 2 received the new Ford Kent engine . The original "Super Seven" received versions of
1106-404: Is about three feet (900 mm) from the road and it has a cloth top and side curtains with plastic back and side windows. The supports for the top and the windshield frame are aluminium. The lower chassis tubes are five inches (127 mm) from the road, while the wet-sump, bell housing, and one chassis tube are lower, meaning the centre of gravity is very low. The front/rear weight distribution
1185-412: Is accentuated by the slight natural lift caused by rotating wheels. Consequently, Sevens have exhibited understeer at high speeds. The rack and pinion steering provide a minimum of play and friction. It is a stressed skin construction, in which the flat aluminium body panels, and especially the floor, stiffen and effectively triangulate the largely rectangular steel tubular frame structure. This gives
1264-408: Is an open-wheel car with two seats and an open top. It was designed by Lotus founder Colin Chapman and has been considered the embodiment of the Lotus philosophy of performance through low weight and simplicity. The original model was highly successful with more than 2,500 cars sold, due to its attraction as a road legal car that could be used for clubman racing . After Lotus ended production of
1343-790: Is currently majority-owned by Chinese multinational Geely . Lotus was previously involved in Formula One racing, via Team Lotus , winning the Formula One World Championship seven times. Notable Lotus cars include the Lotus Seven , the Elan , the Esprit and the Elise . The company was formed in 1952 as Lotus Engineering Ltd. by Colin Chapman but had earlier origins in 1948 when Chapman built his first trials car in
1422-761: Is in the village churchyard, which is classified as the smallest reserve under the care of the British Wildlife Trusts partnership . . The name 'Hethel' is derived from the older name 'Het Hill'. RAF Hethel was an airfield used by the US during the Second World War, and later by the RAF. Located 7 miles (11 km) south west of Norwich , it was constructed in 1942 for American use and assigned USAAF designation "Station 114". From 14 September 1943 through to 12 June 1945, Hethel served as headquarters for
1501-448: Is nearly equal and the lack of a boot and small petrol tank assure that it remains fairly constant. It is, however, more front-heavy than more modern high-performance cars. In the original Seven, the front lower A-arm (or "wishbone") of the double wishbone suspension is traditional, but for the purpose of reducing weight, the upper suspension integrated an anti-roll (anti-sway) bar into a horizontal suspension arm. This approach formed
1580-470: Is not usually important in a car intended for public roads. While the car's frontal area is small, the Lotus Seven has a drag coefficient ( C d {\displaystyle \scriptstyle C_{\mathrm {d} }\,} ) among the highest of any known production car - ranging from 0.65 to 0.75, depending on the bodywork. Additionally, the clamshell front wings develop lift. This
1659-410: Is the holding company of Lotus Group Plc. Kimberley retired as CEO on 17 July 2009, replaced on 1 October 2009 by former Ferrari executive Dany Bahar . Bahar intended to drive the brand into the expanding global luxury-goods sector and away from the company's traditional lightweight simplicity and pure driving-experience focus. Bahar was suspended on 25 May 2012 while an investigation into his conduct
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#17327870138731738-622: The 1.8L VVTL-i I4 from Toyota's late Celica GT-S and the Matrix XRS . Michael Kimberley, who had been a guiding figure at Lotus in the 1970s, returned as acting chief executive officer in May 2006. He chaired the executive committee of Lotus Group International Limited (LGIL), established in February 2006 with Syed Zainal Abidin (managing director of Proton Holdings Berhad) and Badrul Feisal (non-executive director of Proton Holdings Berhad). LGIL
1817-754: The 1962 Natal Grand Prix . In addition, clamshell style wings tend to create drag and generate lift at higher speeds. Cycle wings help alleviate this tendency, and low height Brookland aeroscreens or the lighter Perspex variants that can replace the windscreen help improve top end speed. Sevens do suffer from front end lift at high speed – the nose creates more lift than downforce at speeds over around 70 mph (110 km/h), although retro fitted "winglets" may counter this. Nearly all Sevens, due to their extremely light weight (around 10cwt / 500 kg) have excellent acceleration, especially up to 70 mph (110 km/h), depending on power. The original late 1950s Sevens could beat most contemporary saloon cars—and by
1896-475: The 2nd Combat Bombardment Wing of the 2nd Bomb Division . After the departure of the Americans, it was assigned to RAF Fighter Command . On 25 June Polish-manned North American Mustang RAF squadrons moved into the base. In mid-1947, Hethel became a Personnel Transit Centre but was transferred to RAF Technical Training Command . With the downsizing of the RAF, the field was closed in 1948. For many years
1975-724: The EMAS concept from its parent company Proton, and likely to be primarily built by Proton in Malaysia. This car has also been cancelled. Lotus CEO at the time Jean Marc Gales confirmed in 2017 that development of an SUV is currently under way, after the company was acquired by the Chinese automotive manufacturer, Geely. In July 2019 Lotus revealed the Evija, a 1,470 kW (2,000 PS; 1,970 hp) and 1,700 N⋅m (1,254 lb⋅ft) electric supercar . In January 2021, Lotus teased that
2054-463: The Elise , Exige , and Evora would be discontinued and be replaced by the Type 131 which had yet to be released at the time of announcement. In July 2021, Lotus revealed that this new model is called Emira . In November 2021, Lotus teased the future introduction of the future Type 132 SUV, later named as Eletre . Hethel Hethel is a small village in the civil parish of Bracon Ash , in
2133-652: The KV team in the IndyCar Series and the ART team in the GP2 and GP3 Series in 2011 and 2012. After fielding underpowered and uncompetitive engines in the 2012 Indianapolis 500 , in which drivers Jean Alesi and Simona de Silvestro were black-flagged after ten laps for failing to maintain a competitive pace, Lotus was released from its contract and did not participate in future seasons. Current Lotus models include: At
2212-758: The Lotus 900 series , and later a V8 , and turbocharged versions of the engines appeared in the Esprit. Variants of the 900-series engine were supplied for the Jensen Healey sports car and the Sunbeam Lotus "hot hatchback". In the 1980s, Lotus collaborated with Vauxhall Motors to produce the Lotus Carlton , the fastest roadgoing Vauxhall car. By 1980, Group Lotus was in serious financial trouble. Production had dropped from 1,200 units per year to
2291-471: The Lotus Twin Cam engine . Only 13 examples were built. While only manufactured by Lotus for around two years, the Series 3 was the model later revived by Caterham after they ran out of Series 4 kits some time in the first half of the 1970s. In modified form, the design continues to be produced until today (2023). Between 1970 and 1975, following a representation agreement, Lotus Argentina SA obtained
2370-530: The Queen's Award for Enterprise for contribution to international trade, one of 85 companies receiving the recognition in that category in 2002. Lotus cars wore the badge of the award for several years. On 24 May 2017, Chinese multinational Geely announced that it was taking a 51% controlling stake in Lotus. The remaining 49% was acquired by Etika Automotive , a holding company of Proton's major shareholder Syed Mokhtar Albukhary . In January 2021, Geely announced
2449-472: The South Norfolk district, in Norfolk , England, approximately five miles (8.0 km) southeast of the market town of Wymondham , and approximately ten miles (16 km) south of the city of Norwich . In 1931 the parish had a population of 118. On 1 April 1935 the parish was abolished and merged with Bracon Ash. The village gave its name to the former RAF Hethel bomber station, which has been
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2528-552: The twin cam . Until now, most Sevens in the UK had been sold in kit form in order to avoid paying purchase tax . However, once the UK joined the EEC on 1 January 1973, the VAT system was adopted instead so the tax advantage of the kit-built Lotus Seven came to an end. Accordingly, in 1973, Lotus decided to shed fully its "British tax system"-inspired kit car image. As part of this plan, it sold
2607-552: The 1960s with the Lotus Elan. This two-seater was later developed to two-plus-two form (Elan +2S). Lotus was notable for its use of fibreglass bodies, backbone chassis and overhead camshaft engines, initially supplied by Coventry Climax but later replaced by Lotus-Ford units ( Ford block, Lotus head and twin-cam valve gear). Lotus also worked with Ford on the Lotus Cortina , a successful sports saloon . Another Lotus of
2686-642: The 2010 Paris Motorshow, Lotus announced five new models to be introduced over the next five years: Their intention was to replace the Elise with an entirely different model, as well as to introduce two entirely new sports coupes, which would have been known as the Elite and the Elan, a new sports saloon, the Eterne, to rival the Aston Martin Rapide and Maserati Quattroporte , and a modern interpretation of
2765-494: The Cosworth 1,340 cc "Super Seven" delivered 85 bhp (63 kW; 86 PS) and the later "Super Seven 1500" 105 bhp (78 kW; 106 PS). Some Series 2 Sevens built during 1968 (oftentimes referred to as "Series 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 ") were fitted with the later crossflow Kent engine of 1,599 cc. The series II had problems with its Standard Companion estate car rear axle and differential, unable to cope with
2844-524: The Esprit supercar. It became apparent in July 2012 that the firm's financial difficulties had made this plan impossible to implement, and initially all but the Esprit project were cancelled. Subsequently, the Esprit project was also cancelled. Lotus also showed an unnamed city car concept using its 1.2L range-extender engine. In 2011, Lotus revealed this as the Lotus Ethos , a plug-in hybrid car based on
2923-659: The FIA Historic Formula One Championship . It also preserves the Team Lotus archive and Works Collection of cars, under the management of Colin Chapman's son Clive. Team Lotus's participation in Formula One ended after the 1994 season , when the team's cars were no longer competitive. Cars constructed by the team won a total of 79 Grand Prix races. Former racing driver David Hunt (brother of F1 world champion James Hunt ) purchased
3002-534: The Kent unit with Cosworth modifications. Later, the Kent engine was updated to the crossflow design ; this 1.6-litre engine was the most commonly installed one in the Series 3 as well as Series 4. A limited number of earlier cars received Coventry Climax FWA engines, while the later cars were offered with the Lotus-Ford Twin Cam engine. The Lotus Seven was designed with racing in mind, and lightness
3081-560: The Lotus Driving Academy were/are also based at Hethel. All Saints Church displays an unusual juxtaposition of styles, from its square Saxon tower to the red-brick east end which includes the 18th-century Branthwaite family chapel on the north side of the chancel. It is a Grade I listed building [4] . Lotus Seven The Lotus Seven is a sports car produced by the British manufacturer Lotus Cars (initially called Lotus Engineering) between 1957 and 1973. The Seven
3160-635: The Seven was powered by a 36 bhp (27 kW; 36 PS) Ford Sidevalve 1,172 cc inline-four engine . In addition to the Ford unit, both BMC series A and Coventry Climax FWA engines were available for fitment. Under the Purchase Tax system of the time cars supplied as a kit did not attract the tax surcharge that would apply if sold in assembled form. Tax rules specified assembly instructions could not be included. This situation remained until 1973 and
3239-511: The Seven, Caterham bought the rights and today Caterham makes both kits and fully assembled cars based on the original design known as the Caterham 7 . The Lotus Seven design has spawned a host of imitations on the kit car market, generally called Sevens or Sevenesque roadsters. The Lotus Seven was launched in 1957 to replace the Mark VI as the entry-level Lotus model. The Seven name
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3318-449: The Team Lotus name, but Group Lotus had sole right to use the Lotus name. As a consequence, for 2012 Lotus Renault GP was rebranded as Lotus F1 Team and its entries were badged as Lotus cars, while Team Lotus was renamed Caterham F1 Team (after the sportscar manufacturer owned by team principal Tony Fernandes ) and its cars were badged as Caterhams. Group Lotus was also involved in several other categories of motorsport. It sponsored
3397-725: The United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Germany. Additionally, Lotus Engineering , an engineering consultancy firm, is headquartered at the Lotus Advanced Technology Centre (LATC) located at the University of Warwick's Wellesbourne Campus. Lotus was founded and owned for many years by Colin Chapman . After his death and a period of financial instability, it was bought by General Motors , then Romano Artioli and then DRB-HICOM through its subsidiary Proton , which owned Lotus from 1996 to 2017. Lotus
3476-518: The base was inactive and abandoned until it was finally sold by the Air Ministry in 1964. For a number of years the old airfield Nissen huts were used to house families awaiting re-housing under the post-war building programme. Forehoe and Henstead RDC also used part of the area as a store depot. With the end of military control, Hethel became the manufacturing and testing site for Lotus Cars . The manufacture of vehicles, originally started in
3555-490: The business is divided into Lotus Cars and Lotus Engineering. In addition to manufacturing sportscars, the company also acts as an engineering consultancy, providing engineering development—particularly of suspensions —for other car manufacturers. Lotus's powertrain department is responsible for the design and development of the four-cylinder Ecotec engine found in many of GM's Vauxhall , Opel , Saab , Chevrolet and Saturn cars. The American Elise and Exige models used
3634-427: The changes. Lotus Technology, the electric-vehicle division of Lotus. which has a different ownership structure (30% by Etika and the rest by Geely and Nio Capital), was listed on Nasdaq in February 2024, following the completion of a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company affiliated with L Catterton . After the listing, 10.3% of shares are held by the public. Currently organised as Group Lotus Limited,
3713-620: The company, for £30 million, to A.C.B.N. Holdings S.A. of Luxembourg , a company controlled by Italian businessman Romano Artioli , who also owned Bugatti Automobili SpA . In 1996, a majority share in Lotus was sold to Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional Bhd ( Proton ), a Malaysian car company listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange . The company also acts as an engineering consultancy, providing engineering development—particularly of suspension —for other car manufacturers. The company's former racing arm, Team Lotus , and
3792-643: The company. At the trial of Lotus accountant Fred Bushell, the judge insisted that had Chapman lived, he would have received a sentence "of at least 10 years." With Group Lotus near bankruptcy in 1983, David Wickins , the founder of British Car Auctions , agreed to become the new company chairman through an introduction by his friend Mark Thatcher . Taking a combined 29% BCA/personal stake in Group Lotus, Wickins negotiated with Inland Revenue and recruited new investors: merchant bank Schroeder-Wagg (14%), Michael Ashcroft 's Bermudian operating company Benor (14%) and Sir Anthony Bamford of JCB (12%). Wickins oversaw
3871-658: The creation of Lotus Renault GP, the successor to the Renault F1 team. This team contested the 2011 season having purchased a title sponsorship deal with the team, with the option to buy shares in the future. The team's car for that season, the R31 , was badged as a Renault, while Team Lotus's car, the T128 , was badged as a Lotus. In May 2011, the British High Court of Justice ruled that Team Lotus could continue to use
3950-563: The drivers' title went to Jackie Stewart of Tyrrell . Chapman saw Lotus beat Ferrari as the first marque to achieve 50 Grand Prix victories, even though Ferrari had won its first nine years sooner. Until the late 1980s, Team Lotus continued to be a major player in Formula One. Ayrton Senna drove for the team from 1985 to 1987, winning twice in each year and achieving 17 pole positions. Team Lotus established Classic Team Lotus in 1992, which continues to maintain Lotus F1 cars and run them in
4029-401: The early 1960s, with improved Ford-Cosworth engines could take on most high-performance sports cars with 0–60 mph time in the low 7 seconds. The less powerful early models had drum brakes all around, in common with most road cars of the time. Later models had front disc brakes. Physics favours small cars in braking and Sevens have excellent stopping distances. The highest part of the car
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#17327870138734108-453: The former airfield and use 2.5 miles (4.0 km) of runway. Much of the remaining runways have been removed and returned to agricultural use. The layout can still be seen from aerial photos. Lotus Cars designs and builds race and production automobiles of light weight and high handling characteristics. Colin Chapman , the founder of Lotus , died of a heart attack in 1982 at the age of 54, having begun life an innkeeper 's son and become
4187-652: The high power and cornering forces of the Seven. This was later solved on the Series III by installing a Ford Cortina rear end. Production of the Series 2 ended in August 1968, after 1310 examples had been built. The Seven S3 was released in 1968. As for late Series 2s, the S3 typically received the 1,599 cc crossflow Kent engine . First shown at Earl's Court in 1969, the Super Seven Twin Cam SS used
4266-601: The last Lotus badged Seven, a Series 4, was therefore produced in New Zealand. Steel Brothers Limited attempted to make a wider, modernised version of the Series 4, the Lotus Super 907, using the twin cam Lotus 907 engine. In the spring of 1978 it was announced that this was to be sold in the United States - but the American importer had no funds and the project came to naught. The single finished Super 907
4345-508: The last of the 95 kits provided by Lotus was used up. Steel Brothers had a much wider range of factory options than the UK models with carpet, centre console glove-box, radio, window-washer and hardtop. Sold largely to competition enthusiasts, the NZ cars also had engine modifications, close-ratio gears, and adjustable suspension as factory options. As such, they were very successful in local racing. With officially licensed production stopping in 1979,
4424-532: The late 1960s and early 1970s was the two-seater Lotus Europa , initially intended only for the European market, which paired a backbone chassis and lightweight body with a mid-mounted Renault engine, later upgraded to the Lotus-Ford twin-cam unit as used in the Elan. The Lotus Seven , originating in the 1950s as a simple, lightweight open two-seater. continued in production into the early 1970s. Lotus sold
4503-416: The late 1960s and early 1970s, with the Lotus Elan Plus Two as the first Lotus road car not offered in kit form, and the Lotus Eclat and Lotus Elite of the mid-1970s were offered only in factory-built versions. After the Lotus Elite of the 1950s, which featured a complete fibreglass monocoque fitted with built-in steel pickup points for mounting major components, Lotus found critical and sales success in
4582-423: The licence for future seasons as a result of what it called "flagrant and persistent breaches of the licence by the team." Lotus Racing then announced that it had acquired Team Lotus Ventures Ltd, the company led by David Hunt, and with it full ownership of the rights to the Team Lotus brand and heritage. The team confirmed that it would be known as Team Lotus from 2011 onward. In December 2010, Group Lotus announced
4661-527: The licence to manufacture the Lotus Seven in Argentina. This production reached approximately 51 units. These vehicles were not replicas but built under licence and branded as Lotuses. In 1970, Lotus radically changed the shape of the car to create the slightly more conventional sized Series 4 (S4), with a squarer fibreglass shell replacing most of the aluminium bodywork. It also offered some luxuries as standard, such as an internal heater matrix. The S4 Seven could be supplied with 1298 or 1599 cc Kent engines or
4740-420: The location of the Head Office and factory of Lotus Cars since the 1960s. The Lotus Cars test track uses sections of the old RAF Hethel runway. Hethel is noted for containing the oldest known living hawthorn tree in East Anglia and possibly in the United Kingdom (reputed to be more than 700 years old). Planted in the 13th century, " Hethel Old Thorn " (a specimen of Common Hawthorn, Crataegus monogyna )
4819-400: The marque's first Grand Prix in 1960 at Monaco . Moss drove a Lotus 18 entered by privateer Rob Walker . Major success came in 1963 with the Lotus 25 , which, with Jim Clark driving, won Team Lotus its first F1 World Constructors' Championship . Clark was killed in April 1968 when the rear tyre of his Formula Two Lotus 48 failed while making a turn at a race in Hockenheim . His death
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#17327870138734898-505: The name Team Lotus and licensed it to the Formula One team Pacific Racing , which was rebranded Pacific Team Lotus. The Pacific Team folded at the end of the 1995 season. The Lotus name returned to Formula One for the 2010 season , when a new Malaysian team called Lotus Racing was awarded an entry. The new team used the Lotus name under licence from Group Lotus and was unrelated to the original Team Lotus. In September 2010 Group Lotus, with agreement from its parent company Proton, terminated
4977-479: The new Lotus Excel to replace the ageing Lotus Eclat . Using drivetrain and other components build by Toyota enabled Lotus to sell the Excel for £1,109 less than the outgoing Eclat. Looking to reenter the North American market, Chapman was approached by young law professor and investment banking consultant Joe Bianco, who proposed a new and separate American sales company for Lotus. By creating an unprecedented tax-incentivised mechanism by which each investor received
5056-414: The old hangars and workshops, now takes place in several modern buildings. Lotus uses parts of the airfield perimeter track and lengths of the main runway as a testing track. In 1966 Lotus Cars moved into a purpose built factory on the site of the airfield and developed portions of the runways and taxiways as a test track for their cars. The factory and engineering centres cover 55 acres (22 ha) of
5135-409: The parts from Lotus, £100 for the Ford engine and gearbox and £27 for the BMC rear axle. A Seven's top speed greatly depends upon the body configuration, engine power and gearing. Early models with low-powered engines had difficulty exceeding 90 mph (140 km/h), although a race-prepared Seven was clocked at 127 mph (204 km/h) whilst driven by Brausch Niemann through a speed-trap at
5214-503: The rights to produce the Seven to Caterham , which has continued to produce the car since then. By the mid-1970s, Lotus sought to move upmarket with the launch of the Elite and Eclat models, four-seaters aimed at prosperous buyers, with features such as optional air conditioning and automatic transmissions. The mid-engine line continued with the Lotus Esprit , which became one of the company's longest-lived and most iconic models. Lotus developed its own series of four-cylinder DOHC engines,
5293-501: The rights to the Seven to its only remaining agents Caterham Cars in England and Steel Brothers Limited in New Zealand. Caterham ran out of the Lotus Series 4 kits in the early 1970s. When this occurred and in accordance with their agreement with Lotus, Caterham introduced its own brand version of the Series 3. They have been manufacturing the car ever since as the Caterham Seven . Steel Brothers Limited in Christchurch , New Zealand, assembled Lotus Seven Series 4s until March 1979 when
5372-429: The undersurface of the car to create downforce . It invented active suspension and was the first to move radiators to the sides of the car to improve aerodynamic performance. Formula One Drivers' Championship winners for Lotus were Jim Clark in 1963 and 1965, Graham Hill in 1968, Jochen Rindt in 1970, Emerson Fittipaldi in 1972 and Mario Andretti in 1978. In 1973, Lotus won the constructors' championship only;
5451-443: The weight crept upward as production progressed, it remained remarkably low for a production car of over a litre displacement. The front was by "A" arms and coil springs with an anti-roll bar serving as the front half of the top A-arm. The rear had trailing arms, a triangular centre locating member, and a solid rear axle. The Lotus Seven has spawned many books, test reports, and articles, many of which are still in print. Because of
5530-453: Was a severe blow to the team and to Formula One, as he had been the dominant driver of Lotus's early years. That year's championship was won by Clark's teammate Graham Hill . Team Lotus is credited with making the mid-engine layout popular for IndyCars , developing the first monocoque Formula One chassis and integrating the engine and transaxle as chassis components. Team Lotus was among the pioneers in Formula One in adding wings and shaping
5609-417: Was active and competitive in Formula One racing from 1958 to 1994. The Lotus Group of Companies was formed in 1959. This was composed of Lotus Cars Limited and Lotus Components Limited, which focused on road cars and customer competition-car production, respectively. Lotus Components Limited became Lotus Racing Limited in 1971, but the newly renamed entity ceased operation that same year. The company moved to
5688-481: Was changed to a fibreglass unit. Cycle fenders were originally standard, with clamshell units standard fitment on the 1500, Super Seven, and America or available as an option. While the 1172 cc Sidevalve unit remained available until 1962, the series 2 typically used Ford Kent engines of 1,340 or 1,499 cc from the Ford Consul Classic . These were also available with Cosworth modifications;
5767-455: Was covered with stressed aluminium panel bodywork. The body panels were mainly flat to avoid the expense of more elaborate curved bodywork, and the simple cloth lined plastic doors were hinged from the windscreen. The nose-cone and wheel arches were originally aluminium parts, but these were replaced in the later S2 and S3 models with painted or self-coloured fibreglass. Early Lotus Sevens weighed around 1,100 lb (10cwt/500 kg). Although
5846-605: Was left over from a model that Lotus abandoned, which would have been a Riley-engine single-seater that Lotus intended to enter into the Formula Two in 1952 or 1953. However, the car was completed on Chapman's chassis as a sports car by its backers and christened the Clairmonte Special. Externally similar to Chapman's earlier Lotus Mark VI , but with a different tubular frame similar to the Lotus Eleven ,
5925-605: Was moved from New Zealand to the United States in 2010 to undergo a full restoration. A car with a tuned Ford 1172 cc engine and close-ratio gearbox was tested by the British magazine The Motor in 1958. It was found to have a top speed of 80.4 mph (129.4 km/h), could accelerate from 0-60 mph (97 km/h) in 6.2 seconds and had a fuel consumption of 31.0 miles per imperial gallon (9.1 L/100 km; 25.8 mpg ‑US ). The test car cost £1,157 including taxes of £386. They commented that car could be bought in component form and then it would have cost £399 for
6004-407: Was of primary concern to Chapman. Like racing cars of the time, it was therefore built around a multi-tube space frame with high sides to allow a stiffer frame (longer lever arm). The Series II and later road versions had simpler frames than the more race-oriented Series I. A front-mounted engine driving the rear wheels (a similar layout to most cars of the day) and a very lightweight steel spaceframe
6083-536: Was replaced by Feng Qingfeng from Lotus Group's parent company, Geely. October 2018 saw further senior personnel changes as Phil Popham was named CEO of Lotus Cars, with Qingfeng remaining in charge of Group Lotus. In January 2021, Matt Windle was appointed managing director of Lotus Cars after Phil Popham resigned. In its early days, the company encouraged its customers to race its cars, and it first entered Formula One through its sister company Team Lotus in 1958. A Lotus Formula One car driven by Stirling Moss won
6162-408: Was undertaken. On 7 June 2012, Lotus announced the termination of Bahar and the appointment of Aslam Farikullah as the new chief operating officer. The ambitious plans for several new models were cancelled following Bahar's departure. Jean Marc Gales became CEO in 2014, and in 2017, he enabled the company to achieve its first profit in decades. Gales left the company in June 2018 for personal reasons and
6241-416: Was used. One disadvantage of live axles is higher unsprung weight , affecting handling and ride on rough surfaces. In general, cars with non-optimised aerodynamics tend to be free of adverse aerodynamic effects on handling, but the front wheel arches, of all but the Series I, cause lift at high speeds. Like the good straight-line performance, the car's nimble handling is limited in the speed range, and this
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