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132-452: Team Lotus was the motorsport sister company of English sports car manufacturer Lotus Cars . The team ran cars in many motorsport categories including Formula One , Formula Two , Formula Ford , Formula Junior , IndyCar , and sports car racing . More than ten years after its last race, Team Lotus remained one of the most successful racing teams of all time, winning seven Formula One Constructors' titles , six Drivers' Championships , and

264-572: A 3-Litre successor. They started the season fielding the hastily prepared and uncompetitive two-litre Coventry-Climax FWMV V8 engine, only switching to the BRM P75 H16 engine in time for the Italian Grand Prix, with the new engine proving to be overweight and unreliable. A switch to the new Ford Cosworth DFV, designed by former Lotus employee Keith Duckworth , in 1967 returned the team to winning form. Although they failed to win

396-520: 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

528-544: A Cortina GT500 - Australia's answer to the Cortina Lotus produced to comply with the local build requirements to be able to be raced of 100 units; initial batch 122, as opposed to running the Cortina Lotus which would have been imported with a minimum requirement of 250 - built by and intended for Harry Firth in the 1965 Bathurst 500 was clocked at 118 mph down Conrod Straight using a 3.9 diff, Lotus gearbox, large diameter (non radial) tyres and 7,900 rpm. The Cortina

660-541: A budget-limited championship in 2010, Litespeed acquired the right to submit an entry under the historic name. Lotus Cars , the sister company of the original Team Lotus, distanced itself from the new entry and announced its willingness to take action to protect its name and reputation if necessary. When the 2010 entry list was released on 12 June 2009, the Litespeed Team Lotus entry was not one of those selected. In September 2009, reports emerged of plans for

792-594: 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

924-427: A different engine and suspension. The Mk2 took a while to appear, first appearing in 1967. The main difference was the choice of colours and the lack of a stripe, although most had them fitted at Ford dealers at extra cost. The only cosmetic changes made were a black front grille, 5.5J x 13 steel wheels and Lotus badges on rear wings and by the rear number plate. The badge on the front grille was an option at first. Unlike

1056-479: A different final drive of 3.77:1 rather than 3.9:1. The Mk2 was a wider car than the Mk1, so although they looked the same, the steel wheels had a different offset so as not to upset the tracking, and radial tyres were now standard. Another attraction was the larger fuel tank. The spare wheel could now be mounted in its wheel well, but the battery remained in the boot to aid weight distribution. The only real difference to

1188-422: A few teething problems reported by the first batch of owners, (most of these problems show how quickly the car was developed) some of the engines were down on power, the gear ratios were too close and the worst problem was the differential housing coming away from the casing. This problem was mainly caused by the high loads put on the axle because of the A bracket it was an integral part of the rear suspension. This

1320-458: A green stripe with the Lotus logo. Pacific left Formula One after the 1995 Australian Grand Prix . The last race for Lotus was the 1994 Australian Grand Prix . Following the 1994 collapse – but before the end of that season – the rights to the name Team Lotus were purchased by David Hunt , brother of former F1 champion James Hunt . In 2009, when the FIA announced an intention to invite entries for

1452-693: A hard front end. Jim Clark won the British Saloon Car Championship easily, in the US, Jackie Stewart and Mike Beckwith won the Malboro 12-hour, and Alan Mann Racing also performed well in the European Touring Car Challenge , including a 1–2 victory in the 'Motor' Six Hour International Touring Car Race at Brands Hatch . A Boreham-built car also won its class, came 4th outright, and won the handicap section, in

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1584-648: 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

1716-409: 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

1848-592: A lap; it was the first mid-engined car to win the Indianapolis 500 . Many of Chapman's successes came from innovation. The Lotus 25 was the first monocoque chassis in F1, the 49 was the first car of note to use the engine as a stressed member, the Lotus 56 Indycar was powered by a gas turbine engine and was fitted with four-wheel drive , the Lotus 63 was the first mid-engined F1 car to race with four-wheel drive, and

1980-645: 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

2112-484: 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

2244-666: A piece of the distributor fell out and delayed the car 26 minutes. All four cars retired from that year's RAC rally, which was severely snow-affected. The first works victory came in December 1965, when Roger Clark and Graham Robson won the Welsh International. In 1966, Ford managed to homologate the car for Group 1, which requires 5000 cars to be built. In the Monte Carlo Rally , Roger Clark finished 4th, only to be disqualified, and then Elford finished 1st in

2376-585: A revised wishbone geometry. They scored 8 class wins, many driven by Jim Clark. In the European Touring Car Challenge , Sir John Whitmore scored another four wins, not enough to give him the title, being beaten by Alfa Romeo Giulia GTAs . Cortina Lotus Mark 1's are a consistent class winner in modern Historic Touring Car racing throughout the world. The fastest official recorded speed is 147 mph (237 km/h) at Mount Panorama Bathurst in Australia by Marc Ducquet. The recorded speed by radar on Conrod Straight

2508-473: 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 the late 1960s and early 1970s, with the Lotus Elan Plus Two as the first Lotus road car not offered in kit form, and

2640-695: 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 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

2772-612: Is quoted as saying, "Did I think the Lotus way of doing things was good? No. We had several structural failures in those cars [Indianapolis Lotus 34 and 38]. But at the time, I felt it was the price you paid for getting something significantly better." When the Formula One engine size increased to three litres in 1966, Lotus was caught unprepared partly because of the surprising failure of the Coventry Climax 1.5-Litre FWMW Flat-16 project, which prevented Climax from developing

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2904-411: 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

3036-661: Is well known in the US for its competitiveness in the under 2000 cc class of the Trans Am Series . Canadian born Australian Allan Moffat shocked the outright class cars, winning Round 3 of the inaugural series in 1966 at the Bryar Motorsports Park in Loudon , New Hampshire . Whilst the Cortina Lotus is somewhat overshadowed by the success of the Ford Escort in rallying, it performed admirably in

3168-622: 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

3300-671: The 1961 United States Grand Prix . A year earlier, Stirling Moss had recorded the first victory for a Lotus car at Monaco in his Lotus 18 car entered by the privateer team Rob Walker Racing Team . There were successes in Formula Two and Formula Junior . The road car business was doing well with the Lotus Seven and the Lotus Elite and this was followed by the Lotus Elan in 1962. More racing success followed with

3432-534: The 1968 Monaco Grand Prix . Graham Hill won the F1 World Championship in 1968 driving the Lotus 49. Around the same time, Chapman moved Lotus to new premises at Hethel in Norfolk . A new factory was built on the site, the former RAF Hethel bomber base, and the old runways were converted into a testing facility. The offices and design studios were based at nearby Ketteringham Hall, which became

3564-519: The 1968 South African Grand Prix ) to paint their cars in the livery of their sponsors , with Clark's Lotus 48 Formula Two car appearing at Hockenheim in the red, gold and white colors of the Imperial Tobacco 's Gold Leaf brand. The first Formula One car in this livery was Graham Hill 's Lotus 49 B car entered at the 1968 Spanish Grand Prix in Jarama . Team Lotus as a constructor

3696-489: The 1992 South African Grand Prix and 1992 French Grand Prix . The team finished 5th in the Constructors' Championship. Häkkinen, who finished 8th in the 1992 Drivers' Championship, moved to McLaren as a test driver in 1993. He was replaced by Alessandro Zanardi , who was himself replaced by Pedro Lamy after crashing heavily at the 1993 Belgian Grand Prix , where Herbert scored the last two points for Team Lotus. Over

3828-643: The 1994 Belgian Grand Prix , but by the time of the Italian Grand Prix Zanardi was back in the car. Herbert qualified fourth in the 109, but at the first corner he was punted off by the Jordan of Eddie Irvine . Herbert later commented that he felt he could have won the race. The following day the team applied for an Administration Order to protect itself from creditors. Tom Walkinshaw pounced and bought Johnny Herbert's contract, moving him into Ligier and then Benetton. An Administration Order

3960-727: 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

4092-535: 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 . Lotus Cortina There were 3,306 Mark I and 4,093 Mark 2 Lotus Cortinas produced. The history of

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4224-550: The Indianapolis 500 in the United States between 1962 and 1978. Under the direction of founder and chief designer Colin Chapman , Lotus was responsible for many innovative and experimental developments in critical motorsport, in both technical and commercial arenas. The Lotus name returned to Formula One in 2010 as Tony Fernandes 's Lotus Racing team. In 2011, Team Lotus's iconic black-and-gold livery returned to F1 as

4356-652: 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

4488-707: 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

4620-580: The Lotus Cars production version of which was the original Lotus Elite , won six class victories, plus the "Index of Performance" several times at the 24 Hours of Le Mans race. As the Coventry Climax engines were enlarged in 1952 to 2.2-litres, Chapman decided to enter Grand Prix racing, running a pair of Lotus 12s at Monaco in 1958 for Graham Hill and Cliff Allison. These were replaced later that year by Lotus 16s . In 1959 – by which time

4752-580: 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 the 1960s with the Lotus Elan. This two-seater was later developed to two-plus-two form (Elan +2S). Lotus

4884-534: 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

5016-740: The Rallye Sanremo (Rally of the Flowers), only to be disqualified as well. Elford came 2nd in the Tulip Rally . Bengt Söderström was named victor of the Acropolis Rally , after the 1st-placed Mini Cooper S was disqualified. New cars were used for the Coupe des Alpes (Alpine Rally), where Elford's engine blew up after leading, while Roger Clark finished second. Clark was always competitive, but suffered with unreliable cars, coming 3rd in

5148-590: 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 is currently majority-owned by Chinese multinational Geely . Lotus was previously involved in Formula One racing, via Team Lotus , winning

5280-643: 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

5412-404: The 2011 FIA Formula One World Championship. The announcement came as part of a 'strategic alliance' between the two companies and at the time meant there would be two teams running as Lotus that season. Although neither had any physical links to the pre-1994 Team Lotus Formula 1 team, only Fernandes's "Team Lotus" had the name, while Lotus-Renault was backed by Group Lotus plc. On 23 December 2010,

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5544-537: The 26R, the racing version of the Elan, and in 1963 with the Lotus Cortina , which Jack Sears drove to the British Saloon Car Championship title, a feat repeated by Jim Clark in 1964 and Alan Mann in the 1965 European Touring car Championship. In 1963, Clark drove the Lotus 25 to a remarkable seven wins in the season and won the World Championship. The 1964 title was still for the taking by

5676-838: The 4000 mile 10-day Tour de France. Other Cortina Lotus achievements included the Austrian Saloon Car Championship, the South African National Saloon Championship, the Swedish Ice Championship, and the Wills Six-Hour in New Zealand. 1965 saw the Cortina Lotus winning regularly, the car being more competitive due to the increased reliability of the new leaf spring rear end. Driving for Alan Mann Racing , Sir John Whitmore dominated and won

5808-517: The 72 broke new ground in aerodynamics. Chapman was also an innovator as a team boss. For the 1968 season, the FIA decided to permit sponsorship after the withdrawal of support from automotive-related firms, such as BP, Shell and Firestone. In April, Team Lotus, initially using the British racing green , became the first works team (second only to Team Gunston entering a private Brabham car at

5940-573: The A-bracket suspension meant that Ford decided to replace it with the more conventional GT rear suspension. This became available in June 1965, and while the car still seemed to be afflicted with bad luck, a few victories were racked up. Four of the newly updated cars competed in the Alpine rally of July 1965, and Vic Elford's car led outright, all the way. Well, until less than an hour from finishing, when

6072-644: The British Saloon Car Championship, which was now open to Group 5 Special Touring Cars , as regulations had been changed. Fuel-injection and dry sumping were allowed, and with Lucas injection and tuning by BRM , the engines could produce 180 bhp (130 kW; 180 PS) at 7750 rpm, increasing their ability to stay with the Mustangs. The cars also had the MacPherson struts replaced with coil springs and shock absorbers and

6204-407: The Canadian Shell 4000, 2nd in Greece, and 4th in Poland. The Cortina Lotus finally proved itself with an outright win in the RAC rally. F1 World Champion Jim Clark crashed his (twice), but Söderström saw his through to a 13-minute victory, with Gunnar Palm. Other victories in 1966 were in the Geneva rally by Staepelaere, and by Canadian Paul MacLellan in the Shell 4000. A final win before the advent of

6336-407: The Chapman family released a statement in which they unequivocally backed Group Lotus in the dispute over the use of the Lotus name in Formula One, and made it clear that they would prefer that the Team Lotus name did not return to F1. On 27 May 2011, Justice Peter Smith finally made his verdict public in High Court, giving permission to Tony Fernandes to naming his F1 team Team Lotus after purchasing

6468-426: The Constructors' Championship to Williams (who beat them on countback with 4 wins). Senna scored eight pole positions, with two wins (Spain and Detroit) in 1986 driving the evolutionary Lotus 98T . Lotus regained 3rd in the Constructors' Championship, passing Ferrari. At the end of the year the team lost its long-time backing from John Player & Sons and found new sponsorship with Camel . Senna's skills attracted

6600-406: The Cortina Lotus began in 1961. Colin Chapman had been wishing to build his own engines for Lotus, mainly because the Coventry Climax unit was so expensive. Colin Chapman's chance came when he commissioned Harry Mundy (a close friend and designer of the Coventry Climax engine and technical editor for Autocar ) to design a twin-cam version of the Ford Kent engine . Most of the development of

6732-439: The Coventry Climax engines had been stretched to 2.5-litres inline with Formula rules – Chapman continued with front-engined F1 cars, but achieved little, so in 1960 Chapman switched to the milestone mid-engined Lotus 18 . By then, the company's success had caused it to expand to such an extent that it had to move to new premises at Cheshunt . The first Formula One victory for the Lotus works team came when Innes Ireland won

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6864-430: The Elan about to be launched. The Type 28 or Lotus Cortina or Cortina Lotus (as Ford liked to call it) was duly launched. Ford supplied the 2-door Cortina bodyshells and took care of all the marketing and selling of the cars, whilst Lotus did all the mechanical and cosmetic changes. The major changes involved installing the 1,557 cc (105 bhp (78 kW; 106 PS)) engine, together with the same close-ratio gearbox as

6996-474: The Elan. The rear suspension was drastically altered and lightweight alloy panels were used for doors, bonnet and boot. Lightweight casings were fitted to gearbox and differential. All the Lotus factory cars were painted white with a green stripe (although Ford built some for racing in red, and one customer had a dark blue stripe due to being superstitious about green). The cars also received front quarter bumpers and round Lotus badges were fitted to rear wings and to

7128-419: 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

7260-428: The European Touring Car Championship in KPU-392C, Jack Sears won his class in the British Saloon Car Championship (a Mustang won outright), Jackie Ickx won the Belgian Saloon Car Championship, and a Cortina Lotus won the New Zealand Gold Star Saloon Car Championship. Other wins were the Nürburgring Six-Hour race, the Swedish National Track Championship, and the Snetterton 500. In 1966, Team Lotus registered new cars for

7392-401: 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 the rights to produce the Seven to Caterham , which has continued to produce

7524-399: The F1 World Championship. Lotus attempted to take ground effects further with the Lotus 80 and Lotus 88 . The team developed an all- carbon-fibre car, the Lotus 88, in 1981. The 88 was banned from racing for its 'twin chassis' technology where the driver had separate suspension from the aerodynamic parts of the car. McLaren's MP4/1 beat it as the first all-carbon-fibre car to race. Chapman

7656-445: 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

7788-408: 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 a garage. The four letters in the middle of the logo represent Chapman's full name, Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman. When

7920-428: The Malaysian Government to back a Lotus named entry for the 2010 championship to promote the Malaysian car manufacturer Proton , which at that time owned Lotus Cars. On 15 September 2009 the FIA announced that the Malaysian backed team Lotus Racing had been granted admission into the 2010 season. Group Lotus later terminated the licence for future seasons as a result of what it called "flagrant and persistent breaches of

8052-415: The Mk1, the Mk2 was also made in left hand drive from the start of production. The Mk2 Cortina Lotus also gained an improved and more powerful (109 bhp (81 kW; 111 PS)) engine, which was formerly supplied as the special equipment engine option on Lotus Elan and the Cortina Lotus Mk1. The gearbox ratios remained 2000E ones but the car now used the Mk2 GT remote-control gearchange. The car also had

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8184-449: 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

8316-413: The Type 51. Chapman was also successful at Indianapolis with the Lotus 29, almost winning the 500 at its first attempt in 1963 with Clark at the wheel. The race marked the beginning of the end for the old front-engined Indianapolis roadsters. Clark was leading when he retired from the 1964 event with suspension failure, but in 1965, he won the biggest prize in US racing driving his Lotus 38 and winning by

8448-442: The US GP by rookie driver Emerson Fittipaldi , who had made his debut in the British GP in a 49, sealed the championship for Rindt, who became the only man in history to win the world championship posthumously. Lotus's 1971 experiments did not bring any serious advance in technology, but allowed Chapman to test several drivers. For 1972, the team focused again on the type 72 chassis, with Imperial Tobacco continuing its sponsorship of

8580-413: The US, with Team Lotus running cars in Britain for Ford, and Alan Mann Racing running cars in Europe, also on behalf of Ford. The Cortina Lotus was able to beat almost anything except the 7-litre V8 Ford Galaxies, and later, Ford Mustangs . In 1964, a Cortina Lotus leading around a bend with its inside front wheel in fresh air became a familiar sight, as the cars were set up with soft rear suspension and

8712-404: The World Championship, despite the fact that the Italian did not win a race. The team also finished in 3rd place in the Constructors' Championship. When Nigel Mansell departed at the end of the year the team hired Ayrton Senna . The Lotus 97T scored victories with de Angelis at Imola and Senna in Portugal and Belgium. The team, although it had now won three races instead of none, lost 3rd in

8844-402: The accolade. Team Lotus also won the F1 World Championship for Manufacturers for a sixth time in 1973. The 72 raced in Formula 1 for five years, proving to be more successful than its supposed replacement, the Lotus 76 . It was finally retired at the end of the 1975 season, as the Lotus 77 was prepared for the 1976 season. The first-ever Formula Ford car was built around a Formula 3 Lotus,

8976-652: The attention of the Honda Motor Company and when Lotus agreed to run Satoru Nakajima as its second driver a deal for engines was agreed. The Ducarouge-designed 99T featured active suspension , but Senna was able to win just twice: at Monaco and Detroit, with the team again finishing 3rd in the Constructors' Championship, like the previous year behind British rivals Williams and McLaren, but ahead of Ferrari. The Brazilian moved to McLaren in 1988, and Lotus signed Senna's countryman and then World Champion Nelson Piquet from Williams. Both Piquet and Nakajima failed to make any impressions in terms of fighting for victories. However

9108-490: 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

9240-425: 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,

9372-473: The championship until he was killed at Monza when a brake shaft broke. Rindt had only recently begun to wear a shoulder harness, but refused to wear crotch straps because he felt they slowed his exit from the car in the event of fire. When the car hit the barrier head-on, Rindt submarined forward and the lap belt inflicted fatal head and neck injuries. The rest of the 1970 season was nailbiting, as Ferrari closed in on Rindt's undefended lead. A brilliant victory in

9504-430: 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,

9636-650: 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

9768-658: 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

9900-651: The dash. An internal bonnet release and a more conventional mounting for the handbrake were also phased in. A new single-rail gearshift mechanism was used. The car stayed in production until 1970. The Cortina Lotus was marketed in Europe as the Cortina Twin Cam in 1969/70. Two 4-door versions were supplied to the Mid-Anglia Constabulary for evaluation as use as a fast patrol and pursuit car by British Police forces. The trial never went beyond

10032-563: 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

10164-466: The engine bay was the air cleaner mounted on top of the engine. The interior was almost identical to a GT. The Mk2 did exactly what Ford wanted, it was far more reliable whilst still quick enough to be used in competition, until it was replaced by the Escort Twin Cam . The car did receive a few updates, but none as urgent as the Mk1's. Only a few months after production started, the Lotus badge on

10296-469: The engine was done on the 997cc and 1,340cc bottom end, but in 1962 Ford released the 116E five bearing 1,498 cc engine and work centred on this. Keith Duckworth , from Cosworth , played an important part in tuning of the engine. The engine's first appearance was in 1962 at the Nürburgring in a Lotus 23 driven by Jim Clark . Almost as soon as the engine appeared in production cars ( Lotus Elan ), it

10428-466: The famous 2000E gearbox ratios were used. These lowered first and reverse about halfway between the Cortina GT ratios and the ultra close-ratio box. All these changes made the cars less specialised but far more reliable and all the special parts were still available for competition as well as to members of the public. The Cortina Lotus had by this time earned an impressive competition reputation. It

10560-425: The following year, the team signed a deal to use Ford's HB V8 in their new Lotus 107s , designed by Chris Murphy. The team was now short on money and this affected performance, but the car allowed Häkkinen to score 11 points, including two fourth places at the 1992 French Grand Prix (where he had failed to qualify the previous year) and the 1992 Hungarian Grand Prix , while Herbert scored two points for 6th Places at

10692-431: The headquarters of both Team Lotus and Lotus Cars. Additional car testing was carried out at Snetterton , a few miles from Hethel. In 1969, the team spent a lot of time experimenting with a gas turbine powered car, and, after four wet races in 1968, with four wheel drive. Both were unsuccessful, especially as every race was dry. They penned a revolutionary new car for 1970 – the wedge-shaped Lotus 72 . The new Lotus 72

10824-421: The less powerful naturally-aspirated V8 cars during the season, and rarely challenged either McLaren or Ferrari. The Lotus-Honda 100T was not a success and Ducarouge returned to France in mid-1989. Lotus hired Frank Dernie to replace him. With the new engine regulations in 1989, Lotus lost its turbocharged Honda engines and used the normally-aspirated Judd V8 instead. In the middle of the year Warr departed and

10956-480: The licence by the team". A little over one year later, on 24 September 2010, it was announced that Tony Fernandes (Lotus Racing) had acquired the name rights of Team Lotus from David Hunt, marking the official rebirth of Team Lotus in Formula One. Then on 8 December 2010, Genii Capital and Group Lotus plc announced the creation of "Lotus Renault GP", the successor to the Renault F1 Team that would contest

11088-482: 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

11220-581: The livery of the Lotus Renault GP team, sponsored by Lotus Cars, and in 2012 the team was re-branded completely as Lotus F1 Team . Colin Chapman established Lotus Engineering Ltd in 1952 at Hornsey , UK . Lotus achieved rapid success with the 1953 Mk 6 and the 1954 Mk 8 sports cars. Team Lotus was split off from Lotus Engineering in 1954. A new Formula Two regulation was announced for 1957, and in Britain, several organizers ran races for

11352-603: 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, was active and competitive in Formula One racing from 1958 to 1994. The Lotus Group of Companies

11484-424: The main difference being that first, second and reverse were much lower (numerically higher) ratios. From 1964, standard steel panels were used rather than the light alloy ones, though alloy items and ultra-close ratios could still be specified when buying a new car. The second main change came in late 1964 when the entire Cortina range had a facelift which included a full-width front grille and ventilation outlets on

11616-510: 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

11748-574: The mid-1960s, which might be surprising, given its reputation for unreliability. The first Cortina Lotus to be rallied was a Cortina GT with the Lotus engine, in the 1963 Spa-Sofia-Liege rally in September, just to try out the engine, and driven by Henry Taylor to 4th place. The first outing in a rally by a Cortina Lotus proper was in the 1963 RAC Rally , campaigned again by Taylor, with co-driver Brian Melia. It finished 6th somehow, in spite of its A-bracket rear end needing constant attention. The A-bracket

11880-468: The most successful and popular drivers of all time, was killed driving a Lotus 48 car at Hockenheimring in a non-championship Formula Two event. The season saw the introduction of wings as seen previously on various cars, including the Chaparral sports car, and a Lotus car became the first Formula One car with wings. Colin Chapman introduced modest front wings and a spoiler on Hill's Lotus 49 B at

12012-506: 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

12144-597: 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

12276-415: The new Team Lotus was launched with Mika Häkkinen and Julian Bailey being signed for the 1991 season to drive updated Lotus 102Bs with Judd engines. At the 1991 San Marino Grand Prix , the team scored its first double points finish since the 1988 Brazilian Grand Prix , with Häkkinen in fifth and Bailey in sixth. Despite this, Bailey was soon replaced by Johnny Herbert for the balance of the season. For

12408-636: The new regulations during the course of 1956. Most of the cars entered that year were sports cars, and they included a large number of Lotus 11s , the definitive Coventry Climax -powered sports racer, led by the Team Lotus entries for Chapman, driven by Cliff Allison and Reg Bicknell. The following year, the Lotus 12 appeared. Driving one in 1958, Allison won the F2 class in the International Trophy at Silverstone , beating Stuart Lewis-Evans 's Cooper. The remarkable Coventry Climax-powered Type 14,

12540-474: The old car for the first few races. The Portuguese driver was seriously injured in an accident in testing at Silverstone and Zanardi returned. The team's new car, the Lotus 109 , was introduced at the 1994 Spanish Grand Prix , five races into the season, but only one car was available until the French Grand Prix two races later. In an effort to survive the team took on pay-driver Philippe Adams at

12672-482: The other Lotus 77 , qualified 8th only to fall out with suspension failure before completing a lap. Chapman and Andretti ran into each other in a hotel coffee shop the morning after the race, and decided to join forces. Andretti's development expertise helped give new life to the then-moribund Lotus 77 . Engineers began to investigate aerodynamic ground effects . The Lotus 78 , and then the Lotus 79 of 1978 were extraordinarily successful, with Mario Andretti winning

12804-434: The rear C-pillar - because the Cortina Lotus also gained Ford's new Aeroflow system as well as an update to the interior. The third and probably most important change came in mid-1965, when the Lotus rear suspension was changed for the leaf springs and radius arms of the Cortina GT. This replaced all the stiffening tubing as well. The last update also came in 1965 when the rear drums were swapped for self-adjusting items and also

12936-470: The rear panel was cancelled and a new TWIN CAM badge was fitted under the Cortina script on the boot lid. Despite the badge changes, Ford UK continued to market the model as the "Cortina Lotus". The new combined clock and centre console was fitted. In late 1968 the entire Mk2 range received some cosmetic changes; for the Lotus, this meant that the 4 dials on top of the dash were brought down and made part of

13068-414: The rest of the range. The remainder of the gearbox was identical to the Lotus Elan. This led to a few problems because although the ultra-close gear ratios were perfect for the race track or open road, the clutch was given a hard time in traffic: the ratios were later changed. The early cars were very popular and earned some rave reviews; one magazine described the car as a tin-top version of a Lotus 7 . It

13200-499: The right side of the radiator grille. Interior modifications were limited to a centre console designed to accommodate the new gear lever position, different seats and the later style dashboard, featuring tachometer , speedometer , oil pressure, water temperature and fuel level gauges. A wood-rimmed steering wheel was fitted. The suspension changes to the car were quite extensive; the car received shorter struts up front, forged track control arms and 5.5J by 13 steel wheel rims. The rear

13332-425: The rights to the name from previous owner David Hunt. Added to that, Group Lotus are entitled to race in F1 using the historic black and gold livery and have the right to use the Lotus marque on cars for road use. In summary, the 2011 Formula One season had two teams running the Lotus name with Group Lotus entitled to use the name "Lotus" on its own while Fernandes's team used "Team Lotus". In 2012, Lotus-Renault GP

13464-409: The standard Cortina's wheel well and was bolted to the left side of the boot floor. The battery was also relocated to the boot, behind the right wheelarch. Both of these changes made big improvements to overall weight distribution. Another improvement the Cortina Lotus gained was the new braking system (9.5 in (240 mm) front discs) which were built by brake specialist Girling . This system also

13596-561: The team still managed to finish 4th in the Constructors' Championship. Lotus showed in 1988 that it took more than a Honda engine to win races. 1988 was the year in which McLaren (with Senna and Alain Prost ) won 15 of the season's 16 races with the same specification Honda engines as Lotus were using. The best results for the team were three 3rd places for Piquet in Brazil , San Marino and Australia . Lotus at times were hard-pressed fighting off

13728-448: The team under its new John Player Special brand. The cars, now often referred to as 'JPS', were fielded in a new black and gold livery – a new brand developed to make the most of the promotional power of motorsport. Lotus took the championship by surprise in 1972 with 25-year-old Brazilian driver Emerson Fittipaldi , who became at the time the youngest world champion, a distinction he held until 2005, when 24-year-old Fernando Alonso took

13860-669: The time of the last race in Mexico but problems with Clark's Lotus and Hill's BRM gave it to Surtees in his Ferrari. However, in 1965, Clark dominated again, six wins in his Lotus 33 gave him the championship. While very innovative, Chapman also came under criticism for the structural fragility of his designs. The number of top drivers seriously injured or killed in Lotus machinery was considerable – notably Stirling Moss, Alan Stacey, Mike Taylor, Jim Clark, Mike Spence, Bobby Marshman, Graham Hill, Jochen Rindt and Ronnie Peterson. In Dave Friedman's book "Indianapolis Memories 1961–1969", Dan Gurney

13992-512: The title in 1967 , by the end of the season, the Lotus 49 car and the DFV engine were mature enough to make the Lotus team dominant again. However, for the 1968 season Lotus had lost its exclusive right to use the DFV. The season-opening 1968 South African Grand Prix confirmed Lotus's superiority, with Jim Clark and Graham Hill finishing 1–2. It would be Clark's last win. On 7 April 1968, Clark, one of

14124-553: The two vehicles, which are both still in existence. To homologate the car for Group 2 Touring Car racing , 1000 were required to be built in 1963, and the car was duly homologated in September 1963. In the same month, in the car's first outing, in the Oulton Park Gold Cup , the car finished 3rd and 4th behind two Ford Galaxies , but beat the 3.8-litre Jaguars which had been dominant in saloon car racing for so long. Soon Ford were running cars in Britain, Europe, and

14256-429: 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;

14388-488: The year, the team scored 12 points despite the tight budget and finished 6th in the 1993 Constructors' Championship. Herbert finished 9th in the Drivers' Championship with three 4th placements: the 1993 Brazilian Grand Prix , where he lost 3rd to Benetton's Michael Schumacher shortly before the end of the race; the 1993 European Grand Prix , where he made only one pit stop for tyres; and the 1993 British Grand Prix , where he

14520-470: Was 'THE car' for many enthusiasts who before had to settle for a Cortina GT or a Mini-Cooper and it also amazed a lot of the public who were used to overweight 'sports cars' like the Austin-Healey 3000 . The launch was not perfect however, the car was too specialist for some Ford dealerships who did not understand the car; there are a few stories of incorrect parts being fitted at services. There were

14652-525: Was 143 mph. The car was owned by Bob Pearson and had a 203HP Twin Cam engine built by Randall Edgell in New Zealand. 185/60-13 Radial tyres, 4.3 differential and 9,500 RPM. Considering the relatively low horsepower of the standard pushrod GT500 Cortina and the Lightweight alloy panelled Cortina Lotus this speed is achievable. For example, the legendary Australian driver "Gelignite Jack" Murray driving

14784-501: Was a bad time for them to build another model. Ford were also concerned with the unreliability of the Lotus built cars, so a decision was made at Ford that to continue with its competition drive and make the car more cost effective they would make the car at Dagenham themselves, alongside the other Cortina models. In order to do this the Mk2 had to be much easier to build than the Mk1 so that it could be made alongside Mk2 GT production, just with

14916-453: 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

15048-482: Was a very innovative car, featuring torsion bar suspension, hip-mounted radiators, inboard front brakes and an overhanging rear wing. The 72 originally had suspension problems, and Jochen Rindt took a lucky victory in Monaco in the old 49 when Jack Brabham crashed on the last lap while leading. But when antidive and antisquat were designed out of the suspension, the car quickly showed its superiority, and Rindt dominated

15180-418: Was also being made in left hand drive when production finished around late 1966 and the Mk2 took over. Ford wanted to change a few things for the Mk2, the Mk1 had done all and more than they could expect in competition, but the public linked its competition wins with Lotus and its bad points with Ford. Ford still wanted to build a Mk2 Lotus and compete with it, but Lotus were moving from Cheshunt to Hethel so it

15312-561: Was beginning work on an active suspension development programme when he died of a heart attack in December 1982 at the age of 54. After Chapman's death, the racing team was continued by his widow, Hazel, and managed by Peter Warr , but a series of F1 designs proved unsuccessful since then. Midway through 1983 Lotus hired French designer Gérard Ducarouge and, in five weeks, he built the Renault turbo powered 94T. A switch to Goodyear tyres in 1984 enabled Elio de Angelis to finish third in

15444-433: Was even more radical with vertical coil spring/dampers replacing the leaf springs and two trailing arms with a A- bracket (which connected to the differential housing and brackets near the trailing arm pivots) sorting out axle location. To support this set-up, further braces were put behind the rear seat and from the rear wheelarch down to chassis in the boot. The stiffening braces meant that the spare wheel had to be moved from

15576-462: Was first to achieve 50 Grand Prix victories. (Ferrari was the second to do so, having won their first Formula One race in 1951, seven years before the first Lotus F1 car.) In the mid-to-late 1970s, Lotus experienced a resurgence with Mario Andretti joining the team. This came about the morning after the 1976 U.S. Grand Prix West at Long Beach, when Andretti's VPJ-Parnelli had proven uncompetitive. Bob Evans did not qualify his Lotus and Gunnar Nilsson, in

15708-476: Was fitted to Cortina GTs but without a servo, which was fitted in the Cortina Lotus engine bay. Initially, the engines were built by J. A. Prestwich of Tottenham and then Villiers of Wolverhampton. In 1966, Lotus moved to Hethel in Norwich where they had their own engine building facilities. The Cortina Lotus used a 8.0 in (200 mm) diaphragm-spring clutch, whereas Ford fitted coil-spring clutches to

15840-491: 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 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

15972-566: Was given the rights to the Lotus name and was renamed Lotus F1 , whereas Fernandes's team was renamed Caterham F1 following his purchase of Caterham Cars . The team was active for 4 seasons, then it returned to the French constructor Renault. Lotus Cars 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

16104-511: Was hired to replace Herbert for the last two races of the season. In December, however, work on the design of a new car (the Lotus 112 ) was halted and the staff laid off. In February 1995 Hunt announced an alliance with Pacific Grand Prix , who like Lotus were also based in Norfolk in the UK, and Team Lotus came to an end. Pacific were initially referred to as Pacific Team Lotus and their car featured

16236-490: Was made even worse by the fact any oil lost from the axle worked its way on to the bushes of the A bracket. There were four main updates made to the Mk1 Lotus during its production to solve some of these problems. The first change was a swap to a two-piece prop shaft and the lighter alloy transmission casing was changed to the standard Ford item; this also included swapping the ultra-close ratio gears for Cortina GT gear ratios,

16368-598: Was made in respect of the Company on 12 September 1994, and it was compulsorily wound up by the Court on 13 February 1995. A sworn statement of affairs showed that the company had an estimated deficiency of £12,050,000. Disqualification Orders were made against Peter Collins, and Peter Wright on 15 October 1998 for nine years, and seven years respectively. Before the end of the 1994 season, the team had been sold to David Hunt , brother of 1976 World Champion James , and Mika Salo

16500-407: Was not a success with Warwick scoring all the three points for a 6th in the 1990 Canadian Grand Prix and a 5th in the 1990 Hungarian Grand Prix ; Donnelly was nearly killed in a violent accident at Jerez . At the end of the year Camel withdrew their sponsorship. Former Team Lotus employees Peter Collins and Peter Wright organized a deal to take over the team from the Chapman family and in December

16632-515: Was not far behind Riccardo Patrese's 3rd placed Benetton at the end, having benefited from the retirements of Ayrton Senna, Martin Brundle and Damon Hill . Zanardi scored one 6th place at the 1993 Brazilian Grand Prix , the last race with both Lotus cars in the points. Debts were mounting and the team was unable to develop the Lotus 107. For the 1994 season , the team gambled on success with Mugen Honda engines. Herbert and Lamy struggled on with

16764-419: 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 the late 1960s and early 1970s was the two-seater Lotus Europa , initially intended only for

16896-532: Was persevered with by Vic Elford and David Seigle-Morris for the 1964 Tour de France Automobile , a 10-day, 4,000-mile (6,400 km) event, as it was run completely on sealed roads, unlike the rough RAC Rally. Their car came 4th outright in the Touring Car category, and first in the Handicap category, in a mix of one-hour sprints, hillclimbs , and mountain road rallying. Still, the general dodginess of

17028-644: Was replaced as team manager by Rupert Manwaring, while long time Lotus senior executive Tony Rudd was brought in as chairman. The best results for the team in 1989 was 4th places for Piquet in the British , Canadian and Japanese races, and 4th place and fastest lap for Nakajima in Australia . At the end of the season Piquet left for Benetton , and Nakajima moved to Tyrrell . A deal was organized for Lamborghini V12 engines and Derek Warwick and Martin Donnelly were hired to drive for 1990. The Dernie design

17160-539: 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

17292-474: Was replaced with a larger capacity unit (82.55 mm bore to give 1,557 cc). This was in order to get the car closer to the 1.6 litre capacity class in motorsport. Whilst the engine was being developed, Walter Hayes (Ford) asked Colin Chapman if he would fit the engine to 1,000 Ford saloons for Group 2 homologation . Chapman quickly accepted, although it must have been very busy in the Cheshunt plant, with

17424-410: 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

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