A history of Lotus and its most popular vehicles

A short article chronicling the history of Lotus Cars.

An overview of Lotus Cars and the company’s most popular models.

Lotus Cars was founded in 1952 by Colin Chapman following graduation at University College London with the intention of creating ‘soul-stirring sports cars’. The company went on to be recognised for their light-weight sports cars and high level of handling capabilities whilst still remaining stylish in their design. Lotus was initially based on a production site that was formerly occupied by the RAF in Norfolk, the manufacturer’s headquarters are still located there to this day.

In 1948 the company released the Lotus Mark I onto the commercial market with the Mark II following just one year later. These models received critical acclaim from a wide spectrum of critics around the world. During 1958 Lotus branched out into competitive motoring and quickly became one of the major players on the Formula One racing circuit with vehicles such as the Lotus 18 performing exceptionally. They have since gone on to win the Formula One World Championship an impressive seven times. During the 1950s the company also focused on becoming a leading producer of luxury vehicles to rival the likes of Ferrari and Lamborghini.

Lotus also have a subsidiary company known as Lotus Engineering Limited which mainly focuses on providing professional engineering consultancy services to other third party companies. Lotus Engineering primarily provides their services to companies within the automotive sector but they have been know to work in other industries in the past.

During the 2010 Paris Motorshow Lotus revealed plans to release five new models over the next five years. These include the Espirit which will be powered by a 5.0 litre Lexus V8 power charged engine, the new Eterne which is a four door sports GT model and the Lotus Elan which will be capable of 0-100 km/h in around 3.4 seconds. The company are also working on developing quality electric and hybrid vehicles, Lotus also joined the ‘Limo-Green’ project alongside other manufacturers like Jaguar, MIRA and Caparo to create a plug-in luxury hybrid sedan.

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