Lotus celebrates 75 years

LOTUS has marked the occasion of its 75th anniversary with a special logo that pays tribute to the British marque’s significant milestone.

According to Lotus, the striking black and yellow design will be seen in multiple environments over the next 12 months, and likely as a badge on a series of special edition models released to commemorate the occasion.

The brand has promised a very special year ahead and says 2023 will see the release of “a number of exciting global events and initiatives”.

It will also use the occasion to look back over seven and a half decades of “innovation and success which have unquestionably helped shape the motoring and motorsport landscapes of today”.

And while it all sounds a little ambiguous, Lotus is preparing several new models – including its first SUV – the first of which are expected to make an appearance this year.

Indeed, the manufacturer says that part of its 75th anniversary celebrations will “look forward to what the fourth quarter of the company’s first century will look like” as it “continues its transformation from a UK sportscar company to a global performance car business and brand”.

Speaking on the 75th anniversary of Lotus, group vice president and managing director of Lotus Cars, Matt Windle, said the pioneering spirit of Lotus founder Colin Chapman remains alive and well.

“Lotus of 2023 is a world away from a garage in north London, thanks to the billions being invested in our company on product development, an electrified future and more,” he said, referencing the Hornsey garage in which Colin Chapman built his first car.

“We’ve come a long way since moving to our iconic home in Norfolk in 1966. Today we have engineering facilities in the UK, Germany and China; design studios in Hethel, Coventry and Shanghai; and new world-class manufacturing bases in Norfolk and China.

“It’s at the last of these that assembly of the first Lotus lifestyle car – the Eletre Hyper-SUV – begins later this month.

“The pioneering spirit and commitment of Colin and Hazel Chapman is alive and kicking in Lotus today, and we will be celebrating our 75th anniversary in style – paying tribute to the past and looking ahead to the future as we approach our first century.”

A brief history of Lotus:

1948 – Colin Chapman graduates from engineering school. Constructs a trials car from a 1928 Austin Seven dubbed Mark I. The 11kW vehicle performs well, winning Chapman sufficient money to construct another vehicle, the Mark II.

1952 – Lotus Engineering Limited is founded by engineers Colin Chapman and Colin Dare and the first production model, the Mark IV trials car, is built.

1957 – Production of the highly successful Mark VII begins. The model’s 948cc engine offers just 36kW/70Nm but manages a top speed of 130km/h. The agile handling offered by the ‘7’ is a hit, and production continues to this very day – albeit under the Caterham moniker.

1960 – The Lotus Elite makes its debut, the fibreglass body and structure of the model providing lessons for the manufacturer that would be used in its Elan successor. The lightweight Elite (773kg) was powered by a 1.2-litre Coventry Climax engine and offered a top speed of 198km/h.

1962 – Lotus introduces what is arguably its first true sportscar, the Elan. Combining a fibreglass body and tubular steel chassis the model draws power from a Ford-sourced 1.5-litre engine with a Lotus-designed aluminium cylinder head. While slower than the Elite, the model is still regarded by many as a “formula one car for the streets”.

1963 – Ford and Lotus team up to create the Lotus-powered Cortina building 2894 examples between 1963-66. The second-generation Cortina loses the Lotus badge, but not the heritage, and is produced and sold successfully as the Ford Cortina Twin-Cam until 1970.

1966 – The mid-engine Europa is born. Combining a Renault sourced engine with a fibreglass and steel body, the unusually styled coupe develops just 61kW.

1967 – Lotus introduces the Elan +2, the addition of a small backseat adding 136kg to the model’s kerb mass. Despite the bulk, the model’s 1.6-litre DOHC engine provides the model with a 0-100km/h time of less than 8.0 seconds and a top speed of 193km/h.

1974 – The four-seat bug strikes again, and Lotus produces the four-seat Elite hatch. Power comes from a 104kW 2.0-litre engine, but pricing is steep, and sales slow. Meanwhile, production of the Elan is discontinued and rights to the ‘7’ are sold to Caterham.

1975 – Lotus introduces the Eclat, which is sold as the Sprint in the US, featuring the same driveline as the Elite. Production of the Europa comes to an end.

1976 – The mid-engined Esprit enters production with the same driveline as the Elite used once again. Improved tuning and handling gift the Giugiaro-designed model with a 0-100km/h time of 9.6 seconds. That time is reduced to 8.4 seconds when the model is undated in 1979.

1980 – Turbocharging gives the Esprit the shot in the arm it always deserved, but not all is as it seems. Despite offering 156kW the model’s chronic turbo lag sees many customers look elsewhere.

1982 – Colin Chapman passes away from a heart attack aged just 54.

1986 – General Motors buys a controlling interest in Lotus.

1989 – An Isuzu-sourced 120kW engine gives the new front-wheel drive Elan convertible acceptable performance for the time with a claimed 0-100km/h time of 6.4 seconds. Lotus anticipated sales of circa 3500 units per annum, but sales are slow. The model is discontinued in 1993.

1990 – Lotus moves into bigger things, creating the Opel-sourced Lotus Carlton with an inline six-cylinder engine offering 281kW/568Nm. The brisk sedan can accelerate to 100km/h in a claimed 5.2 seconds and run the quarter mile in 13.6.

1993 – GM sells Lotus to Bugatti owner, Romano Artioli.

1996 – Artioli sells Lotus to Malaysian manufacturer, Proton, and the two-seat composite bodied Elise is born. The 680kg convertible is powered by a 1.8-litre Rover sourced engine and offers a 0-100km/h time of just 5.8 seconds, despite its relatively low power output of 88kW. Eventually, power is upped to 145kW and some 36,000 examples are produced.

2000 – The Elise II debuts alongside the Exige – a hard top version of the same car. Both continue to be motivated by Rover’s K-series engine, with 89kW/168Nm in standard form. VVC technology eventually ups power to 119kW, and 141kW before Lotus switches to Toyota power in 2007.

2009 – Toyota V6 power is shoehorned into the new Evora, a four-seat, midengined coupe with 206kW and later, a supercharged 257kW. Both offer 400Nm of torque. But it’s the supercharged ‘S’ that enthusiasts favour, thanks to its civilised ride/handling compromise and blistering 4.8-second 0-100km/h time.

2017 – Chinese multinational Geely takes a 51 per cent stake in Lotus.

2021 – Lotus announces that it will produce electric vehicles only by 2028. Plans are revealed for models including the Eletre hyper-SUV, and sportscar duo Evija and Emira. The Evija is said to offer a 0-100km/h time of less than three seconds.

2023 – Lotus celebrates its 75th anniversary.