Who owns lotus motors

To make enough money to keep racing, Chapman develops his first dedicated production car, the Elite, which features a lightweight fiberglass body and structure. Powered by a single-overhead-cam Coventry Climax 1. Our testing reveals a 0-to time of 8.

The engine never seems to be overworked, and thanks to its aerodynamic shape, the Elite gives far less impression of speed than most sports cars—gliding along at mph while others feel to be laboring at 80 mph. The two-seat roadster mounts a fiberglass body onto a steel backbone—a construction style almost every Lotus will utilize for the next 30 or so years—and weighs pounds. Later, a coupe version is offered. Under the hood is a Ford-based four-cylinder engine displacing cc and fitted with an aluminum Lotus double-overhead-cam eight-valve head.

After selling only 22 examples, Lotus one-ups itself, enlarging the four to cc and recalling the cars to install the more-powerful engines. Walter Cronkite and the U. Congress somehow fail to notice this recall. Our test reveals a 7. It comes closer than anything else on the market to providing a Formula car for ordinary street use. And it fits like a Sprite, goes like a Corvette, and handles like a Formula Junior. The company builds between and The car built until still wears Lotus badges, but Ford calls it the Ford Cortina Twin-Cam, dropping the Lotus portion of the name altogether.

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Save preferences. Ultimately, the only way to truly understand a Lotus is to drive it. Lotus Exige Sport 20th Anniversary Twenty years young: Lotus celebrates the Exige with sensational 20th anniversary special edition. Exige Sport Exige Sport launched.

Elise S Cup The Elise has never been better. Jean-Marc Gales The multi-lingual, international, automotive businessman took over the reins of Group Lotus plc in May Evora Sports Racer A visually enhanced and optimised version of the mid-engined 3.

Exige S Roadster The first time an Exige model has been offered with a factory-fitted soft top roof. Lotus Range Extender Lotus Engineering unveil the supercharged, extremely compact, lightweight, low-cost engine and generator designed specifically for hybrid electric vehicles.

Lotus returns to F1 The iconic Lotus name returned to Formula 1 for the season after a more than 15 year long absence. Evora Launch The all new Evora is unveiled. Canaries Lotus became the shirt sponsor for Norwich City Football team. End of an era The last Lotus Esprit rolled off the production line. Extreme Concept Lotus, famous for taking things to extremes, provided support to Coventry University design student, Ted Mannerfelt.

New Elise The new generation Elise was launched, with improved performance, styling, handling and quality. Elise Sport In response to enthusiasts demand for even more performance Lotus responded with the introduction of the Sport Exige Launch On the eve of the inaugural round of the Autobytel Lotus Championship race series, Lotus thrilled the crowds by unveiling the new Exige.

M Lotus revealed an all-new mini-supercar concept that fitted into the range between the Elise and Esprit. Esprit Sport The lightweight and big-braked Esprit Sport supercar was released as a dramatic limited edition model. Li Shufu, the boss of Geely - and now of Lotus, too Bloomberg. Lotus Elise: the backbone of the Norfolk car maker. More info on Lotus Elise. View all Lotus Elise Reviews.