Intro: Enthusiasm and a total love affair with the car is what led to the formation of Lotus in the early-1950s. Colin Chapman founded the company in his spare time, in a stable, behind his family home in north London. His first production car, which was actually a kit car, was the Lotus Six. However Chapman’s real fascination lay with racing cars and so he created his own designs, which were designed to do one job; to win. In fact, his racing cars were known for their fragility, yet they invariably managed to complete the race distance, which was all that mattered to the technical genius. The company grew through the period 1960-1980, producing successful cars such as the monocoque Elite, the Elan, Elan Plus 2, Europa and the Esprit and its various derivatives. They all featured Chapman developed engines through working closely with major manufacturers such as Ford and General Motors. Of course, his racing cars were thoroughly successful and they took victories in Formula One, F2, Formula Ford and even Indycar racing. The company had many ardent fans and customers, but mysteriously in 1982 Colin Chapman died.
Operating without such a charismatic leader at the helm was very difficult for Lotus and General Motors made a rescue bid, even naming its Millbrook Test Facility after Lotus Cars. However, GM did not know or understand how to handle the specialist manufacturer. It was put on the market again, at which point, Italian millionaire, Romano Artioli (owner of the troubled Bugatti company, but also the largest distributor of Lotus cars in Europe) put in a successful bid in 1991. Yet, his cash-strapped Bugatti concern forced Artioli to sell the majority stake in the business to Proton of Malaysia in 1996. 1659 new Elise models were sold in 2001; 298 Exige; 102 Esprit; 87 run-out Elise models; 20 340R; totalling 2,166 Lotus-badged motor cars. 3,050 VX220 and Opel Speedsters were also produced.