Citizendia

Lotus Cars
TypePrivate (Majority owned by Proton)
Founded1952
FounderColin Chapman
HeadquartersFlag of the United Kingdom Hethel, Norfolk, England
Area servedworldwide
Key peopleColin Chapman
Michael J Kimberley
Syed Zainal Abidin
Badrul Feisal
Stirling Moss
Rob Walker
Jim Clark
Graham Hill
Ayrton Senna
IndustryAutomotive
ProductsAutomobiles, Automotive parts
ParentProton
Websitewww.grouplotus.com

Lotus Cars is a British manufacturer of sports and racing cars based at Hethel, Norfolk, England. Year 1952 ( MCMLII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. An entrepreneur is a person who has possession over a company enterprise, or Venture, and assumes significant accountability for the inherent risks and the outcome Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman ( 19 May 1928 - 16 December 1982) was an influential British designer inventor and builder in the automotive Hethel is a small village in Norfolk, England. It is located near the historic market town of Wymondham, and is approximately 10 miles (16 km south of Norfolk (ˈnɔrfək is a low-lying county in East Anglia, England, United Kingdom. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman ( 19 May 1928 - 16 December 1982) was an influential British designer inventor and builder in the automotive Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss OBE (born September 17, 1929 in London) is a retired racing driver from England. Rob Walker Racing Team was a privateer team in Formula One during the 1950s and 1960s Jim (or Jimmy) Clark OBE ( 4 March, 1936 &ndash 7 April, 1968) was a Scottish Formula One Norman Graham Hill ( February 15, 1929 – November 29, 1975) was a British racing driver and two-time Formula One World Ayrton Senna da Silva ( pronounced, March 21, 1960 &ndash May 1, 1994) was a Brazilian racing driver and triple For other uses of this term see Industry (disambiguation An industry (from Latin industrius, "diligent industrious" The automotive industry is the industry involved in the design development manufacture marketing and sale of Motor vehicles In 2007 more than 73 million motor vehicles In Marketing, a product is anything that can be offered to a Market that might satisfy a want or need A holding company is a company that owns part all or a majority of other companies' outstanding Stock. Proton is the Malaysian national Carmaker ( Malay Acronym for PeRusahaan OTOmobil Nasional, 'National Automobile Enterprise' A website (alternatively web site or Web site, a back-construction from the Proper noun World Wide Web) is a collection of Web pages The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located A sports car is a term used to describe a class of Automobile. Auto racing (also known as automobile racing, motor racing or car racing) is a Motorsport involving Racing Cars It Hethel is a small village in Norfolk, England. It is located near the historic market town of Wymondham, and is approximately 10 miles (16 km south of Norfolk (ˈnɔrfək is a low-lying county in East Anglia, England, United Kingdom. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland The company designs and builds race and production automobiles of light weight and high handling characteristics. Car handling and vehicle handling is a description of the way wheeled vehicles perform transverse to their direction of motion particularly during cornering and swerving

The company was formed as Lotus Engineering Ltd. by engineer Colin Chapman, a graduate of University College, London, in 1952. Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman ( 19 May 1928 - 16 December 1982) was an influential British designer inventor and builder in the automotive University College London ( UCL) is a multi-faculty university institution based in the United Kingdom and a constituent college of the University of London The first factory was in old stables behind the Railway Hotel in Hornsey. Hornsey is a district in London Borough of Haringey in north London in England Team Lotus, which was split off from Lotus Engineering in 1954, was active and competitive in Formula One racing from 1958 to 1994. 1950s Colin Chapman established Lotus Engineering Ltd in 1952 at Hornsey, UK. The Lotus Group of Companies was formed in 1959. This was made up of Lotus Cars Limited and Lotus Components Limited which focussed on road car and customer competition car production respectively. Lotus Components Limited became Lotus Racing Limited in 1971 but the newly renamed entity ceased operation in the same year. [1]

The company moved to a purpose built factory at Cheshunt in 1959 [2] and since 1966 the company has occupied a modern factory and road test facility at Hethel, near Wymondham. For the Australian village of the same name see Cheshunt Victoria Cheshunt (pronounced) is a town in the Broxbourne district of Wymondham (ˈwɪndəm is an historic Market town and Civil parish in the English County of Norfolk. This site is the former RAF Hethel base and the test track uses sections of the old runway. RAF Hethel is a former World War II airfield used by the US during the Second World War (and briefly as an RAF station) in Norfolk, England

Chapman died of a heart attack in 1982, at the age of 54, having begun life an inn-keeper's son and ended a multi-millionaire industrialist in post-war Britain. A business magnate, sometimes referred to as a mogul, tycoon, baron, or industrialist, is a person who has reached a prominent place in The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The carmaker built tens of thousands of successful racing and road cars and won the Formula One World Championship seven times. A world championship(s is the top achievement for any sport or Contest. At the time of his death he was linked with the DeLorean scandal over the use of government subsidies for the production of the De Lorean DMC-12 for which Lotus had designed the chassis.

In 1986 the company was bought by General Motors. General Motors Corporation ( GM) ( is a multinational automobile manufacturer founded in 1908 and headquartered in the United States. On August 27, 1993, GM sold the company, for £30 million, to A. Events 479 BC - Greco-Persian Wars: Persian forces led by Mardonius are routed by Pausanias, the Spartan Year 1993 ( MCMXCIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar) C. B. N. Holdings S. A. of Luxembourg, a company controlled by Italian businessman Romano Artioli, who also owned Bugatti Automobili SpA. Luxembourg (Groussherzogtum Lëtzebuerg Grand-Duché de Luxembourg Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small Landlocked country in Western Europe, bordered by Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Romano Artioli is an Italian entrepreneur and one-time owner of Bugatti and Lotus. Bugatti was founded in Molsheim, France, as a manufacturer of high performance automobiles by Ettore Bugatti, an Italian In 1996 a majority share in Lotus was sold to Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional Bhd (Proton), a Malaysian car company listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange. Proton is the Malaysian national Carmaker ( Malay Acronym for PeRusahaan OTOmobil Nasional, 'National Automobile Enterprise' For the biogeographical region see Malesia Malaysia (məˈleɪʒə or /məˈleɪziə/ is a country that consists of thirteen states and The Bursa Malaysia ( or Malaysia Exchange, MYX previously known as Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange ( KLSE, Bursa Saham Kuala Lumpur

The company also acts as an engineering consultancy, providing engineering development—particularly of suspension—for other car manufacturers. Engineering is the Discipline and Profession of applying technical and scientific Knowledge and Suspension is the term given to the system of springs, Shock absorbers and linkages that connects a Vehicle to its Wheels Suspension The lesser known Powertrain department is responsible for the design and development of the 4 cylinder engine found in many of GM's Vauxhall, Opel, Saab, and possibly some Saturn cars. Vauxhall Motors is a British automobile company It is a subsidiary of General Motors Corporation (GM and is part of GM Europe. Adam Opel GmbH (commonly known as Opel) is a German automaker part of General Motors. Saab Automobile AB, better known as Saab, is a Swedish car manufacturer and currently a wholly-owned Subsidiary of General Motors. Saturn is a division of the General Motors Corporation and a brand of Automobiles It was established on January 7, 1985. It should however be noted that the current Lotus Elise and Exige models use the 1. Series 1 The design philosophy of Lotus is "Performance through light weight" first adopted by the founder of Lotus Colin Chapman. The Lotus Exige (pronounced ex-seej is a two-door two-seat Sports car made by Lotus Cars. 8L VVTL-i I4 from Toyota's late Celica GT-S and the Matrix XRS.

The company is organized as Group Lotus, which is divided into Lotus Cars and Lotus Engineering. Contrary to some rumours, there are no plans to create a Formula One Team. This is more likely to be due to the massive financial input required over and above any of the company's wishes.

Michael Kimberley took over as Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Company and its Group from May 2006. He currently chairs 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 is the holding company of Lotus Group Plc.

Contents

Formula One

Main article: Team Lotus
Lotus 77
Lotus 77

The company encouraged its customers to race its cars, and itself entered Formula One as a team in 1958. 1950s Colin Chapman established Lotus Engineering Ltd in 1952 at Hornsey, UK. A Lotus Formula One car driven by Stirling Moss won the marque's first Grand Prix in 1960 at Monaco in a Lotus 18 entered by privateer Rob Walker. Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss OBE (born September 17, 1929 in London) is a retired racing driver from England. Results from the 1960 Monaco Grand Prix held at Monaco on May 29, 1960 Classification The Lotus 18 is a Race car designed by Colin Chapman for use by Lotus in Formula Junior, Formula Two, and Formula One. Rob Walker Racing Team was a privateer team in Formula One during the 1950s and 1960s Major success came in 1963 with the Lotus 25, which—with Jim Clark driving—won Lotus its first F1 World Constructors Championship. The Lotus 25 was a racing car designed by Colin Chapman for the 1962 Formula 1 season Jim (or Jimmy) Clark OBE ( 4 March, 1936 &ndash 7 April, 1968) was a Scottish Formula One By season Clark's untimely death — he crashed a Formula Two Lotus 48 in April 1968 after his rear tyre failed in a turn in Hockenheim — was a severe blow to the team and to Formula One. Formula Two, abbreviated to F2, was a type of Formula racing. The Lotus 48 was a Formula 2 Car designed by Colin Chapman, based on a 1600 cc Ford FVA engine that was run around 1967 to 1970 on He was the dominant driver in the dominant car and remains an inseparable part of Lotus' early years. That year's championship was won by Clark's teammate, Graham Hill. Norman Graham Hill ( February 15, 1929 – November 29, 1975) was a British racing driver and two-time Formula One World

Lotus is credited with making the mid-engined layout popular for Indycars, developing the first monocoque Formula 1 chassis, and the integration of the engine and transaxle as chassis components. Champ Car, was the name for a class and specification of cars used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades primarily for use in the Indianapolis Monocoque, from the French for single ( mono) and shell ( coque) is a construction technique that supports structural load by using an object's external Lotus was also among the pioneers in Formula 1 in adding wings and shaping the undersurface of the car to create downforce, as well as the first to move radiators to the sides in the car to aid in aerodynamic performance, and inventing active suspension. The term downforce describes the downward pressure created by the aerodynamic characteristics of a Car that allows it to travel faster through a corner by holding

Even after Chapman's death, until the late 1980s, Lotus continued to be a major player in Formula 1. Ayrton Senna drove for the team from 1985 to 1987, winning twice in each year and achieving 17 pole positions. Ayrton Senna da Silva ( pronounced, March 21, 1960 &ndash May 1, 1994) was a Brazilian racing driver and triple However, by the company's last Formula 1 race in 1994, the cars were no longer competitive. Lotus won a total of 79 Grand Prix races. During his lifetime Chapman saw Lotus beat Ferrari as the first team to achieve 50 Grand Prix victories, despite Ferrari having won their first nine years sooner.

Formula One Constructors' Championships (Drivers' Championship winner for Lotus)

Lotus car models

Previous

Lotus Europa S2
Lotus Europa S2

Current

The Lotus Elise
The Lotus Elise
Lotus Europa S
Lotus Europa S
Lotus 2-Eleven
Lotus 2-Eleven
Lotus Exige 265E
Lotus Exige 265E

Collaborations

Lotus Engines

Lotus Engineering

The APX is an aluminium concept vehicle revealed at the 2006 Geneva Motor Show built on Lotus Engineering's Versatile Vehicle Architecture (VVA). The Lotus-Ford Twin Cam is a 1558 cc engine developed for the 1962 Lotus Elan and also used in a variety of other vehicles up until mid 1970's It is a common misconception that the Lotus 900 series engines were modified Vauxhall engines The Lotus 907 was an original design dual overhead cam 16 valve all alloy powerplant It is a common misconception that the Lotus 900 series engines were modified Vauxhall engines It is a common misconception that the Lotus 900 series engines were modified Vauxhall engines It is a common misconception that the Lotus 900 series engines were modified Vauxhall engines Early Esprit (1976–80 S1 The Esprit was launched in October 1975 at the Paris motorshow and went into production in June 1976 replacing the Europa in the The Lotus APX (APX stands for Aluminum Performance Crossover) is a Concept car created by the British automobile Marque, Lotus. Lotus Cars is a British manufacturer of sports and racing cars based at Hethel, Norfolk, England.

Whereas the VVA technology will be used in the creation of a new mid-engined sportscar for Lotus cars, the APX is in fact a high performance 7 seat MPV with four-wheel drive and a front mounted V6 engine from Lotus Engineering's Powertrain division. The engine was designed and developed to be available as a 2. 2 litre N/A and 3. 0 litre supercharged. A number of prototypes of both engines exist in full working order in a number of mule cars. A development mule or a test mule in the automotive industry is a vehicle equipped with experimental or Prototype components for testing

On September 20, 2007 Lotus Engineering released a five year construction plan in which new models would be created in the United States. It also states that there will be a rapid expansion of the US Lotus Engineering Program. Three new models are to be created around the 2010 year period, a 2+2 coupe, a brand new Lotus Excel, and of course the 2009 Esprit.

Lotus Engineering has established a group dedicated to hybrid and electric vehicles. [8]

Further reading

Versatile Vehicle Architecture

Versatile Vehicle Architecture (VVA) is an effort by the Lotus car manufacturing company to reduce the investment needed for producing unique, niche-market cars by sharing a number of common components. Lotus Cars is a British manufacturer of sports and racing cars based at Hethel, Norfolk, England.

Cars produced using VVA

Notes

  1. ^ http://www.gglotus.org/ggrace/ggfaq/general.html retrieved 1 May 2008
  2. ^ Lotus cars Cheshunt retrieved December 26, 2007
  3. ^ Constructors' championship only; drivers' title went to Jackie Stewart of Tyrrell
  4. ^ [1]
  5. ^ [2]
  6. ^ [3]
  7. ^ About Proton Engineering - Proton Cars UK
  8. ^ http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/02/22/lotus-engineering-establishes-group-dedicated-to-hybrid-and-elec/

See also

External links

The Lotus APX (APX stands for Aluminum Performance Crossover) is a Concept car created by the British automobile Marque, Lotus. Early Esprit (1976–80 S1 The Esprit was launched in October 1975 at the Paris motorshow and went into production in June 1976 replacing the Europa in the Events 1481 - Battle of Westbrook - Holland defeats troops of Utrecht. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. For other people of this name see Jackie Stewart (disambiguation. Lower Formulae (1958 - 1967 Tyrrell Racing first came into being in 1958 running Formula Three cars for Ken Tyrrell and local stars RAF Hethel is a former World War II airfield used by the US during the Second World War (and briefly as an RAF station) in Norfolk, England Proton is the Malaysian national Carmaker ( Malay Acronym for PeRusahaan OTOmobil Nasional, 'National Automobile Enterprise'
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