Lotus

Lotus Cars is a legendary British manufacturer of high-end sports cars that has built a strong reputation for its performance-engineering and exotic designs.  The company has its roots in the motorsport industry, which is reflected in the competition-quality engineering and aerodynamic design of their production vehicles.  Today, Lotus stands as one of the world’s premier manufacturers of sports cars.

The first automobile by Lotus was the Mark I in 1948, which was designed and built by founder Colin Chapman during his college years.  The car was designed as a trials car, and was succeeded by the Ford-powered Mark II in 1949.  Lotus released its first street-legal sports car, the lightweight 2-seater known as the Lotus Seven, in 1957.  Its first production streetcar was released that same year, which was an ultra-light two-seater coupe known as the Elite (also Type 14).  In 1962, Lotus released the Lotus 26, the predecessor to the highly successful and often imitated Elan.

Lotus was born out of the Formula One circuit, and established the Classic Team Lotus in 1992 to maintain classic Lotus F1 cars and race them in the FIA Historic Formula One Championship.  The company currently manufactures a number of high-end production sports car models, including the Lotus Elise, Exige, and Europa.