Owes its existence to the late
Colin Chapman,
one of the greatest innovators of motorcar design.
Chapman started out designing and building specials
based on the ubiquitous Austin Seven, however
his motoring prowess would soon see him emerge
to control a Grand-Prix racing team, among many
other accomplishments. The first Lotus was manufactured
in the English winter of 1947-1948, while Chapman
was still studying for his engineering degree
at London University.
He continued to construct
other specials for competition work, all built
to comply with the regulations of the 750 Motor
Club. The first production Lotus was the Mark
6, the first of many similarly styled cars featuring
a multi-tube space frame chassis enclosing both
the engine and transmission, and incorporating
soft independent front suspension – all
adding up to an extremely light weight.
And
it was in regards to weight that Chapman became
a devotee, adopting the philosophy that “no
item should be in any way superfluous, or over-strong,
for this simply added unnecessary weight to
the machine”. This philosophy is still
very much at the core of production principles
applied to to the modern day Lotus.
Also see: Lotus
Heritage.
