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LOTUS has marked its 75th anniversary with a special logo to honor the British brand’s important milestone.

According to Lotus, the striking black and gold design will appear in multiple environments over the next 12 months and is likely a badge on a range of special edition models released to celebrate the occasion.

The brand has promised a very special year to come and says 2023 will see the launch of “several exciting global events and initiatives”.

It will also use the opportunity to look back on more than seven and a half decades of “innovation and success that have undoubtedly helped shape today’s motorsport and motorsport landscape”.

And while it all sounds a bit vague, Lotus is gearing up for a number of new models – including its first SUV – the first of which is expected to arrive this year.

Indeed, the manufacturer says that part of the 75th anniversary celebration will be “looking forward to what the fourth quarter of the company’s first century will look like” as it “continues to transform from a sports car company to a sports car company.” UK sports car business to a global performance car brand and business”. .

Speaking on the occasion of Lotus’ 75th anniversary, Lotus Cars group vice president and chief executive officer, Matt Windle, said Lotus founder Colin Chapman’s pioneering spirit lives on.

“Lotus of 2023 is a world away from a garage in north London, thanks to the billions of dollars already invested in our company for product development, an electrified future and more more,” he said, referring to the Hornsey garage where Colin Chapman built his first car.

“We have come a long way since moving to our iconic Norfolk home in 1966. Today we have engineering facilities in the UK, Germany and China; design studios in Hethel, Coventry and Shanghai; and new world-class manufacturing facilities in Norfolk and China.

“The last of these is where the first Lotus style car was assembled – Super SUV Eletre – starting later this month.

“The pioneering spirit and commitment of Colin and Hazel Chapman is alive and well at Lotus today, and we will be celebrating our 75th anniversary in style – paying homage to the past. past and looking to the future as we enter the first century.”

Brief history of Lotus:

1948 – Colin Chapman graduated from technical school. Build a test car out of a 1928 Austin Seven called the Mark I. The 11kW car worked well, giving Chapman enough money to build another car, the Mark II.

1952 – Lotus Engineering Limited was founded by engineers Colin Chapman and Colin Dare and the first production model, the Mark IV test car, was built.

1957 – Production of the highly successful Mark VII begins. The 948cc engine of this model only provides a capacity of 36kW/70Nm but reaches a maximum speed of 130km/h. The nimble handling brought by the ‘7’ was a highlight and production continues to this day – albeit under the Caterham moniker.

1960 When the Lotus Elite debuted for the first time, the model’s fiberglass body and construction provided lessons for the manufacturer to be used in the Elan successor. The lightweight Elite (773kg) is equipped with a 1.2-liter Coventry Climax engine and has a top speed of 198km/h.

1962 – Lotus introduces what is believed to be its first true sports car, the Elan. Combining a fiberglass body and tubular steel frame, the model draws its power from a Ford-supplied 1.5-liter engine with a Lotus-designed aluminum cylinder head. Although slower than the Elite, this model is still considered by many to be “a formula one car for the street”.

1963 – Ford and Lotus teamed up to create Cortina building examples provided by Lotus 2894 between 1963-66. The second-generation Cortina lost the Lotus badge, but not the legacy, and was successfully produced and sold as the Ford Cortina Twin-Cam until 1970.

1966 – Europa mid-engine was born. Combining a Renault-sourced engine with a fiberglass and steel body, the unusually stylish coupe develops just 61kW.

1967 – Lotus introduces the Elan +2, the addition of a small rear seat increases the weight of the model by 136kg. Despite its large size, the 1.6-liter DOHC engine of this model helps this model accelerate from 0-100km / h in less than 8.0 seconds and has a top speed of 193km / h.

1974 – The four-seater bug reappeared and Lotus produced the four-seat Elite hatch. Power comes from a 104 kW 2.0-liter engine, but prices are high and sales are slow. Meanwhile, production of the Elan was discontinued and the rights to the ‘7’ were sold to Caterham.

1975 Lotus introduced the Eclat, sold as Sprint in the US, with the same powertrain as the Elite. Europa production has ended.

1976 – The mid-engined Esprit went into production with the same powertrain as the Elite used again. Improved tuning and handling give the Giugiaro-designed model the ability to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 9.6 seconds. That time drops to 8.4 seconds when the sample is not dated 1979.

1980 – Supercharged gives Esprit the chance it always deserves, but not all of the time. Despite delivering 156 kW of power, the model’s chronic turbocharger lag has many customers looking elsewhere.

1982 – Colin Chapman died of a heart attack at the age of 54.

1986 – General Motors buys a controlling interest in Lotus.

1989 The Isuzu-sourced 120kW engine gives the new front-wheel drive Elan convertible with acceptable performance at the time with a claimed 0-100km/h time of 6.4 seconds. Lotus predicts sales of about 3500 units per year, but sales are very slow. The model was discontinued in 1993.

1990 – Lotus moves on to bigger things, creating the Opel-derived Lotus Carlton with an inline-six delivering 281kW/568Nm. This fast sedan can accelerate to 100 km / h in 5.2 seconds and run a quarter mile in 13.6 seconds.

1993 – GM sells Lotus to Bugatti boss, Romano Artioli.

1996 – Artioli sold Lotus to Malaysian manufacturer, Proton, and Elise two-seat composite body was born. The 680kg convertible is powered by a 1.8-litre engine sourced from Rover and delivers a 0-100km/h time of just 5.8 seconds, despite its relatively low power output of 88kW. In the end, the capacity was increased to 145kW and about 36,000 units were produced.

2000 – Elise II launched with Exige – hardtop version of the same car. Both continue to be driven by Rover’s K-series engine, with 89kW/168Nm in standard form. VVC technology eventually increased power to 119kW and 141kW before Lotus switched to Toyota’s capacity in 2007.

2009 – Toyota’s V6 engine power is fitted to the new Evora, a four-seat coupe, mid-engined with a capacity of 206 kW or more, a capacity of 257 kW turbocharged. Both deliver 400Nm of torque. But it’s the ‘S’ turbocharged engine that is what enthusiasts love, thanks to civilized handling/riding and a quick 0-100 km/h time of 4.8 seconds.

2017 – Chinese multinational company Geely buys 51% stake in Lotus.

2021 – Lotus announced that it will only produce electric vehicles in 2028. Revealed plans for models include the Eletre super SUV and the sports car duo Evija and Emira. The Evija is said to have a 0-100km/h time of under three seconds.

2023 – Lotus celebrates 75 years of establishment.

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