Lotus Cars

Lotus Cars Limited

Type	Private Limited Company
Industry	Automotive
Founded	1952
Founder(s)	Colin Chapman
Headquarters	Hethel, Norfolk, England, United Kingdom
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Colin Chapman Michael J Kimberley Syed Zainal Abidin Badrul Feisal
Products	Automobiles, Automotive parts
Owner(s)	Proton
Parent	Group Lotus plc
Website	GroupLotus.com

Lotus final assembly

Lotus Cars is a British manufacturer of sports and racing cars based at Hethel, Norfolk, England on the former site of RAF Hethel, a World War II airfield. The company designs and builds race and production automobiles of light weight and high handling characteristics.

Lotus is currently owned by Proton, the Malaysian carmaker, who took over in 1994 on the bankruptcy of former owner Bugatti.

History

The company was formed as Lotus Engineering Ltd. by engineer Colin Chapman, a graduate of University College, London, in 1952. The first factory was in old stables behind the Railway Hotel in Hornsey, North London. Team Lotus, which was split off from Lotus Engineering in 1954, was active and competitive in Formula One racing from 1958 to 1994. The Lotus Group of Companies was formed in 1959. This was made up of Lotus Cars Limited and Lotus Components Limited which focused on road cars 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. This site is the former RAF Hethel base and the test track uses sections of the old runway.

Chapman died of a heart attack in 1982 at the age of 54, having begun life an innkeeper's son and ended a multi-millionaire industrialist in post-war Britain. The car maker built tens of thousands of successful racing and road cars and won the Formula One World Championship seven times. At the time of his death he was linked with the DeLorean scandal over the use of government subsidies for the production of the DeLorean DMC-12 for which Lotus had designed the chassis.

In 1986, the company was bought by General Motors. On 27 August 1993, GM sold the company, for £30 million, to A.C.B.N. Holdings S.A. of Luxembourg, a company controlled by Italian businessman Romano Artioli, who also owned Bugatti Automobili SpA. 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.

The company also acts as an engineering consultancy, providing engineering development—particularly of suspension—for other car manufacturers. The lesser known Powertrain department is responsible for the design and development of the 4-cylinder Ecotec engine found in many of GM's Vauxhall, Opel, Saab, Chevrolet and Saturn cars. Today, the current Lotus Elise and Exige models use the 1.8L VVTL-i I4 from Toyota's late Celica GT-S and the Matrix XRS.

The company is organised as Group Lotus, which is divided into Lotus Cars and Lotus Engineering.

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.

Kimberley retired as CEO on 17 July 2009^[3] and was replaced as CEO by Dany T Bahar on 1 October 2009. Bahar was formerly Senior Vice President, Commercial & Brand for Ferrari SpA where he was responsible for worldwide road car sales and after sales business, overall road car and F1 marketing activities, licensing, and merchandising business.^[4]

Formula One

Lotus 77

Lotus 99T

Lotus 72

The company encouraged its customers to race its cars, and itself entered Formula One as a team in 1958. 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. Major success came in 1963 with the Lotus 25, which — with Jim Clark driving — won Lotus its first F1 World Constructors Championship. 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. 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.

Lotus is credited with making the mid-engined layout popular for IndyCars, developing the first monocoque Formula One chassis, and the integration of the engine and transaxle as chassis components. Lotus was also among the pioneers in Formula One 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.

Even after Chapman's death, until the late 1980s, Lotus continued to be a major player in Formula One. Ayrton Senna drove for the team from 1985 to 1987, winning twice in each year and achieving 17 pole positions. However, by the company's last Formula One 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)

• 1963 (Jim Clark)
• 1965 (Jim Clark)
• 1968 (Graham Hill)
• 1970 (Jochen Rindt)
• 1972 (Emerson Fittipaldi)
• 1973^[5]
• 1978 (Mario Andretti)

Team Lotus established Classic Team Lotus in 1992, as the Works historic motorsport activity. Classic Team Lotus continues to maintain Lotus F1 cars and run them in the FIA Historic Formula One Championship and it preserves the Team Lotus archive and Works Collection of cars, under the management of Colin Chapman’s son, Clive.

Lotus (under the name Lotus F1 Team) will take up the 13th spot on the grid in the 2010 Formula One Championship. The new team is unrelated to the previous incarnation of Team Lotus, although it is funded by a Malaysian Consortium including Proton (the owner of Lotus Cars), and has legal rights to use the Lotus name.

Lotus car models

Previous

Lotus 1, 1948

Lotus Mk 4

Lotus Eleven

Lotus Europa S2

Lotus Elite

Lotus 26, 1965

Lotus Eclat 22

Lotus Esprit S4, 1995

Lotus GT1 Road Car, 2008

Lotus Elise S1

Vauxhall VX220

Lotus Mk IX

Lotus Cosworth F1, 2010

Lotus Europa, 2010

• Lotus Mark I (1948): Austin 7 based car
• Lotus Mark II (1949–1950): Ford-powered trials car
• Lotus Mark III (1951): 750 cc formula car
• Lotus Mark IV (1952): Trials car
• Lotus Mark V (1952 2): 750 cc formula car—never built
• Lotus Mark VI (1953–1955): The first "production" racer—about 100 built
• Lotus Seven (1957–1970): Classic open sports car, a minimalist machine designed to manoeuvre a racing circuit and nothing else. The rights to the Seven were sold in 1973 to Caterham Cars, who continue to produce it today. Updated versions of this 1957 design are also produced by other specialty firms, including Westfield Sportscars and Donkervoort. Originally the number seven was applied to a Riley-powered Formula 2 car, but the vehicle was never completed in its original form, finally emerging instead as the Clairmonte Special, a two-seat sports car powered by a Lea-Francis engine.
• Lotus Mark VIII (1954): sports racer
• Lotus Mark IX (1955): sports racer, based on Eight
• Lotus Mark X (1955): sports racer, a more powerful Eight
• Lotus Eleven (1956–1957): sports racer
• Lotus 12 (1956–1957): Formula Two and Formula One racecar
• Lotus 13: Designation not used
• Lotus 14 (1957–1963): First production street car—the Elite
• Lotus 15 (1958): Sports racer—successor to the Eleven
• Lotus 16 (1958–1959): F1/F2 car based on the Twelve
• Lotus 17 (1959): Sports racer update of the 15—not successful
• Lotus 18 (1960–1961): First mid-engined Lotus single seater—Formula Junior/F2/F1
• Lotus 19 (1960–1962): Mid-engined sports racer—"Monte Carlo"
• Lotus 20 (1961): Formula Junior
• Lotus 21 (1961): Formula One
• Lotus 22 (1962–1965): Formula Junior/F3
• Lotus 23 (1962–1966): Small displacement mid-engined sports racer
• Lotus 24 (1962): Formula One
• Lotus 25 (1962–1964): Formula One World Champion
• Lotus 26 (1962–1971): Production street sports car—the original Elan.
• Lotus 27 (1963): Formula Junior
• Lotus 28 (1963–1966): Lotus version of the Ford Cortina street/racer
• Lotus 29 (1963): Indy car—Ford stock block
• Lotus 30 (1964): Large displacement sports racer (Ford V8)
• Lotus 31 (1964–1966): Formula Three space frame racer
• Lotus 32 (1964–1965): Monocoque F2 and Tasman Cup racer
• Lotus 33 (1964–1965): Formula One World Champion
• Lotus 34 (1964): Indy car—DOHC Ford
• Lotus 35 (1965): F2/F3/FB
• Lotus 36 (1965–1968): Fixed Head Coupe version of the original Elan, so called perhaps to distinguish it from the Type 26 Elan which could be fitted with a removable hard top)
• Lotus 38 (1965): Indy winning mid-engined car
• Lotus 39 (1965–1966): Tasman Cup formula car
• Lotus 40 (1965): Improved(?) version of the 30
• Lotus 41 (1965–1968): Formula Three, Formula Two, Formula B
• Lotus 42 (1967): Indy car—raced with Ford V8
• Lotus 43 (1966): Formula One
• Lotus 44 (1967): Formula Two
• Lotus 45 (1966–1974): Convertible (Drop Head Coupe), a version of the original Elan with a revised body style, most notable for its permanent side window frames.
• Lotus 46 (1966–1968): Original Renault-engined Europa
• Lotus 47 (1966–1970): Racing version of Europa
• Lotus 48 (1967): Formula Two
• Lotus 49 (1967–1969): Formula One World Champion
• Lotus 50 (1967–1974): Four-seat "Elan +2" production car
• Lotus 51 (1967–1969): Formula Ford
• Lotus 52 (1968): Prototype "Europa" twincam
• Lotus 53 (1968): Small displacement sports racer—never built
• Lotus 54 (1968–1970): Series 2 "Europa" production car.
• Lotus 55 (1968): F3
• Lotus 56 (1968–1971): Indy turbine wedge/F1 turbine (56B)
• Lotus 57 (1968): F2 design study
• Lotus 58 (1968): F1 design study
• Lotus 59 (1969–1970): F2/F3/Formula Ford
• Lotus 60 (1970–1973): Greatly modified version of the Seven—AKA Seven S4
• Lotus 61 (1969): Formula Ford wedge
• Lotus 62 (1969): prototype Europa racer
• Lotus 63 (1969): 4-wheel drive F1
• Lotus 64 (1969): 4-wheel drive Indy cars—did not compete
• Lotus 65 (1969–1971): "Federalized" Europa S2
• Lotus 66: designation not used
• Lotus 67 (1970): Proposed Tasman Cup car—never built
• Lotus 68 (1969): F5000 prototype
• Lotus 69 (1970): F2/F3/Formula Ford
• Lotus 70 (1970): F5000/Formula A
• Lotus 71: Undisclosed design study
• Lotus 72 (1970–1972): Formula One World Champion
• Lotus 73 (1972–1973): F3
• Lotus 74 (1971–1975): Europa Twin Cam production cars
• Lotus 75 (1974–1982): Luxury 4 seat GT—"Elite II"
• Lotus 76 (1975–1982): Fastback version of Elite II—"Éclat S1"—also 1974 F1
• Lotus 77 (1976): F1
• Lotus 78 (1977–1978): F1 ground effects car
• Lotus 79 (1978–1979): Formula One World Champion—also street GT "Esprit" (1975–1980)
• Lotus 80 (1979): F1
• Lotus 81 (1980–1981): F1—designation also used for Sunbeam Talbot rally car
• Lotus 82 (1982–current): Turbo Esprit street GT car
• Lotus 83 (1980): Elite series 2
• Lotus 84 (1980–1982): Éclat series 2
• Lotus 85 (1980–1987): Esprit series 3
• Lotus 86 (1980–1983): F1 dual chassis—never raced
• Lotus 87 (1980–1982): F1
• Lotus 88 (1981): F1 dual chassis car—banned
• Lotus 89 (1982–1992): Lotus Excel GT—re-engineered Éclat
• Lotus 90: Unreleased Elan/Toyota
• Lotus 91 (1982): F1
• Lotus 92 (1983): F1
• Lotus 93T (1983): F1 Turbo
• Lotus 94T (1983): F1 Turbo
• Lotus 95T (1984): F1 Turbo
• Lotus 96T (1984): Indy car project—abandoned
• Lotus 97T (1985–1986): F1 Turbo
• Lotus 98T (1986–1987): F1 Turbo
• Lotus 99T (1987): F1 Turbo—last Lotus F1 winner
• Lotus 100T (1988): F1 Turbo
• Lotus Elan (Type M100) (1989–1995): Front-drive convertible Elan.
• Lotus 101 (1989): F1
• Lotus 102 (1990–1991): F1
• Lotus 103 (1990): F1—not produced
• Lotus 104 (1990–1992): Lotus Carlton: tuned version of the standard Vauxhall saloon.
• Lotus 105 (1990): Racing X180R IMSA Supercars Drivers Champ Doc Bundy
• Lotus 106 (1991): X180R roadgoing homologation special
• Lotus 107 (1992–1994): F1
• Lotus 108 (1992): a bicycle ridden by Chris Boardman to win a gold medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, also known as the "LotusSport Pursuit Bicycle".
• Lotus 109 (1994): F1—Last Lotus F1 car.
• Lotus 110: Production version of type 108 bicycle
• Lotus 111: The Lotus Elise
• Lotus 112: Final partial F1 design, got as far as the monocoque buck
• Lotus 113: Number not allocated
• Lotus 114 (1996): Lotus Esprit GT1
• Lotus 115 (1997–1998): Lotus GT Race Car, AKA Lotus Elise GT1
• Lotus 116: The Vauxhall VX220 / Opel Speedster, a collaboration with GM
• Lotus 117: Lotus Elise Mk2
• Lotus 118: Lotus M250. Two-seater concept car. Unveiled in Autumn of 1999 as a mid-range sports car, project was cancelled in 2001.
• Lotus 119: Soapbox derby car Light vehicle out of carbon and aluminium, brakes discs, without engine, built for the race of the festival of speed of Goodwood
• Lotus 120 (1998): Elise V6 code named M120—was never produced
• Lotus 121 (2006): Europa S
• Lotus 122: Lotus Evora
• Lotus 123: Lotus 2-Eleven
• Lotus 124: Evora Race Car
• Lotus 125: Exos -- Ultimate track Car ^[6]
• Lotus Excel (1985–1992): Updated Elite with Toyota running gear. 2,159 Excels were made.
• Lotus Eclat (1975–1982): Fastback version of the Elite. The rear roof line of the Elite was sloped down into a sporty fastback.
• Lotus Elite: Describes two cars, one an ultra-light two-seater coupé produced from 1957 to 1962, one an angular 3-door hatch with a back bone chassis produced from 1974 to 1982.
• Lotus Europa (1966–1975): mid-engine sports car.
• Lotus Esprit: A mid-engined sports car, launched in the early 1970s. It was styled by Italian designer Giorgetto Giugiaro. The Esprit started with a light, 4-cylinder design, which went through several iterations of turbo-charging and electronic upgrades, before finally being replaced by a highly advanced V8. The last Lotus Esprit rolled off the production line on 20 February 2004, after 28 years in production. A total of 10,675 Esprits were built since production began in 1976.
• Lotus M250 (2000): Concept car that never reached production

Current

The Lotus Elise

Lotus Europa S

Lotus 2-Eleven

Lotus 340

• Lotus Elise: The Elise incorporates many engineering innovations, such as an aluminum extrusion frame and a composite body shell. The Elise has also spawned several racing variants, including an exotic limited series called the 340R, which has an open-body design echoing the famed Seven. The Elise was introduced into the U.S., with a Toyota engine, in order to pass strict U.S. emissions laws. The 1ZZ & 2ZZ Toyota engines used have a Lotus ECU with their own fuel mapping. The supercharged Lotus SC and limited edition Jim Clark Type 25 Elise editions add a new performance dimension to the Elise range. 0–60 mph acceleration is in 4.3 seconds and 0–100 km/h in 4.6 seconds.

• Lotus Eco Elise is a version of its classic sports car that incorporates solar panels into a roof made from hemp, while also employing natural materials in the body and interior of the car.

• Lotus Exige: A version of the Lotus Elise with a redesigned body to provide additional downforce (100 lb at 100 mph).^[7] Additionally, the following Elise Sport Pack and Hardtop options are standard on the Exige. The car is street legal and the base 2006 model was available in the USA for $50,990.^[8] Lotus updated the Exige with the supercharged Exige S in 2007.

• Lotus Exige S: An Exige with a supercharged engine providing 220 hp.^[9] The non-S Exige^[10] and Elise^[11] have 190 hp (140 kW).

• Lotus Europa S: The Grand Tourer (GT)-inspired two-seater is claimed to offer a more upmarket sportscar experience, although it is based on the same chassis as the Elise and Exige, limited accommodation and practicality. Power comes from a Lotus-tuned variant of the turbocharged four-cylinder engine which powers the VX220. The Europa has been criticised in the motoring press for being expensive and for lacking equipment and practicality compared to rivals like the Porsche Cayman.

• Lotus Evora Launched 22 July 2008. Code named Project Eagle during development. A 2+2 sports car with a mid mounted, transverse 3.5 litre V6 engine.^[12]

• Lotus 2-Eleven Weighing just 670 kg (1,500 lb) and with 252 bhp (188 kW) the Lotus 2-Eleven can sprint from 0–60 in 3.8 seconds and has a top speed of 155 mph (249 km/h). Intended as a track day car it costs £39,995 but for an additional £1,100 Lotus will make the car fully road legal.

• Lotus Exige 265E is an experimental bioethanol car.

• Lotus 125 Track-only Formula 1 inspired car. 3.5l Cosworth V8, 640bhp; 25 will be built at $1 million each. To run in the 'Exos Experience by Lotus', a club, initiated and operated by Lotus Motorsport, in which a limited number of owner drivers can refine their driving skills and challenge themselves with expert one-to-one advice from former Grand Prix drivers and trainers.

• Lotus T127: 2010 F1 car

Projects undertaken by Lotus Engineering

DeLorean DMC 12 with Lotus designed Chassis

Sinclair C5

Dodge EV

Lotus Engineering Limited, is an offshoot of Lotus Cars, which engineer cars for third party companies. Examples are shown here:-

• Lotus Talbot Sunbeam—Talbot's hot-hatch rally car of the early '80s.
• DeLorean DMC-12. Changes to the original concept led to considerable schedule pressures. The car was deemed to require almost complete re-engineering, which was turned over to engineer Colin Chapman, founder of Lotus. Lotus replaced most of the unproven material and manufacturing techniques with those then employed by Lotus in the Lotus Esprit.
• Vauxhall Lotus Carlton (also Opel Lotus Omega, internal name Lotus Type 104) - At the time (early 1990s) this was the fastest saloon car available, with a top speed of over 170 mph (274 km/h).
• The 1991 Dodge Spirit R/T with a version of the 2.2 L K-car engine with a 16-valve DOHC head designed by Lotus with over 220 hp (160 kW).
• Vauxhall VX220 (also Opel Speedster) - Lotus produced and based upon the same aluminium chassis design as the Lotus Elise. Production of these models ended in 2005.
• Lotus styled and assisted with the engineering of the Tesla Roadster, an electric sports car based on the Elise, as well as licensing some technologies to Tesla Motors and constructing the Roadster at their plant in Hethel.^[13]
• The Rinspeed sQuba amphibious roadster is based on an Elise.
• Lotus was responsible for most of the design, development, and testing, of the LT5 DOHC V8 powerplant for the Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1.
• Lotus designed, developed and tested the GM Ecotec engine and its variants.
• Lotus was responsible for various aspects of the Sinclair C5 electric tricycle.
• Lotus was responsible for the suspension calibration of the Toyota MR2 Mk. I, the Toyota Supra Mk. II and Mk. III, the Isuzu Piazza, the Isuzu Impulse as well as newer Proton models.
• Lotus was responsible for the development of the Campro engine together with Proton,^[14] as well as its variable valve timing system, the Cam Profile Switching (CPS). Currently available in the 1.6-litre and 1.3-litre variants, the Campro engine now powers most of Proton's newer models.
• Lotus has worked on the suspension of the Mahindra Scorpio to make it more stable at high speeds.
• Lotus is partnering with ZAP on the design of their next electric vehicle, the ZAP-X, based on the APX concept vehicle.
• Lotus produced the revised Chassis of the Isuzu Piazza
• The Dodge EV concept electric vehicle from Chrysler is based on a Lotus Europa S.
• Lotus has worked on the suspension and handling of the Nissan GT-R
• The Hennessey Venom GT a soon to be released hypercar is to be based on the Lotus Exige.

Lotus engines

• Lotus-Ford Twin Cam
• Lotus 900 series
  • Lotus 907
  • Lotus 910
  • Lotus 911
  • Lotus 912
  • Lotus 918 V8

Lotus Engineering

In 2000, Lotus Engineering, Inc. was established with an office in Ann Arbor, Michigan.^[15]

APX and VVA

The APX (also known as the "Aluminium Performance Crossover") is an aluminium concept vehicle revealed at the 2006 Geneva Motor Show built on Lotus Engineering's Versatile Vehicle Architecture (VVA).

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.

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.

Cars produced using VVA:

• Lotus APX
• Lotus Esprit 2009

Electric vehicles

Lotus Engineering has established a group dedicated to hybrid and electric vehicles.^[16]

Lotus plans to enter the electric vehicle race, CEO Michael Kimberley told the Financial Times . "Don’t be surprised to see an electric Lotus shortly,” he said, adding that a concept version could debut as early as March 2009, at Geneva Motor Show.^[17][18] Lotus is now front and center in the electric-car arena.^[19]

Lotus did not reveal details about the car or the engine but discloses that it will go for 300 to 400 miles (640 km) and it will really live up to the expectations of being one of the best electric cars in the world.^[18]

Lotus joined Jaguar Cars and Caparo on a luxury hybrid executive sedan project called "Limo-Green"--funded by the UK Government Technology Strategy Board. The vehicle will be a series plug-in hybrid.^[19]

Tesla Motors, a likely rival for Lotus if its plans go through, has also turned to contractors for parts of the all-electric Roadster.^[17] Of note however, is the fact that Tesla currently obtains the chassis for their Roadster from Lotus as do Dodge for their EV because of the heavy weight of the batteries in an EV and Lotus's widely known low weight and sharp handling characteristics. While only 10% of the parts of the Tesla Roadster are shared with the Lotus Elise, Lotus is responsible for approximately 40% of the overall content of the car.^[17]

Queen's Award for Enterprise

Lotus Cars were awarded the Queen's Award for Enterprise for contribution to International Trade, one of 85 companies receiving the recognition in that category in 2002. Lotus cars wore the badge of the award for a number of years.

See also

• Colin Chapman
• RAF Hethel
• Proton Holdings Berhad

Notes

Further reading

• Gérard ('Jabby') Crombac, Colin Chapman: The Man and His Cars (Patrick Stephens, Wellingborough, 1986)
• Mike Lawrence, Colin Chapman: The Wayward Genius (Breedon Books, Derby, 2002)
• Ian H. Smith, The Story of Lotus: 1947-1960 Birth of a Legend (republished Motor Racing Publications, Chiswick, 1972)
• Doug Nye, The Story of Lotus: 1961-1971 Growth of a Legend (Motor Racing Publications, Chiswick, 1972)
• Robin Read, Colin Chapman's Lotus: The early years, the Elite and the origins of the Elan (Haynes, Sparkford, 1989)
• Anthony Pritchard, Lotus: All The Cars (Aston Publications, Bourne End, 1990)
• Doug Nye, Theme Lotus: 1956-1986 (Motor Racing Publications, Croydon, 1986)
• William Taylor The Lotus Book (Coterie Press, Luton, 1998, 1999, 2005)
• William Taylor The Lotus Book Collectibles (Coterie Press, Luton, 2000)
• Peter Ross, Lotus - The Early Years 1951-54 (Coterie Press, Luton, 2004)
• Rémy Solnon, Lotus Esprit - le grand tourisme à l'anglaise (Editions Les Presses Littéraires, 2007)
• Andrew Ferguson, Team Lotus: The Indianapolis Years (Haynes Publishing 1996) no longer available

External links

• Group Lotus Official Site