Exotic Cars Around the World

He was born at Nansladron at  St Ewe  near  St Austell  in  Cornwall , and was an only child. [1]  His father was Edward Martin (born in 1843), the owner of Martin Brothers China Clay Merchants in St Austell, who lived at  Treverbyn , and who also owned the Lee Moor porcelain factory in  Plympton . Martin Brothers, founded in 1837, became part of  English China Clays . His mother was Elizabeth Emily Birch (born in 1851 in Manchester), who had also been married previously to Walter Braithwaite who died, and she came from  Salford , and her family were wealthy chalk and lime merchants; her father was William Singleton Birch, who had founded  Singleton Birch , later run by his uncle Thomas Birch. His parents had married on 26 April 1877 at  Lillington, Warwickshire ; he was baptised on 20 May 1878 at Lillington church. [2]  He grew up in  Knightsbridge . In 1891 he went to  Eton College . In 1897 he went to  Brasenose College, Oxford , where he was an enthusiast member of the 

Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman ,  CBE  (19 May 1928 – 16 December 1982) was an influential English design engineer, inventor, and builder in the automotive industry, and founder of  Lotus Cars . [1] In 1952 he founded the  sports car  company  Lotus Cars . Chapman initially ran Lotus in his spare time, assisted by a group of enthusiasts. His knowledge of the latest  aeronautical engineering  techniques would prove vital towards achieving the major automotive technical advances he is remembered for. His design philosophy focused on cars with light weight and fine  handling  instead of bulking up on horsepower and spring rates, which he famously summarised as "Adding power makes you faster on the straights. Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere." [2] Under his direction,  Team Lotus  won seven  Formula One   Constructors' titles , [3]  six  Drivers' Championships , and the  Indianapolis 500  in the  United States , between 1962 and 1978. The

Arguably the most innovative team in Formula One history, Lotus established itself in the 1950s by building simple, lightweight sportscars with sublime handling. They stuck with that same philosophy as they became the dominant force in grand prix racing in the 1960s and 70s, and had many of racing’s greatest champions pilot their machines. "He was the computer. If the car wasn’t handling well on the Friday, he would go back to the garage and call the mechanics. By Saturday morning the car would be fantastic. Only Colin Chapman could do that. He was a genius.” - Emerson Fittipaldi Team founder Colin Chapman was an ingenious engineer who experimented with lightweight materials and relied heavily on his knowledge of aeronautical engineering, which he had gained while in the Royal Air Force. Lotus entered its first F1 race at Monaco in 1958, with Graham Hill and Cliff Allison driving. A victory of sorts came the following year with Stirling Moss in a customer Lotus, but

After the death of the founder, Lotus would go on throughout the 80s and 90s diversifying its companies roll and taking on new endeavors. Lotus would begin providing engineering development and consulting for suspension engine designs for General Motors. The company would also play a hand in the role of the Corvette ZR-1. The company would continue on producing vehicle designs that were unlike any other. Lotus company was starting to utilize more and more lightweight components through its design of racing cars as well as production vehicles. The designs of some were quite radical and with the company’s philosophy for basic and light perform they were also starting to produce world-class road bike for use in such races of the Tour de France in the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona The more I read this article the more I laughed..think about lotus and how they design, light, compact and fast speed vehicles with incredible handling..a perfect company to make a bike for the Tour de

Lotus Engineering has established a group dedicated to hybrid and electric vehicles. [44] Lotus Engineering created the Evora 414E as their first hybrid concept car. Featuring a total hybrid range of more than 300 miles and 0-60 MPH in 4.4 seconds. [45] Lotus joined  Jaguar Cars ,  MIRA Ltd  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 . [46] [47] Tesla Motors , a likely rival for Lotus if its plans go through, has also turned to contractors for parts of the all-electric  Roadster . [48]  However, Tesla bought the chassis for their 2,500 Roadsters from Lotus 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 were shared with the Lotus Elise, Lotus was responsible for approximately 40% of the over

1974 Lotus tries to move upmarket with the front-engine, four-seat Elite hatchback. Although surprisingly practical and motivated by a DOHC 16-valve 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine with 140 hp in U.S. tune, the Elite is expensive and arguably overpriced at $16,300 ($70,000 in 2010). In a May 1975 feature, Patrick Bedard calls the Elite “a Mustang II taken to the very highest limits, just as it could be said that an Elan was a much-massaged MGB refined until it was an unmistakably pure sports car. The word will get out on the Elite. When it does, there will be another legend in the making.” Lotus has often been associated with being overpriced and in a way I believe that is why they did not continue to try and make a "everyday" driver or mass produce a "common" vehicle.

By 1980, Group Lotus was in serious financial trouble. Production had dropped from 1,200 units per year to a mere 383. The combined reasons were that the world was in the middle of an economic  recession , sales in the key United States market had virtually collapsed and there had been limited development of the then model range. [9] In early 1982, Chapman came to an agreement with  Toyota  to exchange intellectual property and applied expertise. This initially resulted in Lotus Engineering helping to develop the Mk2  Toyota Supra , also known as the  Toyota Celica XX . Secondly, it allowed Lotus to launch the new  Lotus Excel  to replace the ageing  Lotus Eclat . Using drivetrain and other components from Toyota enabled Lotus to sell the Excel for £1,109 less than the outgoing Eclat. [9] Looking to re-enter the North American market, Chapman was approached by young law professor and investment banking consultant, Joe Bianco, who proposed a new and separate United Stat

The  Lotus Elite  name has been used for two production vehicles and one concept vehicle from  Lotus Cars . The first generation Elite Type 14 was produced from 1957 to 1963 and the second generation model (Type 75 and later Type 83) from 1974 to 1982. The Elite name was also applied to a concept vehicle revealed in 2010. The first  Elite  or  Lotus Type 14  was an ultra light two-seater  coupé  produced from 1958 to 1963. The car debuted at the 1957  London Motor Car Show, Earls Court  as chassis #1008. [3]  The Elite had spent a year in development, aided by "carefully selected racing customers" before going on sale. [4] The Elite's most distinctive feature was its highly innovative  fibreglass   monocoque  construction, in which a stressed-skin  GRP  unibody replaced the previously separate chassis and body components. Unlike the contemporary  Chevrolet Corvette , which used fibreglass for only exterior bodywork, the Elite used glass-reinforced plastic for