English car

into a career as an independent car builders 1947 when he built truly successful special models based on the technology of the Austin Seven 750. Following the success of its models, he decided to found Lotus Engineering Ltd in 1952. The first production model of success, Lotus 6 was sold as a kit. Despite the limited success in quantitative terms (approximately 100 copies), the Lotus 6 most success, even in reverse race. Successor Lotus 7 was legendary.

The Frank Costin developed Lotus 8 stood out above all by its aerodynamic sports bodywork. This model was not only the foundation for the followers Mk 9 and Mk 10 but also for the Mk 11, a race truck that won its class at Le Mans race. 1957 Lotus made its first exclusively for racing-built car. With Mk 12 began a remarkably successful career in motor sport, in which Lotus several times won the Constructors' Championship. Titles and first prizes reached Colin Chapman, not primarily by increasing performance, but through building lightly and by introducing new manufacturing methods.

Lotus became known as the Bond car in the late 1970s when the James Bond among others went under the water with a Lotus Esprit in one of the films. Lotus Esprit which started production in the 1970s was for many years the Lotus-seller and was further developed through the years. The model was discontinued in 2004.