Usenet 1994 October/usenetsourcesnewsgroupsinfomagicoctober1994disk1.iso/answers/autos/lotus-cars-faq/general-lotus

Text File | 1994-09-13 | 27KB | 590 lines

Newsgroups: alt.fan.colin-chapman,alt.answers,news.answers
Path: bloom-beacon.mit.edu!grapevine.lcs.mit.edu!olivea!trib.apple.com!amd!amdahl!netcomsv!netcom.com!esprit
From: [e-mail] (Alan F. Perry)
Subject: Lotus Cars Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), Part 1/4
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Followup-To: alt.fan.colin-chapman
Summary: This posting contains a list of Frequently Asked Questions
         about Lotus Cars ranging from Colin Chapman to the race
         cars to the road cars to the company.  This is part 1 of 4
         and consists of general questions about Lotus cars.
Supersedes: <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Organization: Internet Lotus Cars Mailing List
Date: Tue, 13 Sep 1994 02:22:47 GMT
Approved: [e-mail]
Expires: Thu, 13 Oct 1994 06:00:00 GMT
Lines: 570
Xref: bloom-beacon.mit.edu alt.fan.colin-chapman:40 alt.answers:4437 news.answers:25573

Last-modified: Mon Sep 12 19:13:34 PDT 1994 by [e-mail]
Archive-name: autos/lotus-cars-faq/general-lotus
Version: 1.03
Posting-Frequency: monthly

                              Lotus Cars FAQ

                               Version 1.03


        This is part 1 of the FAQ for Lotus Cars.  As with most FAQs,
        this is a list of questions that are frequently asked, in this
        case about Lotus Cars.  Alan F. Perry ([e-mail]) wrote
        the first version of this document and is currently maintaining
        it.  Send mail to [e-mail] for questions or updates.

        Special thanks to Mike Causer, Patrick Peal of Group Lotus,
        K.C. Babb, Bob Bandera, Bill Castellano, Noel Chiappa, Phil
        Ethier, Jon Fairhurst, Doug Fraser, Mike Galos, Andrew Huang,
        Ken Landaiche, John O'Connor, Ian Peters, Michael Sands and
        Dave Van Horn for their help in preparing this FAQ.

        NOTE: This document was created and maintained by owners and
        enthusiasts of Lotus-built or -inspired vehicles and is not in
        any way connected with Group Lotus Limited, Team Lotus Limited,
        Lotus Cars USA or any other subsidiaries or related companies.

Questions:

A. General Questions
   A1. Who makes Lotuses?
   A2. Who owns Lotus?
   A3. What is the history of Lotus?
   A4. Who was Colin Chapman?
   A5. What is the relationship between Lotus Cars, the road car company,
       and Team Lotus, the Formula One racing team?
   A6. Why are the cars called "Lotus"?
   A7. Where were/are Lotuses built?
   A8. What films and television series have featured Lotus cars?
   A9. What books are available about Lotus?
   A10.How can I contact a Lotus Car club in my area?
   A11.What Internet resources are available on Lotus cars?
   A12.Who has the Lotus Cars Mailing List map of England?
   A13.What is the plural form of "Lotus"?
B. Group Lotus/Lotus Cars Questions
   B1. How can I contact Lotus Cars?
   B2. What does Group Lotus currently sell?
   B3. What kind of Lotus might I see on the street?
   B4. Why were Lotuses sold as kits?
   B5. Is the DeLorean a Lotus?
   B6. Is the Jensen-Healey a Lotus?
   B7. Is the first-generation Toyota MR2 a Lotus?
   B8. Is the Corvette ZR-1 a Lotus?
   B9. Is the [insert car name here] a Lotus?
   B10.Is Lotus making bicycles?
C. Team Lotus Questions
   C1. How can I contact Team Lotus?
   C2. How well has Team Lotus done in Formula One?
   C3. Has Team Lotus won more Constructor's Cups than Ferrari?
   C4. What famous names are associated with Team Lotus?
   C5. Were Nigel Mansell and Mario Andretti ever teammates at Team Lotus?
   C6. Who have been major sponsors of the Team Lotus?
   C7. Who is currently sponsoring Team Lotus?
   C8. What is Classic Team Lotus?
D. Questions About Owning A Lotus
   D1. What should I pay for a Lotus/What is my Lotus worth?
   D2. Where can I get parts for my Lotus?
   D3. What problems might I expect from a Seven?
   D4. What problems might I expect from a Type 14 Elite?
   D5. What problems might I expect from an Elan?
   D6. What problems might I expect from a Plus 2?
   D7. What problems might I expect from a Renault-Europa?
   D8. What problems might I expect from a TwinCam-engined Europa?
   D9. What problems might I expect from a Elite/Eclat?
   D10.What problems might I expect from a Esprit S1/S2?
   D11.What problems might I expect from a Turbo Esprit?
   D12.What problems might I expect from a Excel?
   D13.What problems might I expect from a M100 Elan?
   D14.What Renault engines can be used in a Europa-Renault (S1/S2)?


A.  General Questions
=====================

A1. Who makes Lotuses?

    When someone asks me what kind of car I own and I say "Lotus", the
    response that I get back is usually "Oh, who makes Lotuses?"

    Lotuses are made by Lotus in England.

    Well, except for the Seven, which has been made by Caterham Cars
    since 1974.


A2. Who owns Lotus?

    Actually, this depends on what you mean by "Lotus".  Here is a history
    of the various Lotus companies.

    In 1952, the Lotus Engineering Company was formed as a partnership
    between Colin Chapman and Michael Allen.

    Later, in 1952, the partnership broke up and the Lotus Engineering
    Company became a trade name for Colin Chapman.

    In 1953, the Lotus Engineering Company Limited, a limited company,
    was formed with Colin Chapman and Hazel Williams (later Chapman) as
    directors.

    Team Lotus
    ----------
    Team Lotus split off in 1954 and eventually became Team Lotus
    International Limited and, later, Team Lotus Limited.  Team Lotus
    is owned by the Chapman family and managed by Peter Collins and
    Peter Wright.

    In 1994, the Chapman family formed Classic Team Lotus to support
    owners of single-seater, open wheel Lotuses through the Type 102.

    Group Lotus
    -----------
    In 1959, the Lotus Group of Companies was formed and consisted of
    Lotus Cars Limited (road cars) and Lotus Components Limited
    (customer competition cars).

    In 1969, Lotus became a publicly held company as the Group Lotus Car
    Companies Limited, consisting of Lotus Cars Limited, Lotus Cars
    (Service) Limited, Lotus Cars (Sales) Limited and Lotus Components
    Limited.

    In 1971, Lotus Components Limited became Lotus Racing Limited and
    subsequently ceased operation in the same year.

    In 1973, Lotus stopped making the Lotus Seven and sold its right
    to Caterham Cars Ltd, which start making the Caterham Seven in
    1974 and continues doing so.

    In 1980, Lotus Engineering was formed to sell Lotus' Engineering
    expertise to other companies.

    In 1986, General Motors acquired all shares of Group Lotus.

    There was a rumor that one of the companies in Group Lotus' portfolio
    is called "Team Lotus" and that when GM purchased Lotus, they thought
    they were getting the Formula One team as well.  According to Patrick
    Peal this is not true, although GM did talk to Hazel Chapman about
    buying Team Lotus at one point.

    In 1993, the Bugatti Group acquired Group Lotus from GM.  GM still
    owns the Millbrook testing facility, though.

    According to Patrick Peal at Group Lotus, the Bugatti Group is 100%
    owned by Romano Artioli and certain members of his family, though at
    one point, there were some institutional shareholders that Artioli
    bought out.


A3. What is the history of Lotus?

    A complete history of Lotus will not fit in the short space allowed
    here, so several highlights are presented:

    The Lotus Engineering Company Ltd was formed in January, 1952 as a
    partnership between Colin Chapman and Michael Allen, but it really
    all started a few years earlier when Chapman commandeered the garage
    at his girlfriend's house to convert a 1930 Austin 7 fabric saloon
    into a Trials Special.  His cars were successful enough that other
    people asked him to build cars for them, which eventually led to a
    company being formed.

    Lotus started producing the Mark Six, which is very similar to the car
    that followed it, the Seven (still in production today as the Caterham
    Seven).  Lotus also built some successful race cars, for example, the
    Lotus Eleven.  Team Lotus split off in 1954 and entered Formula One at
    the end of the 1950s.

    In the late 1950s, Lotus introduced the Elite (Type 14), which featured
    an all-fiberglass, monocoque chassis.  They were beautiful cars but
    they were also expensive to produce and Lotus lost money on each car.
    The Elite was a closed top car powered by the Coventry Climax FWE engine.

    The Elite was replaced in 1962 by the Elan, which was featured a
    fiberglass body on a steel backbone chassis.  This would become the
    standard arrangement at Lotus Cars.  The engine was a 4 cylinder Ford
    block with a Lotus-designed twin cam cylinder head.  The Elan started
    as a convertible and a closed top version was introduced in 1965.
    Because of an oddity in British tax law, many Elans were sold as kits
    instead of assembled cars.

    During the same time, Team Lotus was racing with success in Formula One
    with the Type 25 and Type 33 and in the Indianapolis 500 and drivers
    Jim Clark and Innes Ireland (and Stirling Moss, in a customer car).

    The Europa was a closed top, mid-engined car introduced in 1966.  It
    featured a Renault engine and was also available in kit form.  By the
    time that the Europa was in production, Lotus moved from the London
    area to Norfolk, where they have remained since.  In 1967, the 2+2
    version of the Elan, called the Elan +2, was introduced.  Lotus Cars
    closed out the 1960s with a record sales year.

    Meanwhile, Team Lotus was experiencing ups and downs.  The Type 49 was
    successful out of the box, but the next year Jim Clark was killed.
    The team experimented with high-mounted wings, four-wheel drive and
    turbine engines.  Team Lotus introduced a current feature of Formula One
    when its cars ran with tobacco advertising in 1968.

    Towards the end of the 1960s, though, Lotus made the decision to move
    upmarket, including designing and building its own complete engine.  As
    part of this decision (and tax law changes), Lotus stopped selling its
    cars as kits.  The engine, known as the 907, was initially used in the
    Jensen-Healey.  The new cars, introduced in the 1970s, were two 2+2
    models, the Elite (Type 74) and the Eclat, and a mid-engined car, the
    Esprit.

    At Team Lotus, the roller coaster ride continued.  There were two
    constructor championships and the (eventually) successful Type 72, but
    there was also Jochen Rindt's death and the Type 76.

    In light of the increasing complexities and annoyances of running a
    car company, Chapman let others take over running the company, Mike
    Kimberley, in particular.  In addition to selling the Esprit, Elite
    and Eclat, Lotus started working with other including John DeLorean on
    his stainless steel sports car project and Chrysler on the Talbot
    Sunbeam.

    And at Team Lotus, it was still up and down.  The Type 77 "adjust-a-car"
    did not work very well, but the Type 78 and Type 79 "ground effects"
    cars got Lotus the championship in 1978.  Sadly, Ronnie Peterson was
    killed during this time.

    The start of the 1980s was not a very good time for Lotus, despite the
    introduction of the Turbo Esprit.  Because of a distribution problem, no
    cars were being sold in the U.S.  In other parts of the world, a recession
    caused poor sales.  The creditors were getting antsy.  Lotus was getting
    dragged into the scandal that resulted from the DeLorean project.  Team
    Lotus was also doing poorly and its most recent innovation, a twin-chassis
    car, was banned by the FIA.  Then, in 1982, Colin Chapman died.

    In a way, this gave Lotus a chance to clean things up.  A new distributor
    was set up in the U.S.  Some new financing was arranged.  David Wickins
    became the new chairman of Group Lotus.  Lotus also became more closely
    tied with Toyota Cars.  Many thought Toyota would take over Lotus.
    Wickins probably saved Lotus during this period, but he is better known
    for changing the Lotus nosebadge to remove Colin Chapman's initials.
    This was later corrected.

    Team Lotus was not doing so well during this period, though by 1985 and
    the arrival of Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna, things were looking up.

    In 1986, Lotus was purchased by GM.  In the hands of GM, Lotus also
    buys its U.S. distributor and the Millbrook Proving Grounds.  Starting
    in the early 1980s, Lotus was working on a new open top car, similar
    to the Elan in the 1960s, and that car, the M100 Elan, is introduced in
    1989.  Also, Lotus Cars USA, the new U.S. distributor, starts racing the
    Esprit Turbo in the U.S.  It is so successful that it is quickly
    penalized to the point that it is hard for it to win races.

    After several wins, including Team Lotus' last to date, Ayrton Senna left
    for greater fame with McLaren and Team Lotus slid downhill.  No Lotuses
    qualified for the 1989 Belgian GP, Martin Donnelly was very seriously
    injured in a crash in practice for the 1990 Spanish GP and the team's
    name sponsor left with no replacement lined up.  Rumors of Team Lotus'
    demise became common, but in December 1990, Team Lotus was "rescued" by
    Peter Collins, team manager around 1980, and Peter Wright, the man behind
    the ground effects cars and active suspension.  They took over operation
    of the team, while the Chapman family maintained ownership of the team.

    In 1992, because of a poor economy, production of the Elan was shut down
    for 5 weeks, production was finally officially stopped on the Excel (a
    variant of the Eclat) and production was also stopped on the Elan (M100).
    Soon afterward, though, a LotusSport bicycle was used to win a Gold Medal
    in the Olympics.  In 1993, Group Lotus was sold to the Bugatti Group, the
    company that revived the Bugatti name with the EB110 in 1991.

    Some good books on the history of Lotus are:

    "Story of Lotus: 1947 - 1960 Birth of a Legend" by Ian Smith
    "Story of Lotus: 1961 - 1971 Growth of a Legend" by Doug Nye
    "Colin Chapman's Lotus" by Robin Read
    "Colin Chapman: Lotus Engineering" by Hugh Haskell
    "Theme Lotus" by Doug Nye


A4. Who was Colin Chapman?

    Colin Chapman is NOT a lesser known member of the comedy group Monty
    Python.  That is Graham Chapman.  Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman is the
    creator of Lotus cars.

    Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman was born to Stanley and Mary Chapman on
    19 May 1928 in Richmond, Surrey, England.  When Colin was two years
    old, the family moved into The Railway Hotel in Hornsey, North
    London, which Colin's father operated.  Later, the family moved to
    North Finchley, but his father continued to run The Railway Hotel.

    In 1945, Colin went to University College in London to study
    engineering.  While in college, he met Colin Dare, with whom he went
    into the business of selling cars.  When the British government
    stopped issuing gas rations, the two Colins were put out of business
    and left with a car that Chapman converted into a trials car which
    eventually became the Lotus Mark 1.

    After graduation, Colin Chapman joined the Royal Air Force and while
    earning his wings, he was working on the Lotus Mark 2.  After the
    RAF, he took a job at the British Aluminum Company as a structural
    engineer and, in his off-hours, he built race cars.  Later, he moved
    production to the stables behind The Railway Hotel and, soon afterward,
    formed The Lotus Engineering Company as a partnership with Michael
    Allen.

    After the Mark 6 prototype was destroyed in an accident, Michael Allen
    left and Colin's girlfriend Hazel Williams stepped in.  Colin and
    Hazel eventually married and the Lotus Engineering Company continued
    making racing cars.  In 1955, Colin quit his day job at British
    Aluminum and was joined by Mike Costin.  While continuing to build
    his own cars, he, along with Frank Costin, designed a F1 World
    Championship-winning Vanwall and worked on a BRM F1 car.

    In late 1959, Colin moved production to a new factory in Cheshunt and
    started production of the Elite, which lost money, followed by the
    Elan, which turned Lotus into a profitable car company.  In 1966-67,
    Lotus moved again to a new factory in Norfolk and Colin had his dream
    house built in East Carleton.  While he was succeeding in building
    road cars, he was also achieving great success in Formula One.  Team
    Lotus won three Constructor's Championships and over 30 Championship
    events.  Team Lotus also won the Indianapolis 500.

    There were hard moments, though.  Many Team Lotus drivers had been
    killed, including Jim Clark, whom Colin was particularly close with.

    After setting Lotus Cars into a program to move upmarket and getting
    it through the tough period that followed, Colin grew tired of the
    annoyances inherent in running a car company, particularly in light
    of new automotive regulations that were being enacted worldwide in
    the 1970s, and he passed control of Lotus Cars to others.  Instead,
    he spent his time on Team Lotus, which he moved from down the road
    from Lotus Cars to an English country house, Ketteringham Hall, a
    few miles away.  He also played his boats and his plane.  He also
    got Lotus Cars involved with John DeLorean's plans to build a
    stainless steel sports car.

    The start of the 1980s was probably the toughest period that Lotus
    ever encountered.  In Formula One, Team Lotus was not winning races
    and Colin's latest creation, the twin chassis Type 88, had been
    banned and Colin spent a lot of time fighting the ban.  Some say that
    this killed his interest in Formula One.  At Lotus Cars, a worldwide
    recession hit Lotus sales hard, because of a distribution problem,
    there were no sales in the U.S. and  Lotus' creditors were getting
    worried.  Also, Lotus' name was being drawn into the scandal which
    followed the collapse of DeLorean.  And, Colin Chapman died of a heart
    attack on 16 December, 1982 at his home in East Carleton.

    Some good books on Colin Chapman's life are:

    "Colin Chapman: The Man and His Cars" by Gerard Crombac
    "Theme Lotus" by Doug Nye


A5. What is the relationship between Lotus Cars, the road car company,
    and Team Lotus, the Formula One racing team?

    Team Lotus was split off from the Lotus Engineering Company in 1954
    in order to protect the companies from each others financial
    problems.

    At times, Team Lotus and Lotus Cars have been very closely
    associated with each other, for example in the mid-1980s and early
    1990s when Lotus Engineering's Active Suspension technology was
    used in the Team Lotus Formula One cars, while, at other times,
    they were rather distant from each other, for example, in the 1970s,
    several Team Lotus and Lotus Cars models were given the same Type
    number.


A6. Why are the cars called "Lotus"?

    The real answer is known by a small number of people, including Colin
    Chapman's widow Hazel, but no one is telling.  Of course, this does
    not stop people from speculating.  Here are some theories:

    a. Lotus fruit - the Oxford Concise says "fruit represented in ancient
       Greek legend as inducing luxurious dreaminess and distaste for
       active life".  Working on the car certainly had the same effect.

    b. Lotus flower - a different plant to the above, used symbolically
       in Hinduism and Buddhism.  Nice name if you're going to chose one
       without a specific connection to what you're doing.

    c. The reverse of "Us lot", apparently a favorite phrase of Colin
       Chapman's.

    There is some suggestion that Hazel Chapman actually came up with
    the name Lotus.

    One theory that is usually dismissed from the days when Colin Chapman
    was selling cars.  The British government was rationing fuel and stopped
    issuing gasoline rations so people weren't buying cars.  Colin Chapman
    started his career as a car builder with one of these unsold cars.  Some
    people think that "Lotus" came from the phrase "LOT UNSOLD" or "LOT U/S".


A7. Where were/are Lotuses built?

    The current Group Lotus factory is located at Hethel, a former World
    War II bomber base near Wymondham, Norfolk.

    According to Patrick Peal, the specifics of the factory are as follows:

      Factory covered area:
        Factory 1:                175,027 sq ft
        Factory 2:                 28,800 sq ft
        Factory 3:                 40,410 sq ft
        Factory 4:                 31,200 sq ft
        Factory 5:                 28,800 sq ft
        Factory 9:                 38,295 sq ft

      Area of site:               5.5 acres
      Length of test track:       2.2 miles
      Length of airfield runway:  900 yds approx. (prior permission required)

      Thirteen computer-controlled engine test cell suites, ranging from
      30 - 750 kW absorption.

      Emission laboratory providing full certification worldwide including
      Europe, Japan and USA.  This facility is only one of three in the
      UK recognized by world authorities.

      NVH laboratory providing latest technology and equipment to combat
      Noise, Vibration and Harshness in all types of road vehicles.  Semi-
      anechoic chamber provides state-of-the-art test facilities for whole
      vehicle and engine NVH analysis under all conditions of speed, load
      and temperature.

      Superbly equipped CNC machining facilities constantly being updated
      with the latest equipment.

      Lotus fabricates its own steel backbone chassis and suspension
      components for the Esprit and Elan, produces composite bodyshells
      and interior trim styled by its own styling studio, Lotus Design.
      Supplied of spares also maintained for most of classic Lotus models.

      The lightweight Lotus 16-valve all-alloy turbocharged engine built
      in both 2-litre and 2.2-litre capacity is machined and handbuilt on
      site.

    Team Lotus is currently located at Ketteringham Hall, an English
    country house not too far from Hethel.  Previously, Team Lotus was
    located in some buildings just outside the gates of Hethel.

    Before the move to Norfolk, Lotus was located on Delamare Road in
    Cheshunt, Hertfordshire near London.  That factory is now a furniture
    factory.  Before Cheshunt, the factory was located in the stables of
    The Railway Hotel off Tottenham Lane, Hornsey (North London).
    Before that, Lotuses were built in Hazel Chapman's (when she was
    Hazel Williams) garage.


A8. What films and television series have featured Lotus cars?

    Brothers In Law
    A 1950s British comedy that included the Lotus Mark Two.

    The Prisoner
    This television series featured a Lotus Seven (registered KAR 120C)
    in its opening credits and in a couple episode.

    The Avengers
    This television series featured an Elan driven by the character Emma
    Peel and a Europa driven by the character Tara King in many episodes.

    The Spy Who Loved Me
    This James Bond film featured a S1 Esprit that could be converted into
    a submarine.

    For Your Eyes Only
    This James Bond film featured a couple of early Turbo Esprits.  One
    of these Esprits was equipped with a burgular protection system that
    would blow up the car.

    Pretty Woman
    This fairy tale film featured a silver Esprit Turbo, in which the
    two main characters meet.  Julia Roberts espouses the virtue of
    Lotuses in this film.

    Basic Instinct
    This film featured a pair of black and white Esprit Turbos, one of
    which ends up upside-down in a construction site in San Francisco.

    If Looks Could Kill
    This film featured a newer Esprit Turbo used by a spy organization.

    The Rookie

    Honey I Blew Up The Kid
    This film featured a M100 Elan that a child, who has grown to a very
    large size, uses as a toy.


A9. What books are available about Lotus?

    There are far too many Lotus books available to try to list
    them all here.  A reasonably complete list of Lotus books can
    be found in the Lotus Cars Mailing List FTP area.


A10.How can I contact a Lotus Car club in my area?

    It depends on where you live.

    In the US, Lotus Cars USA, the U.S. distributor, maintains a list of
    clubs.  Also, Lotus Ltd, a Lotus car club based in the Washington D.C.
    area has chapters all over the U.S., so you might also try contacting
    them.

    A copy of Lotus Cars USA's club list is kept in the Lotus Cars Mailing
    List FTP area.

    A complete list of Lotus car clubs is being compiled.


A11.What Internet resources are available on Lotus cars?

    There is an electronic mailing list for discussion of Lotus cars.
    To join the mailing list or to request more information about the
    mailing list, send e-mail to [e-mail].

    There is also an electronic mailing list to receive press releases
    and race reports from Team Lotus.  No discussion takes place on this
    mailing list.  To join this mailing list, send e-mail to [e-mail]
    and asked to be placed on the Team Lotus press release list.

    There is a Usenet newsgroup for discussion of Lotus cars.  The
    newsgroup is called alt.fan.colin-chapman.  Ask your system
    administrator for details about reading Usenet news or getting the
    Lotus cars newsgroup set-up on your system if your system is not
    currently receiving it.

    There is an anonymous FTP area for the Lotus Cars Mailing List.  It
    is ftp.netcom.com (IP address 192.100.81.119) and the directory is
    pub/lotus-cars, or stated as a URL -

         ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/lotus-cars

    Ask your system administrator for details about how to use anonymous
    FTP.

    A Team Lotus WWW (World Wide Web) server is currently being set-up.


A12.Who has the Lotus Cars Mailing List map of Britain?

    The Lotus Cars Mailing List has a map of Britain with various Lotus
    sites of interest marked on it.  This map can be borrowed by members
    of the mailing list.

    [e-mail] currently has the map.


A13.What is the plural form of "Lotus"?

    The preferred plural form is "Lotuses".




--
Alan F. Perry
Internet Lotus Cars Mailing List
[e-mail]