Posts tagged Colin chapman at Autoblog

Posts with tag colin chapman

Lotus to celebrate 60th anniversary a few years early

Posted Mar 26th 2008 6:57AM by Noah Joseph
Filed under: Lotus

Lotus has always done things a little differently, so it should come as no surprise that the sportscar-maker is celebrating its 60th anniversary even though it's only 56 years old. The event that Lotus is commemorating is actually the first racing car which its founder, Colin Chapman, crafted in 1948, four years ahead of his founding Lotus Engineering in 1952. Since then Lotus has changed hands several times, falling under the General Motors umbrella, who in turn sold it to Romano Artioli's Bugatti before Proton took over. Along the way Lotus has emerged as the veritable guru of handling dynamics, developing a successful engineering consultancy in parallel to the car division.

Although details have yet to be announced, Lotus has revealed that it is organizing "a variety of high-profile events" that are anticipated to attract some 15,000 attendees – including Chapman's widow Hazel and son Clive – to the company's headquarters in celebration of the company's anniversary.

[Source: Lotus]

SEMA 2007: Carbon Fiber Exige adds lightness

Posted Oct 31st 2007 11:02AM by Frank Filipponio
Filed under: Aftermarket, SEMA, Sports/GTs, Supercars, Lotus

Click image for high-res gallery from SEMA

The Lotus Elise and Exige are great little cars that personify Colin Chapman's original edict to maintain a light weight in order to allow maximum performance. Weighing in at under 2,000 pounds, they feature Toyota (or Honda) motors putting out around 200 HP, but still offer supercar acceleration and handling. Well, as we were whiling away the hours at SEMA, we came across a special CSF1 Exige built by Prototype Composites that takes that formula and cranks it up a notch. Out went the original Series 1 Exige fiberglass body and in its place Composite Master Craig Brewer laid out an exquisite carbon fiber replacement that sheds 82 pounds from the car's overall weight. While less is more on the weight side, the builder decided that more is more on the power side. Phong Thao replaced the original 4-banger with an Acura TSX mill that puts a generous 311 HP at the drivers beck and call. And that is wheel horsepower, so you can imagine how this little 1,700-lb. sportster will scoot. Made just a one-off for a client, we have to say we like the idea and execution a lot.

Gallery: Prototype Composites Lotus Exige CFS1

Geneva Auto Show: Lotus unpacks the Europa S

Posted Mar 2nd 2006 11:00AM by Chris Paukert
Filed under: Coupes, Sports/GTs, Geneva Motor Show

If by calling its new sportscar a Grand Tourer, Lotus has you thinking of overweight luxury coupes that excite by dint of their monstrous drivetrains, Colin Chapman's corps have something they'd like to show in a Europa S.

The British concern's latest 'less is emphatically more' proposition adds a film of practicality and refinement to their Elise and Exige. Weighing in at just 995kg (under 2,200 lbs.), the Europa makes use of Lotus' extruded and bonded aluminum chassis and composite paneling.

Despite a curb weight that's sure to have the Olsen Twins stuffing hoagies down its high-octane gullet, the mid-engined Europa brings a full leather interior, airbags, power windows/locks, sat-nav and... wait for it... full carpeting-- to the table. Motivated by a 2.0-liter force-fed four (good for 200 hp and 194 lb-ft.) tied in to a six-speed gearbox, the Europa S rocks to 60 mph in 5.5 seconds and does the ton in 14, on its way to 143 mph.

The Europa S will be sold in all Lotus markets... except for the U.S. Those with about £33,000 (@ $58k USD) are advised to contact their nearest Lotus dealer now, as production starts in July.

(Click through for more photos and Lotus' release and spec sheet)

Continue reading Geneva Auto Show: Lotus unpacks the Europa S

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