Lotus taught me to love the light sports car, a genre they redefined three times. I’d love them to do it again, but the spirit of founder Colin Chapman seems to have truly left the building.
That spirit can probably best be summed up by one of Chapman’s most cited quotes:
Simplify, then add lightness
So essentially Lotus is this quote that the homepage of the company today use it to explain why Lotus is different – see for yourself here: Lotus Philosophy. And indeed it was: When they brought out the original Mark IV sports car in 1952 and the Seven five years later they did all the simplifying and adding lightness that was possible at the time and created an icon of a sports car that in Caterham form still lives to this day.
Having learned that there might be customers wanting for just a minimum of creature comfort they again presented an absolute masterpiece with the original Elan in 1962, setting new standards for the sports car idea. Actually adding bodywork not only protected the driver from the elements but in fact made the car quite a looker too.
I guess some would add the original Elite of 1957 with its world first GRP monocoque and the Europa of 1966 to the examples of how Lotus redefined the genre, and I love both and see why this could be argued for. However I’d say both failed to have a larger impact on the sportscar world and thus remained niche products even within the niche that Lotus operated in – but I might stand alone with that view?
Not so with the last masterstroke, though, for there can be no doubt about the importance of the Elise of 1996: Apparently out of nowhere Lotus joined the Nineties revival of the traditional open sports car with one of the best and purest of them all and did it based on exactly the principles that Colin Chapman had always pleaded for. Simplifying the design, the function, the idea of the sports car – and then adding lightness with an aluminium chassis and a new production method for it. It was and is pure Lotus genius and Chapman – he died in 1982 – would be proud.
It speaks volumes for the brilliance of the original design that it updated and facelifted so well over the years that only now has Lotus announced the end of the Elise. Unfortunately they have also indirectly announced the end of Lotus as we know and love it: Not much is known about the successor to the Elise except that it will be powered by a V6-engine with added hybrid-drive – but really you don’t need more information to know that this is the end of an era. V6? “Added”? Chapman surely would have downsized and then subtracted.
For years I’ve wished for the next genius from Lotus to show an alternative way to the ongoing power game amongst all the established marques and some upcoming ones too. Eight years after the 700 kilo Elise the reborn Bugatti launched the Veyron and broke the 1000 horsepower barrier. Effectively that move started a muscle game that has practically taken over the headlines leaving only keen enthusiasts to enjoy the fact that the Elise is probably more fun to drive 98% of the time.
And what about the Lotus Philosphy, stated like this on the official page:
We do not play by the rule book
Instead, we redefine it
Well, when the currently most hyped Lotus is a 2000 horsepower electrical monster weighing in at 1,700 kilos it doesn’t seem so, does it? Adding more power is what everyone else is doing. Even worse is that this method is a direct contradiction to Chapman’s way of thinking, as witnessed by what is probably the second most famous quote of Chapman:
Adding power makes you faster on the straights; subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere
Surely Lotus will rewrite the homepage soon.
But then again, maybe we car enthusiasts just shouldn’t really care? Instead find a proper Elise and enjoy all the advantages of the original lightweight philosophy in what is in all essence a modern car – only better. Or search out an Elan for the classic version of that – or indeed a Seven if you really don’t take your lightness too lightly.
(Photos: Lotus)