The British sports car specialist Lotus has made many fine cars over the years since its foundation in 1952.
Here we take a look at its greatest hits, and its rather more exclusive models. Some were deliberately so, others just because the market proved less than receptive - time to find out why. We start with the biggest sellers..
BIGGEST - 10: Lotus Seven (1957-73) – 2,477 sold
The 10th biggest selling Lotus was a simple two-seater open top-sports car. The car created by Lotus founder Colin Chapman was popular because you could use it as a road car during the week and qualify for racing at the weekend. If you were feeling brave, you could also assemble from ‘complete knock down’ yourself to avoid tax.
9: Lotus Esprit (1976-90) – 2,919 sold
One day in 1976, Lotus accidentally-on-purpose parked its new Esprit outside the London offices of one Albert R. 'Cubby' Broccoli - and its worldwide movie stardom in James Bond's The Spy Who Loved Me was assured. A combination of fine handling, cutting edge Ital design and nearly-free publicity revived Lotus. A missile-launcher was not an option though.
8: Lotus Exige 2 S (2006–11) – 3,306 sold
Born from the Lotus racing series and powered by a supercharged Toyota engine, the Exige was favourably compared to more expensive rivals. A favourite with track-day enthusiasts because of its razor-sharp handling and a more powerful engine over the regular Elise; many examples have received performance upgrades to cope with extended circuit work.
7: Lotus Elise 2 (2000-06) – 4,535 sold
Building on the success of the original Elise and helped along by GM investment - which also saw the creation of sister car Vauxhall VX220 (called Opel Speedster in Europe) - the Elise 2 had an improved interior, better refinement and a revised 1.8-litre K-series engine. The styling was more aggressive, using cues from the 2000 M250 concept car.
6: Lotus Elan & Elan S2 (1989-92, 1994-95) – 4,655 sold
The M100 Elan was the first, and last, front-wheel-drive Lotus. GM money funded the car, which featured the reliability of a 1.6-litre Isuzu engine, with or without a turbo. Unable to make it profitable, the design was sold to Kia who continued to make it for three years.
5: Lotus Elan + 2 (1967-74) – 5,168 sold
How do you expand on a winning formula? Add a foot. The Elan + 2 features the practicality of rear seats and the twin-cam engine had more power to cope with the extra weight. It was also the first Lotus not to be sold in kit form, which improved reliability.
4: Lotus Elise (1996-01) – 8,613 sold
The car that saved Lotus from going bust. The roof was fiddlier to erect than a tent in a storm and the high door sill was an obstacle, but a combination of low weight and perfect steering won it many fans.
3: Lotus Elise 2 111R (2003-11) – 8,628 sold
The 111R was not the first Lotus to use a Japanese engine, but with a useful 189bhp, Toyota power boosted performance over the 111S and customers also gained an extra ratio. It was the Elise that Lotus were finally able to sell in America as the previous K-series engine never met US emission standards.
