Simplify, Then Add Lightness

Engineer Colin Chapman and some partners initially created Lotus Engineering Ltd. in 1952. The company had their initial success with race cars, particularly Formula 1 as well as components for other racing teams.

There was a good deal of success, especially utilizing the concept of small, powerful engines and very light cars. Chapman famously said, "Simplify, then add lightness." It seemed to work as Lotus cars consistently ran very well in races.

Perhaps the design mantra of Chapman was best summed up with the release of the Lotus Seven. This open air two seater sported a pure fiberglass body and, as you can see from the photo, absolutely no extraneous weight. Initially powered in 1957 by a 1.2 L inline four engine, that proved to be plenty for such a light weight car. That engine would grow over the years all the way to a 1.7 L inline four. Chapman ultimately soured on this car and sold the rights to Caterham Cars who have successfully made them since 1973.

While success came in limited spurts with sports cars, particularly the early Elite in the 1950s and the Elan in the early 1960s, it was perhaps the engineering feat that became the Europa that really made Lotus a player in the sports car world.

Initially believed to have been designed for Ford when they were looking for a car with which to beat Ferrari (following Enzo Ferrari halting a deal for Ford to take them over, the Detroit giant decided to build a car that would go head to head with them on and off the track; this car became the GT 40 - search the blog for more information on the Ford). 

With the standard fiberglass body and a now mid mounted inline four engine that started as a 1.5 L Renault but soon was switched to a 1.6 L Lotus/Ford inline four design and an amazing aerodynamic body design, the Europa weighed under 1400 pounds when first introduced.

 Introduced in 1966, the car was initially built solely for the European market. In fact fewer than 650 of the first generation were actually built. The second generation was introduced in 1968 and a small number of these were altered to fit rules and regulations required in America.

The car was made through the 1975 model year and in all, nearly 10,000 were sold, making them very rare indeed. But following Chapman's plan, these light cars were fast enough to go from 0 - 60 in under 10 seconds (pretty impressive for the time) and could hit a top speed of around 120 miles per hour.