The lotus name is used in respect to three cars that are manufactured by Lotus cars. There lotus type 14 is the most famous one since it is an ultra-light two-seater car that was produced between 1958 and 1963. This car took part in the London Motor Car Show. It has been since then be modified as a racing car with the most distinguished innovative being fiberglass monocoque built where the stressed skin unibody was used to replace the previous components of the body and the chassis.
The lotus elite GT car utilizes the glass-reinforced plastic material for the car structure. The monocoque front has steel incorporated with a subframe being used to support the engine and the suspension at the front. This car has a windscreen that has a hoop that is used for mounting the hinges for the door and also for kicking the car.
The body construction of the earlier versions of the lotus caused a number of problems and has undergone a number of changes which have been carried out by Bristol Aeroplane Company. The company has been able to give the Lotus Elite GT cars a body that is not only lighter but one which is stiffer and capable of giving the driver better protection during a crash.
The lotus Elite GT car has run in a number of formulae and posted very encouraging results in both the Le Mans and the Nurburgring. For instance, the Elites have a total of six times win in the 24 hour Le Man’s race with its drivers being noted as UK Elite races driver.
A number of drivers including Graham Warner and Les Leston have won numerous races using the Lotus Elite GT car. David Hobbs can be remembered for having fitted Hobbs Mecha-Matic which is a four-speed automatic transmission to this car. This helped him to win races for two continuous years in which he won a total of 15 times out of the 18 races he engaged in.
Aerodynamics is thought to have made an enormous contribution to this car by giving it a low drag coefficient of about 0.29 which was considered quite low. This is what aided this car’s engine given that the engine did not benefit from wind tunnel testing or computer-aided design.
This car has been undergoing modifications with the latest being the photo release of the lotus Elite concept that was unveiled in 2010. This was released to the public in 2010 in the Paris motor show and its production is expected to start in 2014.