Lotus Engineering was formed in 1952 by Colin Chapman to produce cars for competition, the first of which was the Mk IV trails car. In 1957 two significant Lotus cars were introduced both of which in 2017 celebrate their 60^th Anniversaries: The Mark VII and Elite. The Mark VII - more commonly known as the 7 or Seven was essentially a road legal formula car and was made by Lotus until 1973 after which the right to make it was acquired by Caterham. To support Lotus’ racing endeavours Colin Chapman also created his first production car, the Type 14 Elite. The quick, pretty Elite used innovative fibreglass monocoque construction for the entire load-bearing structure of the car.

The Museum is lucky to have six Lotus cars in its Collection including a 1959 Elite and much later, very different, Elite Type 75. All these fine examples of Lotus’ cars can be found in the Great British Marques exhibition. There is also a 1990 Caterham Super 7 which forms part of the Red Room exhibition.