Lotus Company Information
In 1952, a company was formed in England named Lotus Engineering Ltd. A 24-year-old engineering superstar started it by the name of Colin Chapman. He ran the company for 30 years until his death from a heart attack in 1982. During his tenure, the Lotus reputation for outstanding suspensions and lightweight super handling racing cars and production cars was built. The company is located at a former RAF base in Hethel. It has modern facilities and a test track, which uses some of the old runways from the base. The Lotus name became famous from its association with Formula One racing. They have won the Formula One World Championship seven times. After 1986 the company was bought and sold several times. The new owners included General Motors for a time as well as some other prominent automakers. While in the GM family Lotus was involved in developing a 4-cylinder engine which was used in some of the GM cars. According to the new management there are no plans to return to Formula One racing.