Lotus vehicles

Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 44. Chapters: Lotus Seven, Lotus Esprit, Lotus Elise, Lotus Cortina, Lotus Elan, Lotus Exige, Lotus Europa, Lotus Elite, Lotus Evora, Lotus Elise GT1, Lotus Europa S, Lotus 88, Lotus 25, Lotus Eleven, Lotus Esprit GT1, Lotus 19, Lotus 23, Lotus Mark IX, Lotus Carlton, Lotus 33, Lotus Mark VI, Lotus 12, Lotus Mark VIII, Lotus 38, Lotus Eclat, Lotus 108, Lotus 30, Lotus 96T, Lotus Excel, Lotus 17, Lotus CityCar, Lotus Mark III, Lotus 2-Eleven, Lotus M90, Lotus 22, Lotus 43, Lotus 39, Lotus 340R, Lotus APX, Lotus Mark IV, Lotus 41, Lotus 20, Lotus 32, Lotus 26, Lotus Etna, Lotus 31, Lotus 27, Lotus 119, Lotus 62, Lotus 48. Excerpt: The Lotus Esprit is a super car that was built by Lotus in the United Kingdom between 1976 and 2004, as well as a future release in 2013. The silver Italdesign concept that eventually became the Esprit was unveiled at the Turin Motor Show in 1972 as a concept car, and was a development of a stretched Lotus Europa chassis. It was among the first of designer Giorgetto Giugiaro's polygonal "folded paper" designs. Originally, the name Kiwi was proposed, but in keeping with the 'E...' naming format of Lotus tradition, the name became Esprit. The Esprit was launched in October 1975 at the Paris Auto Show, and went into production in June 1976, replacing the Europa in the Lotus model lineup. These first cars eventually became known as S1 (or Series 1) Esprits. With a steel backbone chassis and a fiberglass body, the Esprit was powered by the Lotus 907 4 cylinder engine, as previously used in the Jensen Healey. This engine displaced 2.0 L, produced 160 bhp (119 kW; 162 PS) in European trim (140 bhp (104 kW; 142 PS) in US/Federal trim), and was mounted longitudinally behind the passengers, as in its predecessor. The transaxle gearbox was a 5 speed manual unit, previously used in the Citroën SM and Maserati Merak; it featured inboard rear brakes, as was racing practice at the time. The Series 1 embodied Lotus' performance through light weight mantra, weighing less than 1,000 kg (2,205 lb). The original Esprit was lauded for its handling and is said to have the best steering of any Esprit. However, it was generally regarded as lacking power, especially in markets such as the United States where the engine was down-rated for emissions purposes. Lotus' claim of 0-60 mph in 6.8 seconds and a top speed of 138 mph (222 km/h) may be thought of as optimistic - actual road test times indicated 0-60 mph in 8 seconds and a top speed of around 133 mph (214 km/h). 1977 S1 (modified into "submarine" mode), as seen in the film The Spy Who Loved MeThe S1 Esprit can be distinguished from late