Founded in 1952, the British firm Lotus has built a lot of machinery. Some are legends. Others? Not quite.
Here’s a look at the big sellers, and the ones nobody wanted. Sometimes exclusivity was the point. Sometimes the market just said no. We’re counting up. Starting with the bottom of the barrel.
10: Lotus Seven (1957–73)
2,477 sold.
A simple open-top two-seater. Colin Chapman, the founder, made it for two reasons. You could drive it to work. Then you could race it on Sunday. If you had nerve—and tools—you could bolt it together yourself. ‘Complete knock down’. It dodged the taxman.
9: Lotus Esprit (1974–1990)
2,919 sold.
Lotus didn’t just launch this one. They staged a stunt. Parked the car outside Albert ‘Cubby’ Broccoli’s office. One day. On purpose. He loved it. James Bond drove it. The world saw it. Sales jumped. It had great handling. Weird design. Free publicity from a spy movie. But don’t look for missiles. That part was just the film.
8: Lotus Exige 2 S
3,306 sold.
Born on race tracks. Powered by a Toyota. Supercharged. Faster than the base model. Sharper handling. People bought it to take apart on Sunday mornings. Then they bought bigger parts. The Elise was enough. The Exige was better. Expensive rivals shook hands and went home.
7: Lotus Elise 2
4,535 sold.
The second generation. GM was in the bank. GM helped make the sister cars. Vauxhall VX220 in the UK. Opel Speedster elsewhere. Better seats. Less rattling. A revised K-series engine. Aggressive look. Based on a concept.
6: Lotus Elan & Elan S1 (1988–1995)
4,655 sold.
Front wheel drive. First. Last. Never again. GM paid for the thing. An Isuzu engine was in there. Reliably. With or without a turbo. It lost money. Lotus cut losses. Kia bought the tooling. Kept making it for three more years.
5: Lotus Elan+2
5,168 sold.
How do you fix a winning car? Add a foot to the length. Rear seats. Space. A heavier car needed a bigger engine. A twin-cam. It pulled the weight. This model didn’t come in a kit box. People could assemble it at home before. This one was finished. Reliability went up. So did the price.
4: Lotus Elise (first generation)
8,613 saved the company.
8,613 of them, anyway. This model kept Lotus alive. The roof? Fiddly. Like putting up a tent during a gale. The door sill? A foot-stub. High. You had to lift your leg. The handling? Pure. The steering? Sharp. Fans didn’t care. The math worked out.
3: Lotus Elise S
8,628 exported to the States.
A Japanese engine inside. Toyota again. 189 horsepower. Faster. More gears. This version cleared EPA tests. The earlier engine did not. Lotus finally reached America. No more emission failures.
