Six months ahead of next summer’s renowned Festival of Speed in England (June 28 to July 1, 2012), Goodwood has announced it will be honouring the Lotus marque with the main “Central Feature” installation, displayed prominently outside Goodwood House.
Lotus will be celebrated at an interesting time in its history, as it is two years into a five-year brand reinvigoration plan. The plan includes an entire new range, the first of which will be the return of the Esprit in 2013.
Yet, a big part of Lotus is its heritage and it will enjoy a vast array of significant anniversaries in 2012, including 60 years since the first Lotus company was founded by Colin Chapman in 1952, four years after he built his first vehicle — the Mark 1 trials car — in an old stable behind his parent’s hotel in North London.
Next year also sees the 50th anniversary of the Elan sports car, 40 years since the Esprit concept was first revealed by Giugiaro, 35 years since the innovative Lotus 78 ground-effect Formula One car competed, and 20 years since cyclist Chris Boardman won a gold medal for Britain in the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics, riding the Type 108 bicycle developed by Lotus.
The reputation of Lotus grew out of Chapman’s technical ingenuity to dominate all levels of motorsport, from club racing to F1. Lotus has won 13 Formula 1 World Championships (six drivers and seven constructers titles), and a selection of these victorious F1 cars will be at the Festival of Speed next summer, along with a selection of Lotus Indycars, sedans, sports and road cars.
