Lotus is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year, marking a milestone since Colin Chapman built the Mark I (based on an Austin 7 chassis) in 1948 while he was still studying at the University of London. The company he founded is surely planning a big celebration to toast the occasion. But before it starts pouring champagne and slicing cake, the British manufacturer has jubilated in a style more typical of the sports cars for which it’s known.
Filmed entirely on the company’s famous Hethel test track, the video is a positive tire-shredding festival, kicking up more tire smoke than a wildfire in a junkyard. And as action-packed as it is, its creators emphasize that it was produced with no CGI effects whatsoever. Just some judicious application of throttle, we’re sure, and more than a bit of opposite lock.
Watching the regrettably short clip will be the best minute you spend all day (assuming you can constrain yourself to watching it just once). And we won’t be spoiling it to tell you now that it finishes with a big celebratory graphic painted in vulcanized rubber on the track’s surface to mark the company’s anniversary.
The more recent in those past 70 years of Lotus history haven’t been without tumult. It’s transitioned in ownership and saw a succession of experienced chief executives come and go – and not without controversy, either. But with funding from Geely and a tie-in with its growing portfolio of British and European automakers, things are looking up for the next 70 years of the best-handling automobiles money can buy.