The Story of Lotus 1961-1971 Growth of a Legend

The story of Lotus is one of the great success stories of the automotive industry in the second half of the twentieth century. The early days of this story are covered in a companion volume, The Story of Lotus 1947-1960 - Birth of a Legend, by Ian H. Smith, and this book sets out to record and pay tribute to the first quarter century of Lotus history. Apart from the obvious milestone of the 25th year, the end of 1971 was a most appropriate moment in which to sign off this second volume for it marked the point of time when the major emphasis of Group Lotus activities swung away from racing to the manufacture of passenger cars, and Lotus designed and built racing cars ceased to carry their own name, and emerged in new colours as `John Player Specials'. Prior to that momentous decision Team Lotus and their sponsors from the tobacco world had enjoyed a fruitful association as partners in Gold Leaf Team Lotus, and in recognition of the importance of this venture to this period of the Lotus story, the jacket of this book carries the Gold Leaf colour scheme of red, white and gold, whereas the earlier volume was jacketed in the traditional Team Lotus green and yellow colours. In view of the wealth of information which the Lotus story has generated between 1961 and 1971, Doug Nye has simplified the reader's task by sub dividing each chapter (one is devoted to each year) into three sections. The first section covers Lotus road car developments including the Lotus Cortina, general business aspects and company politics, as well as overall policy; the second details all Lotus' major single-seater activities and development during the year; and the third discusses the Lotus competition record in the remaining leagues of motor racing and other branches of motor sport. A number of appendices have been added at the back of the book to enhance its reference value: Lotus Specifications 1961-1971, Lotus Formula 1 Register 1960-1971, and Lotus World Championship Racing Record 1961-1971.