Founded in a North London lock-up garage by Colin Chapman in 1957 Lotus Cars has enjoyed mixed fortunes throughout its history, similar in many ways to other British manufacturers such as Aston Martin. Initially the company produced simple, lightweight (often made from GRP) road and race cars that were often supplied in Kit-form for home assembly.

By the 60's the Lotus range had begun to mature into serious production sportscars and included models such as the Elite, Elan and Europa, along with the evergreen Seven. By the 70's Lotus had established moved into more luxurious GT models such as the Elite and Eclat. These two 2+2 models were sold alongside the Esprit models which survive in the current range.