In
1986 it appeared to all the world that Lotus had fallen on its feet. After
years of financial uncertainty following the untimely death of its founder,
Colin Chapman, four years earlier, little Lotus was bought by the American
giant, General Motors.
The asking price for the car division and Lotus
Engineering was a meagre - in GMs' terms - 23 million GBP. lt seemed
that, at last, Lotus had found a sanctuary in which to grow and mature,
in the same manner that Fiat owned Ferrari but didn't interfere in the
day-to-day running of the Prancing Horse.
During the time Lotus' future was, once
again, full of doubt. General Motors recorded one of the biggest ever corporate
losses in American history, $4.5 billion in 1992, and the universally-lauded
Elan was scrapped two-and-half years and 3857 cars after it was launched.
Less than 12 months later and there was
talk of a management buy-out which would have plunged Lotus back into the
perilous waters from which GM had rescued it.
The MBO never happened. Managing director
Adrian Palmer blamed the grey-suited bankers for not having the imagination
to invest in his vision. But you can hardly blame them - the history books
are littered with the corpses of failed car-makers and Lotus has had more
than its fair share of close shaves.
Fortunately, a shining knight appeared in the
unlikely shape of Romano Artioli. Artioli heads the secretive Bugatti International
operation which was created to re-launch the fabled French marque with
a range of extravagantly expensive supercars. His link with Lotus - he
is the italian importer for the marque-made him, perhaps, the logical choice
as the new owner.
Of all the world's sports car manufacturers,
Lotus is the most capricious. Its products can, on the one hand, be brilliant
examples of the ingenious automotive engineering marred, on the other,
by indifferent build quality and questionable durability.
From the first Lotus production car, the Type
14 Elite, through to the current Type 80 Lotus Esprit Turbo and the Lotus
Elise, all have posessed a special quality and definite Lotus characteristics.
