A Lotus SUV, that must be the ultimate horror for lovers of the brand. However, any long-legged would not be the first car of this brand with which you can go off the beaten track. That honor goes to the very first car with the name ‘Lotus’, and its direct successor.
The SUV has so much control over the car world that even extremely sporty brands such as Alpine and Lotus no longer shy away from the subject. Whether it will ever really happen is a completely different story, but the fact is that a relatively heavy and high family car is difficult to combine with a brand that only makes lightweight sports enthusiasts for the smooth asphalt.
Nevertheless, the history of Lotus is not entirely safeguarded from models that can be used alongside that smooth asphalt. The cause of this can be found in what the British call Trials, an ancient form of motorsport in which it is about traversing a route in a certain time. The challenge is the length, but as the years progressed, the terrain’s passability was increasingly added.
It was this form of racing for which Colin Chapman, the ancestor of Lotus, built his first car in 1948. The base was the Austin 7, the car that surprisingly also served as the starting point for the very first BMW. The car in question was already twenty years old at the time of Chapman’s involvement. Chapman upgraded the engine and modified the body and chassis, with adequate ground clearance as an important requirement.
In this form, Chapman managed to achieve reasonable results, but it had to be improved. So a second fitting round followed, tackling the proven drawbacks and further strengthening them. The result was first given the name ‘Lotus’, which was also reportedly the nickname of Chapman’s then girlfriend (and later wife).
Mark II
The second Lotus, now appropriately called ‘Mark II’ (red in the photos), was also initially intended for trials. Once again an Austin 7 served as a base, although the heavily modified engine came from Ford. The coach got a very distinctive, rounded nose and was made lighter than the original, which first brought into view an important Lotus value. With the Mark II, Colin Chapman took part in circuit races for the first time, in which the participants were sent to the track simultaneously, unlike in the trials.
The Brit was immediately sold and said goodbye to the more rally-like sport. Still, a ‘Trials car’ was built in 1952, the Mark IV. This car was built on behalf of one Mark Lawson, the man who bought the Mark II from Chapman in 1950. The second Lotus ever since 1989 is part of the collection of a loyal Lotus fan. The fate of the Mark I is unfortunately unclear. In 2018, Lotus called for the car to be watched, but to this day, no one has found Colin Chapman’s strange, long-legged Austin.