Race Car Of The Day: August 6, 2012

The race car for today is the Yatming 1970 Lotus 72.

The Lotus 72 was a Formula One car designed by Colin Chapman and Maurice Philippe of Lotus for the 1970 Formula One season.

The 72 was yet another innovative design by Chapman featuring inboard brakes, side mounted radiators in sidepods, as opposed to the nose mounted radiators which had been commonplace since the 1950s and an overhead air intake. The overall shape of the car was innovative too, resembling a wedge on wheels which was inspired by the earlier Lotus 56 gas turbine car, and the layout taken from the Lotus 63 four wheel drive project testbed. The shape made for better air penetration and higher speeds. In a back-to-back test with the Lotus 49, the 72 was 12 mph faster with the same Cosworth engine.

Chapman's efforts produced one of the most remarkable and successful designs in F1 history. Taking the stressed engine layout technique from the Lotus 49 and adding advanced aerodynamics produced a car that was years ahead of its rivals. To begin with however, problems with the handling of the car had to be overcome, due to a lack of 'feel' caused by the anti-dive suspension geometry - which was designed to prevent the nose of the car dipping significantly under braking - and the anti-squat set-up at the rear, which was supposed to stop the car 'squatting down' under acceleration. Once the suspension was modified, there were no further problems. The car caused a sensation amongst the media and fans, with many people clamouring to see the remarkable car in action.

Check out Lotus 72 to learn more on the Lotus 72.

Yatming and Formula 1 aren't synonymous with one another despite the release of several race cars of the 1970s.

Car Of The Day: May 11, 2012

Today's car of the day is Tomica's 1975 Lotus Europa.

The Lotus Europa is a two door mid-engined GT coupé built by Lotus Cars from 1966 to 1975. In 2006 Lotus began production of a totally new, Lotus Elise-derived design, a mid-engined GT coupé named Europa S.

The original Europa used Lotus founder Colin Chapman's minimalist steel backbone chassis that was first used in the Lotus Elan, while also relying on its fibreglass moulded body for structural strength. The Europa was based on a prototype built to compete for Henry Ford II's contract to build a Le Mans race car in the early 1960s.

The Europa was designed and built to be an embodiment of Chapman's oft-stated philosophy of automotive design: "Simplify, then add lightness."

The four-wheel independent suspension was typical of Chapman's thinking. The rear suspension was a modified Chapman strut, as used for Chapman's earlier Formula racing car designs. Owing to the rubber suspension bushes used to isolate engine vibration from the car body, the true Chapman strut's use of the drive shaft as the lower locating link could not be followed whilst still giving the precise track and handling desired. The forward radius arms were increased in size and rigidity, to act as a semi-wishbone. A careful compromise between engine mounting bush isolation and handling was required, culminating eventually in a sandwich bush that was flexible against shear but stiff in compression and tension. The car's handling prompted automotive writers to describe the Europa as the nearest thing to a Formula car for the road. Aside from the doors, bonnet (hood), and boot (trunk), the body was moulded as a single unit of fibreglass.
In all, Lotus built about 9,300 Europas.

For more information and pictures of the real car please visit: Lotus Europa

A great looking model from Tomica.

The concept originated during 1963 with drawings by Ron Hickman, director of Lotus Engineering (Designer of the original Lotus Elan, as well as inventor of the Black and Decker Workmate), for a bid on the Ford GT40 project. That contract went to Lola Cars as Colin Chapman wanted to call the car a Lotus and Henry Ford II insisted it would be called Ford. Chapman chose to use Hickman's aerodynamic design (with a still respectable today drag coefficient of Cd 0.29) as the basis for the Europa production model; originally intended to succeed the ageless Lotus 7. Because VW owned the rights to the Europa name in Germany, cars for sale in Germany were badged Europe rather than Europa.

The Europa S2, or Type 54, was introduced in April 1968. It used the same Renault engine as the Type 46, but offered a number of refinements, including electric windows, fully adjustable seats, a new interior, and a polished wooden fascia for the dashboard. Per request of the automotive insurance industry, Lotus switched to bolt fasteners (instead of resin bonding) to attach body to frame. A small number of Type 54s were modified to be "federalized", that is, made suitable for export to the United States. The Federal Type 54 was slightly modified. They were actually recalled because of the headlamps being too low (a "bug eye" headlamp raiser was to be installed). The Federal 54 had the low fenders of the European 54, but larger engine of the type 65. Perhaps 200 of these were made.

In 1969-70, the Type 65 (also known as S2 Federal) was born specifically for export to the US, with additional changes to the body, chassis, suspension and the powerplant to better comply with U.S. D.O.T. standards. Production of the 54 continued for cars supplied to the rest of the world. Among the changes, the engine was a slightly modified emission controlled Renault 16TL 1565 cc engine producing 80 hp rather than the 1470 cc engine of the Type 54. The front suspension was changed to make the front end of the car taller along with taller front fenders to raise the headlamps. Road&Track Magazine tested the Federal S2 and recorded 0-60 mph in 9.6 seconds with a top speed of 116 mph (187 km/h). 3,615 S2s were produced.

Car Of The Day: January 30, 2012

Today's car of the day comes from Firehawk73's collection and is Hot Wheels' 2000 Lotus Project M250 concept car.

Following a planned review of Project M250, a number of changes to the car are being evaluated. This work includes a feasibility study to review design changes required for the vehicle to enter additional markets.

With the success of Lotus over the last four years and with Lotus becoming a more global brand, it has been decided to take into account the demand for the Project M250 sportscar from other markets, outside Europe. This has given Lotus an opportunity to investigate the potential of introducing more new technologies and innovations which, although the research will take longer, will make the final product even better.

The information and technical specification following are for the concept car and is not necessarily representative of any future Lotus product.

For more information and pictures of the real car please visit: Lotus M250

Concept M250 wouldn't be a proper Lotus unless lightweight was an important part of its genetic make-up; it's an integral part of Lotus Car's whole philosophy. The concept's chassis improves and develops upon the bonded extruded aluminium technology used to such great effect in the Elise.

This two-seater, mid-engined, high performance supercar possesses world leading aerodynamic downforce combined with unrivalled chassis stiffness to give a unique driving experience. By being exceptionally lightweight, project M250 achieves sensational performance: a true Lotus.

Powered by a mid-mounted Lotus-tuned 3.0 litre V6 engine that drives the rear wheels through a six-speed gearbox, project M250 slots into the Lotus line-up between the Elise and the Esprit.

A major achievement in the M250's design is that it has excellent aerodynamic properties 'straight out of the box'. Lotus engineers and designers have used the knowledge learned from designing competition cars to create a shape with an extremely well balanced aerodynamic package. Downforce and high speed stability were given priority over a very low drag coefficient in the design of the M250, and to manage the airflow underneath the car to conjure up even greater downforce resulting in a Cz of — 0.15.

Rather than enter the horsepower race, Lotus has opted to follow the more rewarding ''power-to-weight'' path. Target unladen weight for the M250 is less than 1000kg, and the expected power output from the Lotus-developed 3.0-litre V6 is 186kW (250bhp).

Electronically limited to 250 km/h (155mph), the M250 flexes its muscles at the lower, and more often used, end of the performance spectrum — standstill to 100km/h (0-62mph) will be achieved in less than 5.0 seconds, while its sub-11.0 seconds 0-160 km/h (0-100 mph) time takes it firmly into supercar territory.
''The concept behind M250 is to produce another superlative driver's car, in the same mould as the Elise, but with technical refinements and enhancements made possible through what we've learned from over 50 years of sportscar development.''

However, concept M250 will be more of an everyday car than the Elise. It will have 'creature comforts' such as air-conditioning, central locking and electric windows. But there won't be any unnecessary electronically controlled stability aids or traction control devices — Lotus prefers to produce a responsive and well-behaved chassis in the first place.

Car Of The Day: October 28, 2011

Today's car of the day is Impy 1966 Lotus Europa.

The Lotus Europa was a two door mid-engined GT coupé built by Lotus Cars from 1966 to 1975. In 2006 Lotus began production of a totally new, Lotus Elise-derived design, a mid-engined GT coupé named Europa S.

The original Europa used Lotus founder Colin Chapman's minimalist steel backbone chassis that was first used in the Lotus Elan, while also relying on its fibreglass moulded body for structural strength. The Europa was based on a prototype built to compete for Henry Ford II's contract to build a Le Mans race car in the early 1960s.

The Europa was designed and built to be an embodiment of Chapman's oft-stated philosophy of automotive design: "Simplify, then add lightness."

The four-wheel independent suspension was typical of Chapman's thinking; the rear suspension consisted of two relatively large trailing arms, one lower locating link per side, and the axles were used as upper locating links; very similar to Formula racing car designs of that era. Aside from the doors, bonnet (hood), and boot (trunk), the body was moulded as a single unit of fibreglass.

The car's handling prompted automotive writers to describe the Europa as the nearest thing to a Formula car for the road.

In all, Lotus built about 9,300 Europas.

For more information and pictures of the real car please visit: Lotus Europa

"Simplify, then add lightness."  Lotus needs to get back to this philosphy.

The second generation Renault 5, often referred to as the Supercinq or Superfive, appeared in 1985. Although the bodyshell and chassis were completely new (the platform was based on that of the Renault 9/11), familiar 5 styling trademarks were retained; styling was the work of Marcello Gandini. The new body was wider and longer featuring 20 percent more glass area and more interior space, with a lower drag coefficient (0.35), as well as 57.4 mpg-US (4.10 L/100 km; 68.9 mpg-imp) at 55 miles per hour (89 km/h) in the economy models. The biggest change was the adoption of a transversely-mounted powertrain taken directly from the 9 and 11, plus a less sophisticated suspension design, which used MacPherson struts.

The concept originated during 1963 with drawings by Ron Hickman, director of Lotus Engineering (Designer of the original Lotus Elan, as well as inventor of the Black and Decker Workmate), for a bid on the Ford GT40 project. That contract went to Lola Cars as Colin Chapman wanted to call the car a Lotus and Henry Ford II insisted it would be called Ford. Chapman chose to use Hickman's aerodynamic design (with a still respectable today drag coefficient of Cd 0.29) as the basis for the Europa production model; originally intended to succeed the ageless Lotus 7.