Here are nine of Lotus' greatest hits

Arriving in 1996, Lotus named its new mid-engined, rear-wheel-drive sports car after the grandaughter (Elisa) of its then chairman, Romano Artioli. It was pure Lotus, weighing just over 700kg and producing just 118bhp from its 1.8-litre Rover K-series engine.

The Carlton wasn’t the first time Lotus had worked its magic on a run of the mill saloon – remember the Lotus Cortina? The Carlton is a legend though, Lotus turning it into a 176mph politician botherer. There was even a campaign to have it banned in the UK.

Launched in 1957, Colin Chapman’s simple, lightweight Lotus Seven was a successful entry model powered by a circa 40bhp Ford engine. Lotus only stopped building it in 1972 as it tried to shed its kit car image, but Caterham has taken the Seven to new heights since.

A revolutionary racecar, the 25 abandoned the traditional tubular spaceframe chassis for a fully stressed monocoque design. As a result the car was lighter, smaller and stiffer than anything else on the grid, and it allowed Jim Clark to win the 1963 F1 drivers’ title.

Thought the Exige was the maddest form of road-going Elise? Lotus’ late-Nineties assault on the FIA GT Championship was an unmitigated disaster, but it did mean a single GT1 road car built for homologation. Essentially a 1,000kg S1 with a carbon body and 3.5-litre twin-turbo V8.

Perhaps the prettiest of all the Lotus road car creations, the original Elan arrived in 1962 and was far more commercially successful than the Elite that had gone before it. The Sprint’s more powerful ‘Big Valve’ engine and standard two-tone Gold Leaf livery are iconic.

Is there anything more Eighties than the Essex Turbo Esprit? The first factory turbocharged Esprit, the car was launched as a special edition to celebrate Team Lotus’ sponsor – the Essex Overseas Petroleum Corporation. It also featured in Bond film For Your Eyes Only.

Another piece of Chapman genius, the 72 stakes a claim to be one of the greatest F1 cars ever built. It introduced the wedge shape and side-mounted radiators to F1, while also pioneering inboard brakes to reduce unsprung weight. It was so good it raced for six seasons and secured 20 wins.

Although built on the Type 78’s foundations, the 79 will forever be known as ‘the’ ground effect car. With its moveable skirts dropped down, the sidepods created Venturi tunnels that sucked the car to the track. This was 1978, but F1’s latest regs have returned to the same principles.