Lotus Mark III was a single-seater

sports car A sports car is a type of automobile that is designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as Automobile handling, handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving, and Auto racing, racing capability. Sports cars originated in ...

built by

Colin Chapman Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman (19 May 1928 – 16 December 1982) was an English design engineer, inventor, and builder in the automotive industry, and founder of the sports car company Lotus Cars. Chapman founded Lotus in 1952 and initia ...

as a 750 Racer. It was the first car to ever be called a "Lotus". In 1951, Chapman began to focus on a car for

road racing Road racing is a North American term to describe motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held on a race track, closed circuit—generally, a purpose-built racing facility—or on a street circuit that uses temporarily c ...

, rather than

trials In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, wh ...

, to compete in the 750 Motor Club formula, which used the

Austin 7 The Austin 7 is an economy car that was produced from 1922 until 1939 in the United Kingdom by Austin. It was nicknamed the "Baby Austin" and was at that time one of the most popular cars produced for the British market and sold well abroad. ...

as a basis. To conform to the rules, Chapman had to retain the Seven's chassis, engine,

gearbox A transmission (also called a gearbox) is a mechanical device invented by Louis Renault (who founded Renault) which uses a gear set—two or more gears working together—to change the speed, direction of rotation, or torque multiplication/r ...

, and differential. With the assistance of Nigel and Michael Allen, he modified the car to the limits of the rules. Chapman

box A box (plural: boxes) is a container with rigid sides used for the storage or transportation of its contents. Most boxes have flat, parallel, rectangular sides (typically rectangular prisms). Boxes can be very small (like a matchbox) or v ...

ed the frame rails and added 14-gauge tubular cross-members for torsional stiffness. A sleek aluminium two-seater body, which weighed only 65 lbs. (29.5 kg), was added to cut down

drag Drag or The Drag may refer to: Places * Drag, Norway, a village in Tysfjord municipality, Nordland, Norway * ''Drág'', the Hungarian name for Dragu Commune in Sălaj County, Romania * Drag (Austin, Texas), the portion of Guadalupe Street a ...

, and the engine was extensively modified to produce more power. The car, for all its seeming delicacy, proved startlingly faster than the competition. It led to a demand for copies (an improved Mark IIIB (registered as ONK 408) was built for Adam Currie, for instance, was the first Lotus to be sold to a customer and the first car to wear the Lotus badge), as well as copies of the earlier

Mark I Mark I or Mark 1 often refers to the first version of a weapon or military vehicle, and is sometimes used in a similar fashion in civilian product development. In some instances, the Arabic numeral "1" is substituted for the Roman numeral "I". " ...

. By the end of the racing season, it was apparent the Mark III was the best 750 Formula car in England. The Mark III could reach 50 mph in 6.6 seconds and had a top speed of 90 mph. At this time, Chapman was still working full-time at British Aluminium, and creating cars at nights and racing them, with the help of enthusiastic volunteers, on the weekends, but it was clear from the performance of the Mark III, and the demand, there was an opportunity here. Following this successful year, on 1 January 1952, Chapman established Lotus Engineering Company, with Michael Allen becoming Chapman's first business partner. They set up shop in a disused stable in

Hornsey Hornsey () is a district of north London, England, in the London Borough of Haringey. It is an inner-suburban, for the most part residential, area centred north of Charing Cross. It adjoins green spaces Queen's Wood to the west and Alexand ...

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