Lotus’s links to the aero-industry

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Some motor manufacturers like to dwell on their links to the aerospace industry, but there can’t be many cars with such strong links to aeronautical design as the Lotus Elite. Yes, the lightweight Elite: ingenious, fast and ever so pretty. Its clever fibreglass monocoque construction gave it ridiculously little weight, although Lotus paid a price for it at first. Early bodies were prone to cracks and it wasn’t until production of the bodies was subcontracted to the Bristol Aeroplane Company that things got better. These bodies came straight from an aircraft factory.

Design by Peter Kirwan-Taylor and Frank Costin

But it’s not the Elite’s only link to aeroplanes and their aerodynamics. The car’s design can be attributed to Peter Kirwan-Taylor, who was introduced to aerodynamics by the chief engineer of Westland Aircraft as a boy. But Kirwan-Taylor didn’t get there without the aid of Frank Costin. He was the future co-founder of Marcos and brother to Cosworth founder Martin Costin, and he was working as Chief Aerodynamics Engineer for the De Havilland Aircraft Company at the time. Costin is believed to have been instrumental in adapting aircraft aerodynamic knowledge for automobile applications.

Transport by Lockheed Constellation

So here we are with this lovely picture of brand-new Lotus Elites on their way to the US of A, somewhere in the late 1950s. These cars came straight out the factory (in Cheshunt or London?) to be transported by Lotus Cars lorry to the airport and loaded aboard a cargo plane to make the great leap over the Atlantic Ocean by Lockheed Constellation. And there's another pretty design…

(Words Jeroen Booij, picture Barry Davison / Lotus History - The Early Years)

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