Lotus Cars Factory at former RAF Hethel

Lotus Cars in the UK is based at the former RAF Hethel airbase, near Norwich, Norfolk.

The airfield was formerly a USAAF base in World War Two and later utilised by the RAF itself after the war. Today sections of the former runways and taxiways are utilised by Lotus for track testing.

Lotus, famed for its lightweight and superbly engineered racecars, was created by Colin Chapman, a graduate of University College, London, in 1952. Chapman's first true factory was located in old stables behind the Railway Hotel in Hornsey, North London.  The racing division, named Team Lotus was one of the most successful teams in Formula 1 right up until they finished racing in 1994.   

Today, Lotus Cars is owned by Malaysian motor manufacturer Proton and has had a recent return to Formula 1. Proton's Lotus-series saloons have proven popular in regional markets, but the real winner has long been the little sportscar, the Lotus Elise and, more recently, the Exige. The Elise has even had its own international race series.

Lotus is undergoing a rebirth and there are surely more great models to come, in the popular mould of vehicles such as the revolutionary Lotus Seven -- the rights of which were