‘We were a small team who didn’t need meetings every few minutes; we just shouted to each other across the garage’

OLIVER WINTERBOTTOM DESIGNER OF THE LOTUS ELITE

How did you come to join Lotus?

I’d been at Jaguar – who were leaders in the motor industry – for ten years during the 1960s and designed some of the parts that ended up in the XJ6. My colleague, Mike Kimberley (pictured above left) had already moved to Lotus and I followed him some time later. Colin Chapman sold the Lotus Seven to Caterham as he wanted to take Lotus more upmarket with a four-seater car sports car. It was then that I became the designer of the Lotus Elite.

What made Elite production such a success?

I sat down with Colin Chapman and Mike Kimberley and assembled a small, but very good team. We were methodical and detailed with everything – nothing went on the car unquestioned. With every decision we asked: “Is it necessary and can we do it better?” The big manufacturers talked so much – we were different. We were a small team who didn’t need meetings every few minutes; we just shouted to each other across the garage.

Did you have any strict guidelines during production?

We made the Elite ‘world legal’ so we had a car that would meet the high standards and regulations in places like Japan, Australia and the USA. We were very proud when the Elite won the Don Safety Trophy in 1975. The car managed to exceed the roof crush by more than twice the required amount. We did lots of wind tunnel work at MIRA in Nuneaton, although only between 10pm-6am when it was cheaper. Lotus was always about getting the most out of everything, that didn’t mean throwing money at situations. We never thought “that will do”. We wanted chemically toughened double curve windscreens but costs meant that we opted for laminated.

What did you think when you first drove the Elite?

Initially we trusted the end product, and trusted in all the decisions we’d made from running gear to structure. When I first drove the Elite it was just so exciting. After some initial testing, we would shave millimetres and centimetres over everything to fine-tune the final prototype. We were waiting for a flight at Stansted Airport once and developed and tested the power steering in the car park there. Press reviews later said the Elite power steering was the best yet! We also loved our rear seats as you could happily fit a 6ft 4in passenger there.