Ferrari’s the global titan and Lotus the waking giant

Sweeping generalisation alert! Ferrari is about great engines and Lotus great chassis. Right?

Nah. Maybe once. But no recent Ferrari has wanted for agility or stability (except maybe the wayward F12tdf, whose early iteration of Maranello’s agility-boosting Passo Corto Virtuale – Virtual Short Wheelbase – system made it as unintuitive and confidence-sapping as the rear-steer RS Megane – but with nearly three times the horsepower). And similarly, when I finally drove a Lotus for the first time, an Evora 410, the driving experience’s dominant gene was the engine – or more specifically the supercharged V6’s buzzsaw-throughbarely-held-sheet-aluminium rasp.

But the two reputations persist, and not without reason. Maranello’s apparently immortal V12 has a lot to do with it, as does the Elise – arguably one of the most important sports cars ever built, and inarguably the most important sports car Lotus has ever built. Though I read it a full quarter of a century ago, the incomparable Paul Horrell’s description of the Elise’s dynamics is with me still, word for word: ‘It’s not so much a car as an instrument for driving. The links between driver and car are so precise, so electric, so light, they’re almost synaptic. Input doesn’t bring about response: input is response.’

But enough of the past. Right now we’re living through the most fascinating chapter in the story of this age-old rivalry. In terms of what they deem important in a car (even if both are necessarily stretching those principles right now in order to build their must-have

SUVs), Ferrari and Lotus are absolutely aligned. You sense that, were it able to happen (like the mythical Christmas Eve Great War football match on no man’s land), these two great houses coming together for a day of driving, discourse and debate would be an unforgettable experience for all involved. And if, after one too many, it leads to a Flavio Manzoni/Russell Carr-penned two-seater based on a stretched Emira platform with the 812 Competizione’s V12 in the middle and dynamics by Raffaele di Simone and Gavan Kershaw in cahoots, count me in – I’ll find the money.

Beyond enthusiast circles the two are rarely considered rivals; Lotus admits as much. Ferrari is simply one of the world’s strongest brands and a household name – spending a fortune to contest the Formula 1 world championship every year for the last 70 years does at least buy you that. Lotus, while revered by some, means less than nothing in other parts of the world.

So, Ferrari’s the global titan and Lotus the waking giant, finally on course to realise its true potential. But the influence of the latter is, thanks to its consultancy work and reputation for engineering excellence, quite breathtaking at times. I’ve encountered it time and again, and in the most unlikely places, from Silicon Valley start-ups (Lucid’s Peter Rawlinson – more on page 30 – is ex-Lotus) to Swedish EV offshoots (Polestar’s Steve Swift also spent time at Hethel). Like a kind of ride-and-handling version of the Freemasons, The Lotus Way pervades the wider automotive universe. And that’s a very good thing.

Enjoy the issue.