Hello, my name is Peter Mosoni and I’m a freelancer automotive photographer from Hungary.

Had some amazing experiences, chances to shoot interesting cars through my career but if you were about to say that I’ll have the keys to the new Emira for the weekend with a brief “Take nice pictures” I’d probably laugh! I would have been so wrong since this just happened and I’m really grateful for Lotus Gablini (the only local dealership of Lotus) that they trusted me enough to carry on with this project.

The new Emira… I must admit when introduced I was a little bit sceptic as the concept looked so very well designed that the production version seemed way too toned down. When I entered their showroom all of my doubts disappeared, the car looks beautiful in the flesh. Sprinkled with amazing details and some “Easter eggs” that remind you that “British Motoring” and “British humour” still alive and kicking!

The proportions are just perfect, if I really need to nit-pick, than maybe the ride high is a bit too high, but then that’s probably because you want to use your car on a daily base don’t you?! I also had the chance to drive the final edition of the Exige, and one of the other worries I shared probably with others is that the Emira will be too soft compared to its predecessor. Well the way I felt after giving the keys back as follows: “I believe the parents can sit back and relax, their child has grown up and become successful” in other words the car matured big time and I think to its advantage”.

Well, all left for me is to say thank you for reading these few lines and “enjoy the pictures”.

Regards, Peter

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/petermosoniphotography

IG: https://www.instagram.com/petermosoni/ (@petermosoni)

Web: https://mosoni.hu/

Click on any image below to open the gallery.

As a bonus, Peter has kindly allowed us to share his pictures of the Exige from his trip to Lotus Gablini

Click on any image below to open the gallery.

Lotus has announced its golden collaboration with British Cycling will continue, with the development of a new track bike for Team GB riders to use at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. The division of the business which delivers this and other consultancy work is Lotus Engineering, internationally recognised for its long-standing contribution to ground-breaking design, collaborative advanced engineering and innovative product development for OEMs, suppliers and other businesses.

The new bike’s development is the focus of the final chapter of the Lotus Engineering: The Innovators series, which turns the spotlight on the fourth of its core portfolio pillars – the Technical Services it offers to clients. These include intelligent design, product concept, attribute development and advanced materials, all of which are integral to the British Cycling project.

Mark Stringer, Commercial Director, Lotus Engineering, explained: “Technical Services is about what we can supply throughout the entire product development process. We take the core principals we have gained from automotive development, where we have a global pedigree, to develop solutions across the wider mass transportation and personal mobility sectors.”

The three other pillars covered previously in this series are Platforms, Control Systems and Dynamics.

The partnership with British Cycling is just one example of Lotus Engineering’s collaborations, most of which remain confidential at clients’ request. The consultancy’s involvement with two-wheelers has already included co-development of the track bike for the Tokyo Olympics 2020, which eventually took place in 2021 due to Covid-19. However, it stretches back to the early Nineties and the Lotus Type 108 – the LotusSport Pursuit Bicycle – a revolutionary concept that showcased a ground-breaking monocoque design, advanced carbon composite construction, and, with its aerofoil cross-section, a pioneering approach to aerodynamics.

Just like cars, bikes can benefit from the application of mechanical efficiency and the Type 108 helped British rider Chris Boardman rewrite the track cycling history books and win gold at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. Its success sparked the genesis of the Lotus Type 110, a time trial bike boasting many of the same innovations. Again, the cycling world had seen nothing like it and Boardman won the Prologue time trial in the 1994 Tour de France.

Then, as now, development work is focused on core Lotus values – a pioneering approach to light-weighting, advanced materials and optimised aerodynamics. So what has changed in the three decades since the Type 108? Certainly not the physics, but the understanding of the science had moved on. As Richard Hill, Chief Aerodynamicist for Lotus, commented: “Back then, it was simply about developing an aerodynamic bike that would go fast. But really there are two separate elements – the bike and the rider – which come together as one to move through the air. That was the approach we took with the Tokyo bike and is continuing for Paris 2024.”

Beyond the technical, Lotus Engineering regularly calls on the Lotus Design team as an integral part of its service offering. The latter – based at Hethel, Norfolk, since it was established in 1985 – has developed several other two-wheeled projects including motorcycles and scooters.

Barney Hatt, Head of Advance and Consultancy Design, who has previously worked on client programmes such as the Tesla Roadster, commented: “Our objective is to design compelling and commercially successful world-class products that are beautiful, visually innovative and that reflect the client’s core values, meet the budget targets and satisfy the end user’s functional requirements.”

During more than three decades of work, Russell Carr, Director of Design at Lotus, has been involved in numerous consultancy projects: He added: “We’re able to apply the experience we have gained in automotive to other forms of mobility. Whilst aesthetics is crucial to the success of a product, we are co-located with our renowned engineering team, meaning we work hand-in-glove to strike the perfect balance of form and function which is integral to product design with engineering integrity.”

The design studio at Hethel is a contemporary and purpose-built facility which, like other areas on site, has received considerable investment in recent years. The Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality (VR/AR) suite and 3D printing equipment is state-of-the-art, as is the milling studio, which has been upgraded to a 12-metre bed plate, plus 2 x five-axis milling capability with Kolb Studioline M masts and bespoke extraction system. Photometric scanning fully supports the design process with large format and portable optical scanners.

Hethel is also home to three secure studios with integrated surface plates and workspace for designers, digital modellers and studio engineers. A secure presentation room with a four-metre screen is also part of the facilities.

Russell explained: “The implementation of these upgrades at Hethel has fundamentally changed how we work and how we communicate with clients. The VR/AR suite and online data reviews give us an increased global reach, offering the client the opportunity to review 3D digital models from anywhere in the world, either on screen or through immersive headsets.”

While the artisan skill of manually sculpting designs in clay is still very much within Lotus Design’s capability and process, it is enhanced by the automated milling of models and 3D printing of components using the very same data that is reviewed in the virtual world.

“This seamless interaction of multiple mediums allows for more iterations and more life-like representations, which gives greater reassurance to the client and ultimately facilitates the best possible outcome.” 

Why did Hot Wheels choose to produce these new Lotus cars?
This is an exciting time for Lotus with the launch of new, fresh and desirable cars. With its dramatic styling, the Evija is one of the most exciting and visually interesting electric hypercars we’ve seen. The Emira will be the last combustion-engined Lotus and it was felt important to mark this by including it in the Mainline.

What is the Mainline?
Mainline is our core range of 1/64 vehicles. These are available widely in toy shops, supermarkets and come in the familiar blue-carded blister packs. Within the Mainline there are themed series and both new Lotus cars are in ‘Exotics’.

Is this the first Lotus Hot Wheels has created?
No, we have enjoyed a long relationship with the marque. In the 1960s we created a diecast of Lotus’ turbine IndyCar, the Type 56. Then in the 1980s, we produced a ‘Royal Flash’ Lotus Esprit. Since then we have created many more including the Sport Elise, 340R, Evora GT4, two further iterations of Esprit (S1 and V8), as well concept cars including the M250 and the Lotus Concept from the Designer’s Challenge series. Lotus is very popular here in our design studio!

How long did it take to create the Emira and Evija, from first sketch to the finished product?
The Hot Wheels team recreated both the Emira and Evija from scratch in our US design studio. We started with some creative ideas, sketches and renders, then CAD design supplied by Lotus, before moving to the 3D printing of initial prototypes ahead of the design sign-off by both our designers and the team at Lotus. Just like in Hethel, once design and engineering are happy, we start making the tooling and then cars can flow down our own production line. The process took us about a year for each car.

Any particular challenges with creating the design in small scale?
Our Mainline cars are toys with an RRP of £1.75, so sometimes we have to be creative. It was particularly challenging to capture all the complexity of the Venturi tunnels on the Evjia. We achieved this using the interior plastic to provide a vibrant contrast. At the rear, the LED lights are very fine, so we have printed these around the tunnel exits. Another challenge is to get this car looking ‘just right’ at this scale. This is very much an enthusiast’s car, and Lotus owners are really passionate, so we did a lot of work to get the form of Evija to look right at 1/64 scale. As such we have to tweak Lotus’ design by elongating or enhancing elements, so the overall look and stance are correct. Evija is such a dramatic car, we wanted to keep as much of that in the model, all within the restraints of it being primarily a toy.

What testing was done with the scale Lotus?
Like all our cars, we track test the prototype Emira and Evija to ensure they will offer high performance just like the real ones! We wanted to keep the sweeping low front overhang and track-hugging splitter of Evija so it’s not best suited for our stunt or loop sets. That said, its low, sleek form should make it popular for flat tracks or racing around the living room. And just like the real Emira, this model is a bit more versatile but still should offer high performance.

How did you choose the colour of the car?
For Emira, the colour honours the Seneca Blue car seen at its launch, now with added Black Pack. We also opted for a wheel design that looks a little like the diamond-cut forged alloy wheels available on the full-scale car. For the Evija, we’ve opted for the iconic colours of green and yellow. It’s a Lotus after all!

Hot Wheels isn’t necessarily known for EVs. Is it important to have EV models like the Evija for kids and adult collectors?
The automotive world is transitioning rapidly to alternative powertrains. Models such as the Evija offer inspiring performance-oriented electric cars for us to create and enable the current generation to ‘own’ and ‘drive’ these aspirational cars. Representation of EVs such as the Evija in our range can show the kids that future cars do offer performance, desirability and sustainability.

Do you need to be a car fan to do your job?
Yes, one needs to be a car fan to the core. It’s an important part of our jobs as we always try to be ahead of design and car culture trends. And we still need to design custom ‘builds’ in 1/64 scale. All of us are very passionate and are car fans. Also we have a very mixed international team, so it helps with variety and the global appeal of our toys.

Surprised as we were, as a member of the media corps on yesterday’s launch of the Evija Fittipaldi, the hugely knowledgeable @Guy Munday gave us a very comprehensive tour of the Emira production line. The biggest takeaway, having been visiting the factory for almost 20 years now is the huge, and I mean huge investment not only in technology but more importantly, quality. Production is now focussed on efficiency due to the volume increases but also on ensuring cars on the line are built as they are intended with a ‘no faults forward’ policy and machinery such as the optical scanners which, sat on a 3 ton granite block for consistent integrity, take hundreds of measurements of each car to ensure it’s been assembled as it should be to the hundredth of a mm before moving on. With more efficient sub-assembly now completed in the old Elise/Exige & Evora factory, components such as the front and rear subframes are assembled and completed before being attached to the chassis on the production line. It’s a very impressive move on from the more manual processes of the prior cars but with that said, while there are many machines to help with more precise tasks and heavy lifting, the process is still very much a manual one with each task getting 17 minutes to be completed before the automated AGV’s move the car on to the next stage in the process. 

Riding a Raleigh Chopper around the Lotus test track at Hethel Norfolk on Sunday 09 October 2022, Scott lapped the 2.2 miles track 22.7 times in 5 hours 54 minutes, with a fastest lap of 10 minutes 37 seconds at a speed of 12.43 mph. The Chopper Challenge has already raised £3,497 for the two charities Lymphoma Action, and The Care for Life at Home Fund in association with the Priscilla Bacon Lodge Support Group.

Clive Chapman, the son of Lotus co-founders Colin and Hazel Chapman, started the riders at 0900 with a traditional flag-drop start. 20 Lotus colleagues, many riding vintage or retro bikes joined Scott throughout the day to add moral support and encouragement; the weather was a typical Autumn day, sunny, chilly with a strong southerly wind which, with the test track being oriented north to south, meant half the lap was against a 20 mph wind. At the end of the challenge, Martin Donnelly (Ex Team Lotus F1 Driver) was on hand to wave Scott through the chequered flag.

Scott Walker said, “Riding a Raleigh Chopper for 50 miles was a great personal achievement as I’m not a cyclist, and it’s a bike that is not designed for great distances in comfort. I am extremely grateful to all who supported, I thank everyone that has generously donated, and thanks to those who rode with me at various stages providing the moral support, and the slipstream in the strong headwind! I am also grateful to Lotus for providing the Lotus Test Track which was the best location and facility for this challenge.”

In the summer of 2013, Scott Walker, Head of Retail Operations at Lotus Cars, was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. After six months of extremely intensive chemotherapy, Scott made a complete recovery and has been fortunate to remain in good health since receiving an all clear in 2019.

Scott has so far raised £3,497 for Lymphoma Action, and The Care for Life at Home Fund in association with the Priscilla Bacon Lodge Support Group. Established 2007 in memory of Sarah Hepworth (daughter of Lotus founders, Colin & Hazel Chapman) this local fund supports palliative care in the home.

Scott said, “For anyone, the diagnosis of any cancer is worrying – I am grateful to Lymphoma Action for their support before, and during my treatment and so I’d simply like to give something back. I deeply admire the work of The Care for Life at Home Trust that

operate in association with the Priscilla Bacon Lodge here in Norwich. Just weeks after her 50^th birthday, my mother lost her fight against cancer whilst in hospice care and I’m keen that we can raise as much money as possible for two very worthwhile charitable organisations, that for me, are very close to home”.

To support you can still also donate via Just Giving TEAMS page, noting that due to platform limitations there is a separate team for each of the two charities, so please feel free to donate to either charity, or split your donation between both. https://www.justgiving.com/team/scottchopper