Lotus
Hot Wheels Concept
Group
Lotus plc has teamed up with Hot Wheels, the famous global die-cast brand, to
design, develop and produce a Lotus Hot Wheels Concept vehicle. This 1:5 scale
model was on display to the world at the annual SEMA Show at the Las Vegas
Convention Centre between 29th October and 2nd November 2007, and a 1:64 scale
version of the design will become part of the Hot Wheels product range in
spring 2008.
To
celebrate its 40th anniversary next year, Hot Wheels approached Lotus and
other world leaders in he automotive industry with the challenge for each
company to produce a vehicle that embodies its own engineering philosophy and
brand. The result from Lotus is a stunning open-top two seat sports car
concept.
Lotus
Design's international reputation for designing visually dynamic and
exhilarating sports cars perfectly fitted the brief for this programme and we
relished the opportunity to design a concept that was free from the typical
technical and legal constraints of a full size car. In addition the design
offered unique challenges because it has to work as a toy and we therefore had
to remember how specific views, features and tactile qualities of toy cars
fascinated us as children.
Mike
Kimberley, Chief Executive Officer of Group Lotus Plc said "We are
delighted to have worked with Hot Wheels, who share our passion and enthusiasm
for all things automotive. Lotus Design has a global reputation and is
responsible for the design of all Lotus cars, including Lotus Europa, Exige and
iconic Elise and many designs for our engineering clients globally. The same
design team who created this stunning concept is also designing our new range
of cars, the first of which, codenamed Project Eagle, will go into production
at the end of next year."
