The various models of Lotus by Hot Wheels and Matchbox

I was thinking the amount of Lotus cars I have (or were made) by the Mattel divisions of Hot Wheels and Matchbox was small, and that was true a couple of decades ago.  However, as you'll see the amount of Lotus vehicles (and ones that share the same platforms even if they don't have the Lotus badge!) from the two are enormous.  Wow!  Let's take a look at them:

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The beginning of Lotus

Lotus was famous for it's lightweight road cars for the track based on years of experience on the track.  The very first was the Lotus 7:  Unlike other European sports cars at the time, the 7 has little to no fenders, sometimes no windshield or roof either!  The exhaust is exposed on the passenger side of the car, and so is the front control arm suspension.  The 7 may be long out-of-production but it lives on as car kits and under the Caterham nameplate as the R600 Superlight as seen by this Matchbox version.  The earlier Rover engine's are replaced by the Ford DOHC I-4 and six-speed manual, yet still retails the classic 7 styling.  I was surprised Matchbox made this one introduced in 2010, and despite a few variations it is still in the line today.

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The other one by Matchbox, introduced in 2009, is the 1972 Europa Special.  The Europa blurred the lines between the 7 and the upcoming Esprit by giving a track car more designed for the road, yet still provided the lightweight balance of Lotus cars.  You'll notice the taller rear fenders:  They house the dual gas tanks to evenly distribute weight, with a DOHC I-4 in between the two with plenty of room to spare.  However, the rear looks more like a mid-1970's El Camino!  Of course with looming safety standards and the Ford Pinto and Chevy Pickup outer frame gas tank issues, this car indefinitely had a short life.  I think this Dark Red color is the best of this casting as it gives it a sleek, stealthy look.

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The Esprit's

Introduced just as the start of wedge-shaped exotics from Ferrari and Lamborghini Countach arrived, so did the Esprit: A car that is at home on the road as it is on the track.  Fiberglass body on steel backbone chassis with 2.0L I-4 in the rear just like the Europa.  The gas tank is at least in a safer spot this time.  The wedge shape is classic or so-so depending on your point of view.  Turbo models arrived in the 1980's.  Best known as the car-turned-submarine in 007's "The Spy Who Loved Me" and as a dark red Turbo with a ski rack in "For Your Eyes Only."  The Hot Wheels version was called Royal Flash, yet still has Lotus on the Union Jack flag.

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In 2002, Hot Wheels introduced a new Esprit based on the revised version in the 1990's.  In 1988 the new Esprit was more modern, but looked like it could offer more cylinders than the Turbo I-4 could suggest, especially in the hot new Exotic field finally breaking out of the '70's and '80's gas crisis.  In 1997 the Esprit gained more flared bodywork an a rear wing for the first time, and also the DOHC twin-turbo V8 and six-speed manual to produce 350 hp.  This Hot Wheels version has more detail than the '70's Royal Flash, yet only a few had the stock appearance: the black 2002 version and this yellow 2008 version which really pops out!

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The introduction of the Elise and Exige

The Elise, introduced in 1996, finally brought Lotus back to the origins of the original 7: a simple, basic lightweight track car, which is good timing considering the Esprit was going upmarket at the time.  Matchbox was first with this orange 1st. generation Elise from the new Superfast series.  Looks cool, though the metal base may seem to be too much for this casting (so is those wheels!).  It's interesting to note that the Elise debuted in Matchbox lines outside of the US in 1999, then finally arrived in the US in 2001 in 5-packs.  It has not appeared in the U.S. singles line at all, aside for the Superfast version shown here.

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In 2004, Hot Wheels quietly introduced the Sport Elise, a hard top version of the Elise with a removable roof center, if needed, scoop to feed the engine in the rear, and a rear spoiler.  These were the Lotus Elise's designed for racing!  Interesting to note that in a new model line with 100 cars, some cartoonish, the Lotus was a nice sweet spot even though it was small and little recognized.  Gold and Yellow were the variations on the 2004 version.  The Sport Elise did appear a few more times, but when was it I can't remember; see it's barely credited!  In 2007 Matchbox finally provided a new Elise for both markets, the Exige coupe.  As with the Hot Wheels version it has a removable hardtop look, scoop for the rear engine, and a rear wing, with the regular look of the Elise.  The Exige was the first to provide a turbo I-4 for the Elise line.  The Matchbox versions at the time were bright on colors and looked good with blacked-out wheels, even later on appearing with racing decals.  The last known version was a nice British Racing Green with gold wheels in 2009; since then has not made another appearance.

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The Concepts of the Elise

For the first time have I've seen quite a few Lotus Concept cars, with one eventually making limited production.  The first is the 1999 340R Concept that Hot Wheels introduced in 2000.  I've seen one in person back in Florida years ago, and I must say MAN what a wild, neat car!  No fenders (the actual car had smaller black fenders hovering above the wheels), no doors; only a see-through panel, and floating taillights in the back with some exhaust tips sticking out.  The interior is more sparse than the Elise, while the exterior previewed the look of the next Elise.  The I-4 produce close to 200 hp. and 1-100 in 10 seconds. 340 of these vehicles were made; plenty of the Hot Wheels version in the beginning with the silver version being the best and accurate.  Note that the early versions had metal bases that later moved to plastic after a few years.  It's one cool casting!

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The other one introduced by Hot Wheels in 2001 is the Project M250 Concept.  This was the beginning of Lotus trying to move upmarket since the Esprit was going to be dropped in a few years.  The M250 features the Elise styling with smoother surfaces, blacked-out rear end, interior was more posh than the Elise, and the engine used a V6 instead of a four-cylinder.  Eventually the project was cancelled after building interest suggested that this car might be produced.  However, the idea lived on and eventually became the Evora in 2008.  The Hot Wheels version seemed less-impressive despite the amount seen in solid colors early-on.  On the silver 2001 and yellow 2002 (shown), the ones with the silver LOTUS letters in the back are hard-to-find, with the LUTUS error version even more rarer.

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Evora: The next stage for Lotus

In 2008 Lotus introduced their first shot in the market place with a two-plus-two, six-cylinder mid-engine car that hopefully would give Lotus a shot in the high-end premium luxury exotic segment (and hopefully more notice as well).  Interestingly enough, Matchbox was there at the official unveil with the 1:64 version that would arrive later in 2008 in silver.  Since the car name arrived later, Matchbox called the first versions '2008 Lotus', later changed to Lotus Evora in 2009.  The body is sleek an smooth, the interior is nicely done, though far short of top-tier luxury, oh and the rear seats are useless!  The engine under the rear glass is nicely done version of the Toyota-sourced 3.5L V6 with six-speed manual (a S version with automated manual gearbox arrived later).  Matchbox has made some interesting variations, and all without wild graphics per Lotus.  Aside from the metallic blue 2009, this 2012 Icy Burr blue (note the rear plate) is the best with the new 5-sp wheels, front and rear details, and even note the 'Evora' cursive badge on the rear bumper.

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In 2013 Hot Wheels brought their first new Lotus in a while with the Evora GT4:  Essentially a track version of the Evora with rear wing, ground effects, and rear spoiler wings on the rear bumper.  The interior is stripped of comforts with roll cage, 5-point seatbelt harness, and digital gauges for more precise information.  The V6 carries over, so does most of the exterior surfaces.  The only problem with this casting is the front spoiler which is shoved to far up and should be level with the ground, though the green color looks very sharp on this car.

The Other, but Related, Guys

Now not all of the cars by Lotus have Lotus badges.  There's been plenty of copies of Lotus models for other manufacturers.  A few examples here is the Opel Speedster and Tesla Roadster.

When Lotus had to comply the Elise with new European safety standards, Lotus did not have the money to retool the Elise for the standards so they partnered up with General Motors to curb the costs and produce the second-generation Elise.  In return GM got the Speedster for the Opel brand (Vauxhaull and Daewoo in other markets).  The body was aluminum, but the panels were reinforced plastic, with edgier bodywork than the Elise giving the speedster a futuristic look.  However, it does share the Spartan interior of the Elise.  The engine is 2.2L ECOTEC I-4 from the Opel Astra producing 145 hp through a six-speed manual.  Later versions include Turbo models and an ECO Speedster with stretched length, hardtop flowing to the rear, and turbodiesel I-4 with six-speed easytronic automatic.  The Speedster gave way in 2006 for the Saturn Sky-based Opel GT.  The Matchbox version is nicely done, especially the versions with no graphics and just front and rear lighting details.  Also note the rear plate area has 'Speedster' molded into the base.  This yellow version arrived in 2007 or 2008 regular line carrying the details from the Superfast version the year before.  Not bad.  The Speedster returns to the Matchbox line for 2014.

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Then there's the Tesla Roadster done by, of all places, Hot Wheels.  Elon Musk's first venture in the automotive business long before the Model S sedan was a Lotus Elise platform with a single AC motor in the back, 1-speed transmission, and battery pack behind the rear seats where the gas tank used to reside.  The lighting is impressive (especially the clear ones on the Hot Wheels version), but lacks the exciting curves and cuts of the Elise and Opel Speedster.  The interior features more features, but still is sparse and strangely quiet!  The good thing about the electric motor is immediate torque as soon as you press the accelerator and a lighter weight, however range anxiety and the amount of charging stations available(a big problem when the Roadster first came out seven years ago) were the downsides.  The best of this casting is the 2008 colors in blue (shown) or red with tan interior.  The green version in 2011 didn't appeal too popular with collectors and the like.  Despite a nice history behind it, don't expect to see the Roadster casting used more anytime soon.

While the amount of new Lotus castings will be stretched over the years, you can bet that even for a very small car company the Mattel brands have had their fare share of several models over the course of over a decade!

Update 1/18/20:  Another Exige was added to my Matchbox collection, this black with green stripes that was part of the exclusive first edition 10-pack in 2007.  Not as nice as the solid color models, but still an impressive model.