Lotus is preparing a range of events to celebrate its 75th anniversary next year. 

The Norfolk-based luxury sportscar manufacturer is planning initiatives to look back at its innovation and success that has helped shape the motoring landscape. 

Specific details about events have not yet been revealed.  

The brand was launched in 1948 when British designer and engineer Colin Chapman built the first Lotus - Mark 1- in a lock-up garage owned by his girlfriend Hazel's parents. 

Matt Windle, group vice-president and managing director of Lotus Cars, said: “Lotus of 2023 is a world away from a garage in north London, thanks to the billions being invested in our company on product development, an electrified future and more.

"We’ve come a long way since moving to our iconic home in Norfolk in 1966.

"Today we have engineering facilities in the UK, Germany and China; design studios in Hethel, Coventry and Shanghai; and new world-class manufacturing bases in Norfolk and China.

"It’s at the last of these that assembly of the first Lotus lifestyle car – the Eletre Hyper-SUV – begins later this month.”

He added: “The pioneering spirit and commitment of Colin and Hazel Chapman is alive and kicking in Lotus today, and we will be celebrating our 75th anniversary in style – paying tribute to the past and looking ahead to the future as we approach our first century.”