The Lotus 72 is a Formula One car designed by Colin Chapman and Maurice Philippe of Lotus for the 1970 Formula One season. The 72 was a pioneering design featuring inboard brakes, side-mounted radiators in sidepods (as opposed to the nose-mounted radiators, which had been commonplace since before World War II), and aerodynamic wings producing down-force.

The overall shape of the 72 was innovative, resembling a wedge on wheels which was inspired by the earlier Lotus 56 gas turbine car. The shape made for better air penetration and higher speeds. In a back-to-back test with the Lotus 49, the 72 was faster with the same Cosworth engine.

The 72 used a Ford Cosworth DFV, 2993cc V8, naturally aspirated, mid-engine, longitudinally-mounted engine. It was mated to a Hewland FG400, 5-speed manual transmission. This gave a power of 440-465 hp.

It was entered for the 1970 Dutch GP, and Rindt soon made the car successful, by winning the Dutch, French, British and German Grands Prix in quick succession. Rindt was almost certainly going to win the world championship but was killed in a qualifying crash at Monza, driving the 72 with its wings removed, when a front brake shaft failed sending the car at high speed into a poorly installed safety barrier. His replacement, Emerson Fittipaldi, won the United States race, helping Rindt become F1's only posthumous world champion. Rindt's and Fittipaldi's combined points for the season helped Lotus to its fourth constructors' championship.

After 20 wins, two drivers' and three constructors' championships, the 72 was retired for the 1976 season and replaced by the Lotus 77. This longevity makes it one of the most successful ever Formula 1 cars.

The Lotus 80 was a Formula One car used by Team Lotus in 1979. The car, designed by Colin Chapman, Martin Ogilvie, Peter Wright and Tony Rudd, was an attempt to take ground effect as far as possible.

Ogilvie and Rudd reasoned that to take a further step ahead of the competition, the new car should be designed as one huge ground effect system, starting just behind the nose and extending all the way to the back of the car beyond the rear wheels. An additional ground effect system was built into the nose, in an effort to turn the whole chassis into an aerodynamic device. In theory this would create a tremendous amount of downforce, so the chassis would have to be built to be more structurally rigid than that of the Lotus 79. The 80 also would not need wings due to the massive downforce. Chapman approved the idea at once.

The car appeared resplendent in British racing green, since John Player Special had pulled out of F1. The car featured 'Coke bottle' sidepods, something that would become familiar in the 1980s. However, a serious problem was encountered during testing. Mario Andretti reported that at speed the car behaved very well, but in braking and cornering, where speeds were lower, the car lost downforce alarmingly then regained it unexpectedly. The problem was twofold: firstly, the ground effect's low pressure area under the car was moving around with the car's centre of gravity. The phenomenon was known as porpoising, as the car appeared to be lifting and squatting at different speeds, causing it to lurch violently through corners. Secondly, the slightest difference in track ride height including off cambered corners, kerbs, etc. affected the undercar pressure hugely. The team experimented by fitting the car with wings, but this had little effect on the way the car behaved. Andretti persevered with the car, but his new teammate Carlos Reutemann refused to drive it and stayed with the Lotus 79.

It was a massive setback for the team, and for the car which had appeared so promising. However, Chapman persevered with the concept of a full-length ground effect chassis in the Lotus 88.

The Lotus 102 was a Formula One racing car designed by Lotus for use in the 1990 Formula One season and would eventually go on to compete in three seasons until 1992.

Frank Dernie and Mike Coughlan incorporated the 640 bhp (477 kW; 649 PS) Lamborghini V12 engine that had been used by the Larrousse Lola team during 1989. Its use made the 102 the only Lotus to race with a V12 engine. The engine had several drawbacks, principally its size, weight and fuel economy. However, it was believed that the increases in power would offset these drawbacks. The engine's size meant it had to be located lower in the chassis, which also had to be designed to its widest permitted dimensions in order to incorporate larger fuel tanks. Furthermore, due to the engine's mass every component on the car had to be scrutinised to investigate whether any further weight reductions could be made elsewhere.

While the Lamborghini, one of only two V12 engines in Formula One at the time (the other being Ferrari), had shown promise with the Larrousse team in its debut season 1989, it still lagged behind the V12 Ferrari, the V10 engines from Honda and Renault, and even the Cosworth built and developed Ford V8 engine in both power (it only produced around 620 bhp compared to the closer to 700 bhp for Honda, Renault and Ferrari) and more importantly reliability.

In 1991 the Lamborghini engine was replaced by the Judd EV V8, the successor of the Judd CV V8 that had been used in the 101 in 1989.

The final incarnation of the 102, was the makeshift 102D that represented Team Lotus for the start of the 1992 season. Outwardly similar to the 102B, the car had a Cosworth HB V8 in place of the Judd EV V8. In an attempt to gain exposure a 102D driven by Johnny Herbert broke the Brands Hatch Indy circuit record for the BBC Record Breakers programme.

The Lotus T128, known prior to its launch by its project number TL11, is a Formula One motor racing car designed by Mike Gascoyne, Lewis Butler and Marianne Hinson for Team Lotus in the 2011 Formula One season. 2011 saw the car abandon its Cosworth engine in favour of one developed by Renault.

The T128 was launched online in2011. Team Lotus retained an unchanged driver lineup in 2011, with 2010 drivers Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli racing the T128. It was confirmed that the team would start the season without the Kinetic Energy Recovery System, but senior figures suggested they would adopt it if the car proved successful, however the team continued for the rest of the 2011 season without KERS.

The team changed from the Cosworth CA2010 engine used in 2010 to the Renault RS27 series, as well as exchanging a transmission developed by X-Trac to one built by Red Bull Technologies. The design of the T128 also incorporated a "bladed" rollbar similar to the one developed by Mercedes in 2010, but thicker and with sturdier air intakes to conform with FIA regulations.

The T128 used a Renault RS27-2011 2400 cc 90° V8 engine which was limited to 18.000 RPM, naturally aspirated and mid-mounted. It was mated to a Red Bull Technologies seven-speed semi-automatic gearbox with reverse gear.

In qualifying for the first race, the Australian Grand Prix, Team Lotus were eliminated in Q1, causing surprise within the team, who had expected to be much closer to the midfield, although they were ahead of both Virgins and HRTs. In the race, Kovalainen retired on lap 19 due to a water leak, while Trulli finished 13th, ahead of d'Ambrosio.

Throughout the season, the T128 was faster than the Virgin cars and HRTs.

The Lotus E21 is a Formula One racing car designed and built by the Lotus F1 team for use in the 2013 championship. 

The chassis was designed by James Allison, Nick Chester, Martin Tolliday and Dirk de Beer with Renault supplying the team's engines. The car was driven by 2007 World Champion Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean, both of whom remained with the team after competing in 2012. The E21 was the first of the 2013 season cars to be launched.

Following criticism of the cars raced in 2012 for being "ugly" because of a visible step in the design of the nose, the 2013 technical regulations allowed teams to use a "modesty panel", or a small piece of carbon fibre designed to cover the nose of the car for aesthetic purposes. However, the E21 was launched without a modesty panel, as the team felt that it offered no aerodynamic benefit, and that the aesthetic qualities it offered were not worth the added weight, however slight the weight gain might be.

The E21 proved to be a competitive car across the 2013 season with one victory at the season opener at Australia, and the car would claim 14 podiums by the end of the season. Eventually, the team finished 4th in the Constructors' Championship with 315 points.

Lotus F1 went into the 2013 season with subtle livery changes. While the overall design was similar, the only difference was an additional red accents.

In Monaco, the team collaborated with Daft Punk to promote their latest album, Random Access Memories. The Daft Punk logo appeared on the rear wing, while the chassis sported their helmet designs as they appear on the album cover on each side of the car. In Korea, the Renault logos were badged as Renault Samsung.