It comes as no surprise to discover that Chris Knight, Lotus’s new chief executive, is not a flamboyant man. After Chapman, Kimberley, Wickens and Artioli, the sight of so obvious a professional businessman sitting, white-shirted, behind the big desk at Hethel seems rather out of character.

You can’t argue with the logic of Knight’s appointment, though. He was formerly the chairman of Shell in Malaysia, a job which brought him into contact with the Proton bosses, who offered him the position at Lotus. The immediate objectives at Hethel are quite simple, says Knight; it needs to generate a good return for shareholders and to promote Lotus as a source of high technology for Proton’s own cars.

Trouble is, the rules have changed. Like others in Asia, the Malaysian economy is in trouble. The domestic market for Proton cars has shrunk, and the company’s appetite for speculative investment in the far-flung UK is much reduced. Knight is properly concerned, but his bottom line feeling is calm optimism.

"Both our divisions can grow," he says. "Tough times for car makers aren’t all bad for consultants. Companies tend to out-source work because we’re cheaper. Anyway, the Elise is selling extremely well. Sales of a car planned at 800 units a year will grow to something like 3300 in 1998, and we’re still selling it in relatively few markets." Unhindered by detailed knowledge of past Lotus difficulties, Knight is enthusiastic about selling Lotus cars in the US again, and has no prejudice against assembling or even manufacturing cars there. Everything depends on the impending results of a planning review which Knight instigated when he arrived five months ago.

He won’t commit himself on new models, but says all previosu bets are off until the review is complete. But he wants the Elise to have a long life, believes there’s strong appeal in a grown-up Elise – possibly a coupe – and wants Lotus to stay in the Esprit market without trying to "compete head-on with Ferrari".

Knight is enjoying his company Esprit V8, which he says "gives the level of performance I’m used to". Which is when he tells you about the two 170mph Kawasaki ZZR 1100 motorbikes he owned before coming to Hethel – one in Malaysia, one in the UK.

And then, despite the grey hair and white shirt, Knight suddenly looks much more like a Lotus kind of guy.

Autocar 4/02/98 Writer:Steve Cropley (?)