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Were Colin Chapman alive today (he died in 1982), undoubtedly he'd be thrilled by Hethel circa 2009. For in many ways, the new automotive paradigm has come to Lotus. Design efficiency, highly rigid yet lightweight structures, maximizing performance by reducing mass -- the longtime Lotus hallmarks have become industry grails in our Age of Restraint. Tour the Lotus production facility, and in addition to feathery Elise and Exige sports cars you also see Tesla Roadsters, the Elise-based electric vehicles that Lotus builds for the California startup. The assembly line now also includes the new Lotus Evora, the world's only mid-engine 2+2 and a 3000-pound sporting car capable of topping 160 mph and returning more than 30 mpg on the highway.

"We expect our production to increase by 50 percent for the 2009-2010 financial year," says CEO Michael Kimberley as we chat in a small control tower overlooking the company's Hethel test track (a former RAF base). Kimberley, who joined Lotus in 1969, rose to the top, left in 1991, then returned in 2006, attributes much of the expected sales rise to the new Evora and the weak British pound (which makes Lotus products more affordable overseas). Yet in an era when automakers are shutting doors wherever possible, Lotus is actually hiring. "To meet the demands of our consulting projects for automakers around the world, we plan to increase our engineering staff by ten percent," Kimberley says.

Kimberley's new mission for the company: more green. Along with Malaysian parent company Proton, Lotus has signed a deal to open a green-vehicle research facility in, of all places, Saudi Arabia. "We'll have one in India too," Kimberley adds. Hybrid and electric powertrains are very much in the future for Lotus and its Versatile Vehicle Architecture chassis (which underpins the Evora).

Colin Chapman, whose Lotus 25 won the world championship using a tiny, 1.5-liter V-8, would heartily approve. "Lightweight" Lotus appears stronger than ever. And it's never been more British Racing Green.

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