The Lotus-Library is one of the few places to hold a full set of Sports Car and Lotus Owner magazine. This magazine featured a special ‘Club Lotus’ section in every issue from the first to the last. The 24-page, 7×9.5-inch magazine was first published in November 1956 with an image of Stirling Moss in the record-breaking Lotus Eleven streamliner car at Monza on the cover.
In January of 1959 the magazine (featuring a Lotus Seven on the cover) grew in size to 9×11-inches but remained at 24-pages, still all in black & white. The September 1961 issue that featured a trio of Lotus Elites on the cover would be the last to be called ‘Sports Car and Lotus Owner’ as, the next issue in October would be simply called ‘Sports Car’, and featured a Sunbeam Alpine on the front cover (the first colour cover). Sadly, there would only be two more issues and Vol.12, No.5 in December 1961 would be the last available.
Along with the covers of each issue, after all the covers we have included a page titled ‘The Lotuseers” from each issue that featured articles on this historic group of people who were so influential in the building of Lotus. The first ‘Lotuseer’ featured was author and publisher Ian Smith who published the first book on Lotus titled, appropriately “Lotus the First Ten Years…” in 1958. – And when we can figure things out you should be able to click on a Lotuseers page and see it enlarged so you can read all about these fascinating people.
