Former Lotus, Jaguar and TVR designer Oliver Winterbottom passed away on 6 November 2020. He was 76.
Although he found fame during his time at Lotus, it was with Jaguar that Winterbottom served his engineering apprenticeship and kick-started his career. He later worked for TVR during Martin Lilley’s tenure and designed the long-running Tasmin, confirming his place as one of the founding fathers of British ‘wedge’ design, as well as for General Motors in Detroit.
However it is for Winterbottom’s three stints at Lotus that he’s arguably most well known. The first was from 1971, where he designed the Type 75 Elite, the Type 76 Éclat, and helped bring Giorgetto Giugiaro’s concept into reality as the Esprit. He returned from 1980 when he led the Toyota-powered M90/X100 project, and finally from ’86 in the role of Project General Manager within the vehicle, body and safety systems engineering group.
He worked directly with Colin Chapman and the M90 was the last project Chapman oversaw.
The Esprit featured in James Bond film, The Spy Who Loved Me
“He was one of the most innovative and visionary designers of his generation,” said Lotus Cars in its obituary.
