It will all certainly please all K series owners…& Mr Hunt 
i hope it is and i hope the minds from the lotus cars get involved to help out on the design of the car to get them higher up in the field !
Tony fernandes on the red button today seemed really positive about the changes both with the name and the direction the team is going, personally I think its just a shame the team isnt under more of a british base.
Really enjoyed the banter between EJ and Irvine too the sport needs that character to really shine also brundles grid walks are the most unmissable part of the show IMO ha 
So whats going to happen to classic team lotus if Fernandes now owns all of the classic cars?
I just feel its very sad its not really a British team and it will annoy me if they move it’s base to malaysia.
I also felt the stunt with the 16 YO malaysian lad was a step in that direction.
Lotus is in my blood but I really can’t get exited over the F1 team, if they were up there with Mclaren I think I would still be shouting for the real British team.
Oh and how can they use the Lotus badge if they are totally separate and Lotus cars own the rights to that badge?
Lotus Racing have not confirmed this story yet.
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. It’s only my opinion, of course but some of it is pure fact.
I fully understand the sceptics who say that this current F1 team is nothing to do with Team Lotus but I would remind you that Team Lotus detached itself from the rest of Lotus very early on and was set up as a separate company in the mid fifties. As soon as Lotus moved to Cheshunt Team Lotus was in a separate building. The move to Ketteringham Hall in the early seventies completed the severance, although they continued to share type numbers. The only real link was the badge, a few senior staff and a certain Mr Chapman and even that vital link was, sadly, removed in 1982. Others kept Team Lotus alive until 1994 and Hazel and Clive have kept the name alive through Classic Team Lotus while David Hunt has had “Team Lotus” locked up in a bank vault. I might ask how much of the Ferrari DNA from the fifties and sixties exists at Maranello today? The same question could be asked about the names McLaren, Mercedes Benz, BMW, Honda (oops Brawn, oops Mercedes), and so on. As far as this Lotus fan is concened Lotus Racing got my full attention and best wishes for 2010 and also gets my full attention as Team Lotus in 2011 and beyond. I hope they get yours as well. There is no room for sentiment in modern F1 so why not call it Team Lotus?
I’ve also said this before. Only two teams have a fan base that follows the team around the world and these are Ferrari and Lotus. Most other teams find a fan base around their drivers on a nationality basis. But it’s different for Ferrari and Lotus; it doesn’t matter who drives the cars - it’s the team that matters.
Oh, by the way; in an interview with the BBC after the 2010 Malaysian Grand Prix Fernandes stated that the team would in fact remain in Norfolk, as “Lotus is a British brand, that will never change. It’s just Malaysian finance and we think that makes sense”.
Boothy - CTL own the “licence/lease”, so it don’t matter who the landlord is! For the forseeable future, their position must be secure - no one else has the expertise to do what they do!
I don’t disagree with your sentiment, but the world is moving on.
Lotus Racing - they’ve done fantastically well for a 1st season, & all the signs are that they are going to continue improving. Given the mega amounts needed to fund a team, it makes sense to court money from Malaysia, if that’s where it is available. Unfortunately GB is no longer a big player in the world economy, & needs overseas finance to enable our in house technical knowhow/skills to be developed. In the world of motorsport, GB still leads the way (in many aspects), & if that it is to continue, overseas backing is essential.
Whether or not Lotus Racing will ever get back to the top of the tree, only time will tell, but fingers crossed
Think positive, not negative, young man! 
[quote=Boothy]So whats going to happen to classic team lotus if Fernandes now owns all of the classic cars?
[/quote]
Many of the cars operated by Classic Team Lotus are owned by/paid for by the drivers. Clearly some are owned by CTL but not all of them. I suspect the comment refers to the use of the name “Team Lotus” rather than the cars. In any case Fernandez isn’t going to break them up or send them all to Malaysia. Too much pessimism, I think.
(edited to add: Ah Rob, you beat me to it)
Thank you for the info guys, if the team is going to remain based out of Norfolk then for me that would change things. Everything I had read suggested that they would be moving and if Lotus moved away from England it would not be Lotus IMO.
If they stay in Norfolk and as you suggest are a British team with malaysian backers then it would feel more like Lotus. I guess no different to Lotus cars who I still think of as being British.
As you say they have done well this season and I have been supporting them its just not felt like Lotus yet, hopefully given time plus wearing the correct badges and that will change.
Don’t forget that the Team Lotus badge is different to the one you see on the road cars. Not sure when that first happened (Mike?) but it was a very long time ago. Some of the F1 JPS cars were badged JPS too, & not Team Lotus.
I read a story some time ago (maybe it was Jabby Crombac’s book?) that Team Lotus as a company folded & re-emerged slightly different most seasons for a long time in their heyday. Possibly something to do with the Italians & liability for racing accidents suffered by the team during that time (Von Tripps, Rindt, Peterson, etc). There was a time Chapman couldn’t set foot over there, but thats another story.
btw - wise words Mike 100% spot on 
There have been many iterations of the Lotus badge on te road cars over the years but most of them were very similar with black/silver, black/gold and green yellow being the most obvious. There was a different Team Lotus badge in the early days but as far as I am aware this was only used as a logo on paperwork atc because I think the cars have always used the conventional badge in whatever colour except for the JPS cars during the type 72 years. Here are a few examples…
but there are many more…
I’ve just received this from Lotus Racing/Team Lotus…
TEAM LOTUS IS BACK!
Singapore - 24th September 2010
Lotus Racing has today confirmed that the team will be known as Team Lotus from 2011. The migration from Lotus Racing to Team Lotus will take place over the coming months and the renamed team will be the direct successor to the iconic previous incarnation of Team Lotus when they take to the track in the 2011 FIA Formula One� World Championship and beyond. Tony Fernandes and Kamarudin Meranun�s Tune Group has acquired Team Lotus Ventures Ltd, the company led by David Hunt since Team Lotus was last on track, and through that agreement now has full ownership of the historic rights and goodwill of the Team Lotus brand and heritage.
Tony Fernandes, Lotus Racing Team Principal, is delighted that the hard work that has been going on behind the scenes to make this acquisition can now be announced, saying: �Kamarudin, Nasa and I are absolutely delighted to have completed this transaction - It�s difficult to express just what it means to us to now be able to say we are Team Lotus, one of the most iconic names in any form of sport worldwide, but we have been working very hard to make this dream come true, and today it has. My thanks go to David for looking after the Team Lotus brand so well over the period of his stewardship, and keeping the integrity of Team Lotus together. We are very excited about now taking over the brand and after our first year in Formula One�, we believe we are ready to do justice to the legacy we have inherited. These are heady days for Team Lotus, and it will be a very exciting process for the team we have in place to help us achieve our goals, on and off track.
�It was always important to us that Lotus Racing and Team Lotus could be brought together to unite the past and the present, and now we have done so. We have enjoyed a successful first year as Lotus Racing, and our thanks go to Proton, Group Lotus and all our partners for the parts they have played in our year as Lotus Racing. But now we move on to a new chapter, and as Team Lotus we will be an even more potent force, both on and off track. Everyone associated with the team is looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead � even more so now we will be bringing back one of the most loved, revered and respected names in motor racing history. A new dream starts today � Team Lotus is back.�
David Hunt, who has overseen the negotiations with Tony and his team, has been Managing Director of Team Lotus since 1994. He revealed his feelings about returning Britain�s greatest motor racing name to Formula 1�, saying: �I�m delighted this day has finally arrived. In January 1995, when I had the simply awful task of making the loyal Team Lotus personnel redundant, I promised them, the fans and the media that somehow we would return Team Lotus to F1� in good order and properly funded. We had no idea of the huge difficulties we would have to overcome when I made that statement.
�Nevertheless, I simply would not allow the legacy of Colin Chapman�s extraordinary achievements to die and I want publicly to thank the many loyal individuals who have worked to reach what sometimes seemed an impossible goal. The custodianship of the iconic brand and history now passes from me to Tony, Kamarudin and Nasa. In relinquishing this responsibility I am confident I am handing over to a team who have the financial resources, passion, energy, vision and long-term commitment to give Team Lotus the best possible chance of returning to the sharp end of the grid. I look forward to assisting the team towards scoring Team Lotus� 80th Grand Prix win � that will be the day when all the effort of the past 15 years will finally seem worthwhile.�
Ends
The Lotus Racing website is changing now too 
& just after I ordered some bloody merchandise too 
Maybe it’ll become a collectors item
Lets hope they can move forward and do the name justice next season then.
Not sure about everything, looks more like war now
Group Lotus has already lost one bid to prevent the use of the name Team Lotus and lost. I’m sure this is a done deal as far as F1 is concerned. Group Lotus is unlikely to get a F1 entry together and get Bernie’s approval for 2011 anyway…
They could/should have seized the opportunity when they had it.
The Group Lotus PR department is run by monkeys I think… Sometimes they even forget who is the boss, and it isn’t Bahar is it!
I think it is great but agree if they move out of Norfolk it will kill the brand in all but name. Then they might as well call it Proton Racing.
[quote=The83man]Group Lotus has already lost one bid to prevent the use of the name Team Lotus and lost. I’m sure this is a done deal as far as F1 is concerned. Group Lotus is unlikely to get a F1 entry together and get Bernie’s approval for 2011 anyway…
They could/should have seized the opportunity when they had it.
The Group Lotus PR department is run by monkeys I think… Sometimes they even forget who is the boss, and it isn’t Bahar is it! [/quote]
The thing is though group lotus is whats left of lotus, team lotus is just a company that now has the lotus name and is nothing to do with Chapmans lotus.
I doubt any of this can be good for the brand and it looks like Fernandez is sticking the knife in talking about group lotus having no racing heritage. Its getting messy when two people are claiming to be lotus.
I refer the learned gentleman to my earlier response…
Oh, by the way; in an interview with the BBC after the 2010 Malaysian Grand Prix Fernandes stated that the team would in fact remain in Norfolk, as “Lotus is a British brand, that will never change. It’s just Malaysian finance and we think that makes sense”.
Unless the accused has changed his mind, of course.