Ron Hickman the 105E Ford Anglia. He became the director of Lotus Engineering in the 1960s, designing the first Lotus Europa as part of Lotus's GT40 project bid. He left Lotus in 1967. Hickman invented the wood-and-steel foldable Workmate bench after sawing through a piece of wood into a chair used as support, when making a wardrobe. His offer of a licence for the product he developed was rejected by several companies who could not see a large market for it, so Hickman sold the benches himself to professional builders at trade shows until Black & Decker saw the light in 1973
Lotus Europa S factory in Malaysia, allowing for a lower sale price, but ultimately the company chose the Lotus Hethel factory for the car's production. Delivery of the Europa S began in September 2006 from the Lotus factory at Hethel, Norfolk. The car was not offered for sale in the United States or Canada as the Opel/Vauxhall-built turbocharger was not certified to meet emissions requirements for those countries. The Europa S body and platform was also used by Chrysler for their Dodge Circuit EV electric car concept. The Europa S was replaced by the more potent Europa SE in 2008. Production of the