Lotus Elan F1 supercar, reportedly said that his only disappointment with the McLaren F1 was that he could not give it the perfect steering of the Lotus Elan. In 2004, "Sports Car International" named the Elan number six on the list of Top Sports Cars of the 1960s. The original version of the car was designed by Ron Hickman who also designed the first Lotus Europa as part of Lotus' GT40 project bid and made his fortune having designed the Black & Decker Workmate. Because of its successful design and rigorous attention to cost control on the body, chassis, engine and the
Lotus Cars the recognition in that category in 2002. Lotus cars wore the badge of the award for a number of years. Lotus cars appeared in two James Bond movies, "The Spy Who Loved Me" (1977) and "For Your Eyes Only" (1981). The former was a Lotus Esprit S1 nicknamed "Wet Nellie" which in the movie became not only amphibious but a submarine; the latter was a Lotus Esprit Turbo, specially commissioned, of which there were two in the film. In the popular 1960s TV series "The Avengers", the female lead characters drove Lotuses. Emma Peel had two Lotus Elan convertibles, a