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| The Vignoles Name in Lotus History | ||||||||||||||
| The Vignoles name is deeply entrenched in Lotus history. It all begins with Richard Vignoles who was born in 1938 in Montevideo, Uruguay. Richard spent his youth covered in grease, usually dismantling motorcycles or working underneath cars. This apparent love for motor vehicles led to a position at a Ford Dealer in Montevideo. In 1968 Richard decided to move to the UK to pursue his career in business management and engineering. He studied during the winters and took up a position at Ford Motor Company’s Scheduling Department in Central London during the summers. It was during this time that Ford was sending their Cortina model to Lotus for upgrading. This business venture was the catalyst for Richard meeting Mike Warner of Lotus Components. Wind of Vignoles’ connection to Lotus soon arrived in Uruguay, and a friend by the name of Jorge Mutio approached Richard with a business idea. Mutio suggested building Lotus Seven kits in South America. He knew of an Argentinian entrepreneur named Edgardo Boschi, who was willing to step in as the third partner in the venture. | ||||||||||||||
| In 1969, Vignoles bought a Lotus Seven kit and assembled it himself at the Lotus factory in Hethel. He brought the car by ship to the port of Buenos Aires. An agreement between Warner and Vignoles was signed, giving birth to Lotus Argentina S.A. The agreement gave the authority to Lotus Argentina to manufacture under license with per car royalty payments. It was agreed that they could use the Lotus brand name on a Seven that had been developed to use the complete Fiat powertrain. Once prototypes were ready and Fiat Italy had approved the cars, Warner traveled to Buenos Aires to give the final go-ahead for production. The brightness of the South American venture was dimmed as Warner’s relationship with Chapman deteriorated. Chapman was unhappy with some of Warner’s decisions and secretly decided to pull the plug on the project. In total, 39 Sevens were produced in Buenos Aires before the license expired in three years. |
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Original Lotus Seven built by Lotus Argentina as pictured by the racing magazine Parabrisas Corsa |
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Vignoles' Lotus Argentina S.A. Business Card |
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Lotus Argentina S.A. pamphlets |
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In 1971, Lotus Components Chief Executive Mike Warner decided to leave the company. His next venture would be to manufacture and operate racecars. Group Racing Development Ltd. (GRD) began to fill a growing demand for racecars after Lotus themselves began to steer away from the industry. With the Lotus Argentina project abandoned, Vignoles contacted Warner who was setting up his new company GRD. He immediately offered Vignoles a position as manufacturing manager. For the next three years they would work together in a small building in Griston, producing some very competitive racecars. They focused on Formula 3, Formula 2, Formula Atlantic and 2 liter Sport Cars. In 1975 the fuel crisis hit Great Britain and all racing was stopped. This forced GRD to close its doors and stop production. Vignoles moved back to Uruguay where he joined Ford Motor Company to manage their Rally Team. His involvement with the Lotus name was dormant for approximately 25 years. It once again flourished in 1997 with the decision to build a Lotus powered Seven with his two sons, Charles and Chris. | |||||||||||||
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Above: Mike Warner ponders away |
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