Hethel — 2 museum-grade prints that set the mood. The Lotus Europa Type 46 debuted in 1966 with a mid-mounted Renault 16-derived engine and fibreglass body designed by Ron Hickman. It was Lotus's first mid-engine road car, built at Hethel, Norfolk. The Lotus Esprit S1 gained global recognition as James Bond's amphibious escape vehicle in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) — a cultural association separate from the road car's modest early power outputs.