Some cars leave a paper trail; the Lotus 77 left a name and a place in Lotus's list. What follows is what can be said with a source behind it. The shape is credited to Colin Chapman / Geoff Aldridge / Martin Ogilvie.
The story
The Lotus 77 was a Formula One racing car designed by Colin Chapman, Geoff Aldridge and Martin Ogilvie for the 1976 Formula One season. The car was a stop-gap means to an end for Lotus, who were fighting back after the failure of the Lotus 76 and the obsolescence of the Lotus 72 in 1975. Three chassis were built and, as of 2018, all are still in existence.
What is underneath
the output is 465 hp @ 10,800 rpm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Its place in the line
In the Lotus line-up the Lotus 77 has a clear place: it replaced the 72 / 76; it handed the line to the 78. Nearby in the Lotus catalogue sit the Lotus 100T and the Lotus 101.