Some cars leave a paper trail; the Lotus E20 left a name and a place in Lotus's list. What follows is what can be said with a source behind it. James Allison / Naoki Tokunaga / Martin Tolliday / Simon Virrill / Nick Chester / Dirk de Beer / David Wheater / Mike Elliott drew it.
Where it came from
The Lotus E20 (originally known as the Renault R32) is a Formula One racing car designed and produced by the Enstone-based Lotus F1 Team for the 2012 Formula One season. The chassis was designed by James Allison, Naoki Tokunaga, Martin Tolliday, Nick Chester and Dirk de Beer with Renault continuing to supply engines. The E20 was the twentieth Formula One car to be designed at Enstone since 1992, and was named in tribute to the contribution made by the facility and its personnel in their twenty-year history.
The car was also the first from Enstone to carry the Lotus name, since the team ceased using the Renault name following their renaming from Lotus Renault GP at the end of 2011. The car, which was launched by the team on its website on 5 February 2012, was driven by 2007 World Drivers' Champion Kimi Räikkönen and reigning GP2 Series champion Romain Grosjean, both of whom returned to Formula One after a two-year absence. The car made its competitive debut at the 2012 Australian Grand Prix, and in the twenty races of the 2012 season, recorded a race win in Abu Dhabi and nine podium finishes to finish fourth overall in the World Constructors' Championship.
Under the skin
>750 hp @ 18,000 rpm is the published figure. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
In context
Its family tree is legible: it took over from the Renault R31; its successor was the Lotus E21. Nearby in the Lotus catalogue sit the Lotus 100T and the Lotus 101.