Lotus is turning 70 years old today, and like anybody who reaches that ripe age, the British automaker celebrated it by creating a not-so-subtle “70th tribute logo” using burnt rubber from two of the company’s most popular models: the Exige and Evora 410 Sport. The tire-burning/logo-creating session took place on the skid pad of Lotus’ test track in Hethel, England. No CGIs were used in the making of the video, though Lotus did cop to using more tires than it probably wanted to.

The Lotus Exige and Evora 410 Sport are made to drift. It’s not a surprise, then, that Lotus picked these two cars to do the tire-burning deed and create the “burnt” 70th tribute logo. What came as a surprise was that Lotus didn’t enlist professional race car drivers to drive the sports cars. Instead, it turned to its head of attributes, Gavan Kershaw and a vehicle dynamics engineer, Daniel Peck, to drive the Exige and Evora 410 Sport and create the logo.

The video doesn’t do justice to the actual task of creating the number “70” on the skid pad. We did get to see a lot of glam shots of both sports coupes leaving behind trails of smoke as they proceeded with their task. We do get to hear the piercing roar of the Exige and Evora 410 Sport’s respective supercharged V-6 engines. The raucous symphony is music to our ears. It likewise serves proof that regular folks like us can do to these two cars what Kershaw and Peck were able to do.

Only at the end do we actually see the 70th tribute logo, and it looks impressive. The whole stunt itself is a good PSA for Lotus and its cars, especially on how fun they are to drive. It’s one of the hallmarks of a Lotus model, one that founder Colin Chapman strived to share with the world when he founded the company back in 1948. Seventy years later, Lotus is still going strong, and that’s a credit to the foundation that was laid and the spirit of what these models are all about.

“Changing the very nature and intent of car design forever, Chapman was at the vanguard of a new way of thinking, and his concepts are as relevant today as they were 70 years ago,” the company said in a statement. Truer words have never been spoken.

Further Reading

Lotus Evora 410

Don't miss our complete review of the 2017 Lotus Evora Sport 410!}

Lotus Exige 410

Fill up on even more Lotus goodness with our expert review of the 2018 Lotus Exige Sport 410}