Meanwhile, other Lotus engineers were working on a new active suspension system for the firm's F1 Grand Prix machines that would eventually filter down into the road cars.

Lotus sent the Esprit chassis to Italdesign, with the new engine and gearbox in order to help Giorgetto Giugiaro with the packaging of his creation.

When the Etna was revealed in Birmingham, it was promised that it would be the first road-going Lotus to receive this sophisticated suspension, along with traction control, ABS and noise cancelling – and, of course, Rudd's 4.0-litre Type 909 engine which ultimately produced 335bhp and 295lb ft. Only two Type 909s engines were built; the other had been retained by Lotus for display purposes.

Sales remained low in the wake of the 1979 Iran-Iraq War, and the subsequent hiking of fuel prices, which hit demand for all luxury cars.

The spirit of the Etna lived on in Peter Stevens’ Esprit remix of 1987, but the emergence of a new Lotus V8 engine would have to wait until 1996 – and that was completely unrelated to the Type 909.