Lotus lives on

March 2010 issue of MotorsportThe March issue of Motorsport magazine arrived in the mail today, and, whoa, it contains a 21-page special package on Lotus that includes an in-depth look at the famed Lotus 79 that inspired me to become a rapid open-wheel fan.

The elegant black-and-gold John Player Special remains a thing of beauty 30 years after it earned a spot in racing annals as one of the first cars to truly exploit ground effects and complex aerodynamics.

Formula 1 fans know that a Malaysian company is reviving the Lotus name this F-1 and IndyCar this season, so there's a resurgence in the brand that once was one of the most famous in racing before hitting hard times in the late 1980s and vaporizing in the mid-1990s. Even the separate but related Lotus automaker -- once a threat to Ferrari and Lamborghini among road-car fiends -- is a shadow of its former self.

Mario Andretti drove the Lotus 79 to his only Formula 1 world title, in 1978.

Even though there's no connection to the original team founded by Colin Chapman, I'll be rooting for Lotus this season, and hoping they'll do justice to a name made famous by Jim Clark, Stirling Moss, Graham Hill, Emerson Fittipaldi, Mario Andretti and Ayrton Senna, among many others.