Picked up a Lotus recently as a small project. I believe it's an '83 Legend. There ain't much info out there on Lotus bikes but I guess there's more than there used to be. According to vintagelotusbicycles.com, the Legend was at the top of Lotus' sport line and for a few years during the mid-80s it was made with Columbus SL/SP tubing. Here are a few other interesting things about this frame:

--Somewhat unusual geometry (I think): 54.5cm seat tube (c-c) with 57cm top tube, not sure of the angles
--Suntour rear dropouts, Tange fronts - Was it common to combine Japanese and Italian frame materials?
--Slim brake bridge and fork clearance - only enough for 25mm tires, odd for a sport-touring kind of bike
--Pretty fancy-looking fork crown





I'm pretty sure the only original things on the bike are the shifters and the headset, maybe the seatpost too. Everything else was replaced with a hodgepodge parts, some of which are pretty good parts even if they no longer look their best. Paint's obviously seen better days. The PO sanded and clear-coated the spots where the paint had chipped to prevent rust. I wish he had gone with touch-up paint, but oh well.