Pop out to the wilds of darkest Norfolk, have a cup of tea and a chat, drive the new car around the test track, whizz around the surrounding roads, home in time for supper. That’s how a Lotus launch usually works. So it’s a bit of a surprise to be sitting in a taxi outside Barcelona airport on a Tuesday morning, asking the wizened old loafer-shod driver if he can take us to a rather smart hotel on a nearby hillside. It feels a bit wrong. Everyone knows that Lotus isn’t swimming in money, so you feel a bit nervous about them renting hotels.