Lotus is holding a birthday bash for over 15,000 of its closest friends this year, in celebration of 60 years spent executing founder Colin Chapman’s philosophy of “performance through lightweight.”
The diamond anniversary party will be held at the Lotus headquarters in Hethel, UK, on September 14, and will help to commemorate Chapman’s first ever car, the Lotus MK1. Lotus CEO Mike Kimberley calls the upcoming event “A great opportunity to celebrate the past and look forward to both a very special year for Lotus and a fantastic future.”
The storied automaker’s immediate future should be fairly exciting, as the company has plans to bring its Eagle concept to the London Motor Show this summer. That after launching a recent limited edition Exige to celebrate 40 years of production at Hethel.
(Click through the jump to read the official Lotus press release.)
Widely praised for its prowess on the racetrack, the track special Lotus 2-Eleven has been a winner for enthusiasts since its introduction at the 2007 Geneva Motor Show. One year on, and Lotus felt the need to offer up some racing thrills for those with just a little less in the way of disposable income.
Lotus has introduced a new entry level 2-Eleven, which may not pack quite the same punch as the original, but isn’t likely to leave most owners feeling slow. Though the new car gets a 189 horsepower engine from the Elise R instead of the 252 horsepower mill from the higher spec racer, that power is still enough to give the budget 2-Eleven a top speed of 140 mph and a 0 to 60 time of only 4.3 seconds. Not bad performance considering the new car saves a considerable 15,000 euros over the old model (€34,695 to €49,573).
Perspective buyers will also be able to kit out their 2-Eleven with plenty of choices from the Lotus Sport performance catalog.
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The whole premise of an underwater car is wacky enough - so why stop there? Frank Rinderknecht, the brains behind Swiss tuner Rinspeed, didn’t for the 2008 Geneva Motor Show. To properly showcase his diving sQuba concept, he decked out the stand with fake lobsters, fishing nets and models wearing wetsuits (not fishnet stockings).
The sQuba, built upon a Lotus Elise roadster, is powered entirely by electric motors - some powering the car on land, others the propellers for aqueous motoring. Two jet-drives on the fenders further propel the vehicle when underwater, allowing the car to dive as deep as 10 meters beneath the water’s surface. An air tank, located within the fish-themed interior, provides passengers with oxygen for any deep-sea excursions they may encounter.
We hear Rinspeed’s allowing press drives of the car, but not unless the driver is actually certified in scuba diving. Rest assured, WINDING ROAD’s grabbing our snorkel - we’re ready to take that dive.
Tesla Motors has decided to dispel the falsifications surrounding the release of its Roadster. Tesla vice president of sales, marketing, and service (and Winding Road reader) Darryl Siry has started a “Mythbusters” blog on the company’s Web site.
The first “myth” Siry went after was that the Roadster does not have air bags. Well, it does. The reason that Tesla had to receive a waiver from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is that the front passenger’s air bag does not vary its deployment based on the passenger’s weight. According to Siry, the Ferrari F430 is the same, along with many other cars.
Lotus has announced that it will be bringing yet another version of its highly regarded Exige sports car to the Geneva Motor Show, this one serving as a test bed for sustainable, synthetic alcohol fuels.
The Lotus Exige 270E Tri-fuel is built to allow drivers the option of running any of three fuels, gasoline, bioethanol, or methanol. Among the many benefits of being run on alcohol-based fuels, Lotus points to the potential of harvesting atmospheric CO2 as a major step forward in sustainability, and carbon-neutral transportation. Though the company does admit that the infrastructure necessary for such production is a decade or more away.
The Tri-fuel also happens to be the most powerful road-going Exige ever, wringing 270 horsepower from its 1.8-liter supercharged engine, and managing a 0-60 sprint in just 3.9 seconds with a top speed of 158 mph.
(Click through the jump to read the official Lotus press release.)
While photographic evidence of the upcoming Lotus 2+2 sports car the Eagle has been, for the most part, blurry and uninspiring, the parka-clad super-spies over at KGP Photography have managed to get some nice new shots.
While these newest Eagle images are about as clear as they come, the wildly angular camouflage is fairly effective here at hiding the inner secrets of the newest Lotus. What we can tell, is that the Eagle is bound to be a low and sexy shape, probably playing on the outline of the current Elise, while allowing for a few extra (Happy Meal age) passengers.
Expect the Eagle to slot in between the Elise and the next-generation Esprit, when it makes its official debut this summer. Sources tells us that the car should employ a Toyota sourced V-6 in the range of 3.0-liters, and be capable of zero-to-60 times in the low five-second range.
(Click on the thumbnails below to launch a gallery of Lotus Eagle winter testing images, or on the jump to read the spy report from Glenn Paulina.)
Lotus Engineering has created a new Research and Development group dedicated to electric and hybrid vehicles.
Geraint Castleton-White, Head of Powertrain, said, “We are committed to driving forward with green technology for both Lotus Cars and our Engineering clients. We have made significant developments over 20 years in hybrid and electric vehicle technologies with recent examples being the Lotus EVE (Efficient, Viable, Environmental) hybrid technology demonstrator and the Low CO2 project undertaken in collaboration with Continental Division Powertrain.”
What this means? Look for some boundary-pushing technology out of the famed automotive problem solvers.
We love it when symbiotic relationships work for the better, and in 1963, the arrangement between Ford of England and Lotus Cars did just that. Already using a modified form of Ford’s Kent I-4 for the legendary Twin-Cam motor, Lotus began offering highly-tuned versions of Ford’s compact Cortina for the racing-inclined driver. A beautiful race-prepped 1965 example is currently up for grabs on eBay.
If you were looking to campaign a vintage Cortina, this 1965 example is a good starting point. The fragile Lotus-designed coil-spring rear suspension, fitted to Lotus-Cortinas made between 1963 and 1964, was abandoned in ‘65 in favor for the Cortina GT’s standard leaf-spring system. Although nowhere as fancy, the GT-sourced suspension reduced noise and proved much more reliable in competition.
(Click through for a gallery and more on this Lotus-Cortina)
The ridiculous – albeit, glorious – Rinspeed sQuba Concept is set to make a splash at this year’s Geneva Motor Show.
The modified Lotus Elise is based on the Bond car from “The Spy Who Loved Me” and is aquatic as well as a land-based vehicle. Words cannot describe an underwater car, there’s just no practicality. But, that doesn’t mean we wouldn’t want to take the sQuba out into its natural habitat for a swim.
If you’ve got an idea for Question of the Day, a funny photo for Caption It, or just want to share a news tip, let us know at windingroadtips@gmail.com
They don’t come much grainier than this recent spy shot, which claims to feature a first glimpse of the anticipated Lotus Eagle.
The Eagle, which is slated to make its real debut at this summer’s British Motor Show, is based on an existing Lotus platform tweaked to offer the versatility of four seats. The high-performance concept is said to be similar in design to the new Lotus Europa.
If you’ve got an idea for Question of the Day, a funny photo for Caption It, or just want to share a news tip, let us know at windingroadtips@gmail.com
Lotus is releasing a special, and very limited, edition of its Exige sports car to honor 40-years of production at its Hethel facility.
The Exige Sprint capitalizes on one of the most recognizable Lotus color schemes, first seen on the legendary Elan Sprint from 1971. The triple-tone paint job features either yellow or blue on top, a central gold band, and white on the bottom. (Click through the jump to read on about the Exige Sprint including the official Lotus press release.)
The drop-top version of the Lexus LF-A has peeked out from hiding a little bit early this morning in Detroit, and has started to make its sexy way across the Internet. Details on the car are sketchy for now, but there are loads of images available for your perusal.
The LF-A roadster has been created using generous quantities of both carbon fiber and aluminum, both said to provide the rigidity that the high-performance Lexus driver has come to expect. (Click on the thumbnails below to launch a gallery of LF-A images or on the jump to read on.)
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