Lotus Appoints Mansory as its Official Customization Partner, First Models to Appear at Paris Motor Show

At the 2011 Geneva Motor Show, Lotus displayed a concept version of the Evora coupe developed in collaboration with Mansory.

The German tuning house also worked on the Evora GTE and other special Lotus versions such as the carbon fiber-bodied Evora GTE that was unveiled last month in Geneva.

Today, Lotus announced that from now on, Mansory will be its official customization studio. The German company will work closely with Lotus’ engineers on special editions of the Elise, the Exige and the Evora and the first samples of this collaboration will appear at the Paris Motor Show in September.

Read more »

New Lotus Exige S Roadster and Carbon-Bodied Evora GTE Unveiled in Geneva by Kimi Raikkonen

Kimi Raikkonen, the 2007 Formula 1 World Champion who after a three-year foray into the WRC returned to F1 with Lotus for the 2012 season, was on hand at the Geneva Motor Show to unveil the British carmaker’s two new models.

The first was the open-top version of the Exige S. The Roadster is the first Exige ever to be fitted with a soft-top roof, which Lotus claims, is both lightweight and easily removable.

Read more »

Lotus Goes Rallying with the Exige R-GT and Endurance Racing with the Evora GTE

Six Drivers' and seven Constructors' Formula 1 World Championships won by legends Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Jochen Rindt, Emerson Fittipaldi and Mario Andretti are enough to secure Lotus' place in the history of F1 racing, even if it currently isn’t ranked among the title contenders.

Yet, the Hethel-based sports car maker has another world title to show for itself in a completely different form of racing: it won the 1982 World Rally Championship with the Talbot Sunbeam Lotus.

Confirming previous reports, Lotus is returning to special stages in partnership with the Italian team United Business, which won the 2011 title. It will enter the FIA European Rally Championship with the Exige R-GT painted in its iconic black and gold colors.

Read more »

F1-Inspired Lotus Evora GTE Special Edition Scooped Ahead of Geneva?

This past Wednesday, Lotus sent us an invitation to take part in the world premiere of a "special edition of a special edition" Evora at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show.

The company's invitation noted that the car would be an F1-inspired version of the limited-edition Lotus Evora GTE first shown at the Frankfurt auto show last year. This

"We're launching a special edition of a special edition, and to make things extra special our Lotus F1 Team driver Kimi Raikkonen will be there to field questions. Now, it doesn’t get more special than that…," read the British automaker's invitation.

Lotus did not release any photos of the car leaving us more or less in the dark, but today, Patrick Garcia from French auto site Caradisiac, sent us these photos of an F1-themed Evora that he discovered at a parking lot during a trip to Jerez to cover the F1 pre-season testing earlier this month.

Read more »

Lotus is Going to "Blow the Roof off" of Something in Geneva

Automakers just love teasing us before major international motor shows such as the upcoming 82nd Geneva Salon. Today, we received an email from Lotus with a cryptic message about the company's plans to "blow the roof off" of something at the Swiss show.

Aside from the very summery picture strip you see above, Lotus' message also said: "MAXIMUM Exposure...Lotus’ philosophy has always been ‘less is more’. Now, with a display of true fighting spirit, we’ll take this one step further in Geneva."

Read more »

Lotus Launches F1-Inspired Special Edition of Evora S

Lotus has released a new limited run special of its Evora S sports car that pays homage to the brand's Formula 1 team. As such, it is painted in the racing team’s colors with black bodywork and gold-painted stripes on the hood, the profile and the roof, as well as a gold-hued “Lotus” decal at the rear. Read more »

IAA 2011: New Lotus Evora GTE Limited Edition with 444-horses

After receiving positive feedback and ongoing interest from buyers, Lotus decided to expand the availability of its special edition Evora GTE road car instead of sticking to its original plan that called for a limited production run of 114 cars for the Chinese market.

The special edition is based on the Evora GTE racecar featuring the same 3.5-liter supercharged V6 engine delivering 444-horses, up from the Evora S' 350-ponies.

Read more »

Nissan GT-R Pwns Competition in Mega Drag Race with 11 Sports Cars [Video]

The latest Nissan GT-R has put another victory under its belt, this time in a drag race against ten of some of the world's most wanted sports cars at an empty airstrip.

The quarter-mile duel was organized by Motor Trend magazine. The eleven cars assembled were worth more than $1.5 million, and featured a combined 82 cylinders delivering over 5,000 horsepower and 4,000 lb-ft of torque.

Read more »

Lotus to Unveil 3 New Models in Frankfurt in Addition to the Production Evora GTE Special

Lotus is gearing up for the largest and most important automotive event of the year that takes place in Frankfurt next month with the presentation of three brand-new models, one special edition version and two new options for its current lineup.

The British company announced that one of the new models is the Elise S that replaces the Elise SC with a more capable 1.8-liter supercharged engine delivering 220-horsepower, while also returning lower fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.

Read more »

New Lotus Evora GTE Concept and Exige Matte Black Final Edition to Debut at Pebble Beach

Lotus will hold the world premiere of the Evora GTE Road Car Concept at the McCall’s Motorworks Revival event tomorrow, August 17, at Pebble Beach.

The road-going concept is inspired by the Evora GTE racecar, which has been developed to participate in endurance races, such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans, in the newly formed GTE category.

Read more »

Lotus Evora Joins Hertz's European Car Rental Program, Rates Start from €250 a Day

If you happen to live or are planning to travel in Europe and would like to move around in a Lotus Evora but can't afford the expense of buying one, you'll be happy to know that Hertz may have a solution to your problem.

The U.S.-based car rental company has just introduced the Lotus Evora for hire in key European markets as part of its Adrenaline Range in the Hertz Fun Collection of Germany, Spain and the UK, and as a special car in the Fun Collection in France.

Read more »

Lotus Evora S Patrol Cars to Assist Italian Police Force

Not to be outshined by their compagni over at the highway patrol unit and their Lamborghini Gallardo cruisers (that is, when they don't crash them...), the Arma dei Carabinieri, a division of the Italian army that polices both military and civilian populations, has received a pair of bespoke Lotus Evora S sports cars. Read more »

Lotus to Replace Evora with Elan in 2017

Lotus’ most recent new sports car, the Evora, will stay into production until at least 2017, when it will be replaced with the new Elan according to the company’s boss Danny Bahar. This changes the initial plan that called for the Evora to be replaced as early as 2012. Read more »

Geneva 2011: Lotus Keeps its Evora Debuts Simple but Significant with Mansory in the Mix

After Lotus blew its proverbial head gaskets all over the Paris stage with a futuristic lineup consisting of a sedan and no less than four coupes, simplicity was the name of the game for the 2011 Geneva motor show. Lotus brought two special edition Evoras, a relatively low-key showing in stark contrast to its behavior in France last year.

Before you roll your eyes thinking, "Christ, another special edition blah blah blah," one of these two new Evoras is very different than another special edition Mustang or Bugatti.

The Mansory Evora comes from the union of two weight-conscious companies; Lotus prides itself on keeping its vehicles trim, while Mansory "provides valuable insights and an intuitive feeling for [high-end customisation]" while also offering "state-of-the-art carbon components".

Read more »

Geneva Preshow: Lotus Joins Forces with Mansory to Tune the Evora

Mastering the fine art of tuning is a complicated process and, judging by the sheer number of overkills one can see on the web every day, it’s clear that only a few have what it takes to do a good job. For Lotus that special someone is Swiss tuning firm Mansory, which is responsible for the creation of an Evora concept that will be presented at the Geneva show in the beginning of March.

Read more »

Lotus Evora Tries Out Police Uniform in the UK

Lotus has loaned a brand new Evora to the boys in blue at the Central Motorway Police Group (CPMG). The police-liveried version of the British sports car was officially revealed at this week's Autosport International Show at Birmingham’s NEC. Once its show duties are over, the sports car maker will hand the keys of the Evora to West Midland's police officers who will then trial the car for a two week test period.

Read more »

Lotus reveals Supercharged Evora S with 350HP and clutchless Evora IPS before Paris

Now that the somewhat docile Moscow motor show is out of our minds, what everyone should be looking forward to is the epic design-fest that is the Paris Motor Show. While I'm definitely looking forward to Citroen's usual insanity, there will be "normal" cars there, too. Take, for instance, these 'Loti'.

The performance model is simply called the Lotus Evora S, and it doesn't have nearly enough old-school Lotus graphics for my taste. However, what it lacks in vintage what-what, it makes up for with that big, curvy letter which signifies the car's supercharged status. With the blower on top of its Toyota-sourced (i.e. fairly reliable) 3.5 liter V6, its puts down a very Esprit-esque 350-horses.

Read more »

Lotus Cutting Prices from $10,000 to $18,500 in Australia

Following the Australian government's move to reduce import duties earlier this year, Lotus Cars of Australia has announced significant price reductions across the model range, with savings of up to $18,500.

Lotus Cars Australia Managing Director John Startari explains: "The government's import duty reduction at the start of 2010 has offered some assistance, whilst favorable foreign exchange rates have been a further catalyst to these announced price changes."

Read more »

First Lotus Evora Delivered in the United States

The man you see pictured above is Bruce Rice, or in Lotus' books, the first North American customer to receive the keys to the firm's new mid-engined Evora sports coupe. Rice took delivery of the red-colored Evora earlier this week at John Eagle European's Lotus of Austin dealership in Texas.

In the States, the 2+2 seater Evora is priced from $73,500. It features a Toyota-sourced 3.5-liter V6 producing 276 horsepower that drives the rear wheels through a six-speed manual transmission.

Read more »

James Bond Style Lotus Evora Captured Filming in the Alps

Courtesy of Carscoop reader Allison P. coming straight out of my home town are these pictures of a probably-rocket-equipped Lotus Evora captured during a ski trip in Chamonix in the French Alps.

Here's what Allison had to tell us about her encounter with the Evora and the film crew:

"I'm just on a skiing holiday now in Chamonix in the French Alps and have seen loads of commotion around a film set. I watched an action stunt scene being filmed with tons of crews and papparazzi swarming! I especially noticed a flashy new Lotus Evora being used in the filming. Is there any way that this could be for the new James Bond film?"

Read more »