2007 Lotus Elise/exige Hardtop Convertible 2-door 1.8l on 2040-cars

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Jay Leno goes old school with 1966 Lotus Elan 26R

On the latest episode of Jay Leno's Garage the guest's are both from inside the garage: the man they call Professor Jim Hall, Leno's master fabricator, and the 1966 Lotus 26R that he spent 18 months building. The Elan 26R was the racing version of the Elan that Lotus founder Colin Chapman began building after watching privateer teams prep their roadgoing Elans for competition duty all over Europe. Built by the factory from 1964-1966, drivers like Jim Clark and Jackie Stewart won silverware in the roadster called "the giant killer."
Hall, a veteran Lotus wrench, started with the 1966 Elan street car and turned it into a 26R that's arguably better than the factory original. Except for the engine block and head, original 26R body and Elan chassis, just about everything is custom built, highly modified or special order, from the fabricated oil pan, brake lines, safety wiring and oval exhaust tubing to the six-speed sequential transmission.
The episode is an unusually-long 21 minutes because, as an in-house build, Leno can go through the process of putting the whole roadster together. When he takes it for a drive and keeps going on about how it sings, you can hear it, too. It's worth the time to check out Mr. Hall's Opus in the video below.

2022 Lotus Emira packages and colors detailed along with European pricing

Lotus just dropped all the nitty gritty details on the Emira First Edition, and it even provided European pricing. Unfortunately, we’re being told to wait for official U.S. pricing information, but this gives us a general idea of what to expect. WeÂ’ll start this off by letting you know that an Emira First Edition is fully loaded up with options, making it extra expensive. Europeans will be paying ˆ95,995 for the model, and in case youÂ’re in the U.K., your price is GBP75,995. The Euro equivalent is $112,000 at todayÂ’s exchange rates, while the pound sterling equivalent is about $104,000. Without U.S.-specific pricing available yet, itÂ’s impossible to nail down an exact figure. That said, expect it to be around $100,000 or a little more for the Emira First Edition here. Lotus tells us what you get for your First Edition money, too. It specifies that this model is the “V6 First Edition,” because a not-yet-detailed “i4” First Edition is coming late next year to launch the AMG-sourced four-cylinder model. The V6 comes with the six-speed manual transmission standard. It also adds the available 20-inch forged alloy wheels with a diamond-cut two-tone finish and two-piece brake discs with branded calipers. A bunch of optional packages are fitted as standard with the First Edition. You get the Lower Black Pack, which gives you a glossy black paint finish for the front bumper air blades, front splitter, side sills and rear diffuser. The Drivers Pack gives you the choice between the Tour or Sport suspension (Sport is slightly stiffer). Tour comes with Goodyear Eagle F1 Supersport tires, and Sport comes with Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2s. The standard Design Pack adds privacy glass, sports pedals, Lotus-branded floor mats, a black Alcantara headliner and the choice of brake calipers in a few different colors. The Convenience Pack then adds front parking sensors, rain-sensing wipers with aero blades, auto-dimming mirrors and a rear luggage storage set. In Europe, this last pack also adds a reverse camera, but that will be standard equipment in the U.S. by law. You can add even more money to the Emira First EditionÂ’s price by opting for the full Black Pack (an extra GBP1,200 or ˆ1,370). This coats a number of other exterior parts in glossy black paint including the roof, mirrors, Lotus badge and exhaust finisher. Lastly, an automatic transmission is available for GBP1,800 or ˆ2,600, but thatÂ’s one you should skip.

Lotus Esprit all but ready to go, but held back by management issues

Brief and disappointing is this report from Autocar on the status of the Lotus Esprit: it is finally ready and sitting at the light, but the light might not go green for a long time. The good news is that from being a concept two years ago at the Paris Motor Show, the aluminum and carbon fiber revival coupe is "purportedly almost finished." It is powered by a twin-turbo, 5.0-liter V8 with something like 650 horsepower, boosted by a kinetic energy recovery system (KERS) and shifting through a seven-speed paddleshift transmission. Even with all that, the UK price is said to be around that of a Porsche 911 4S Cabriolet, and the car only needs "signing off and minor tweaking."
The bad news is that former company owner Proton couldn't stay independent long enough to see through the company's ambitious five-concept-car assault - led by then-CEO Dany Bahar who was hired explicitly to lead such a campaign - and was swallowed up by Malaysian auto supplier DRB-Hicom. For a brief spell Lotus had to shut down production for lack of funds. Then the new owner cleaned house, sweeping out Bahar and, according to the Financial Times just one month ago, the Esprit and every other concept with it. Just after the FT piece came out, Lotus denied the Esprit had been canceled. Still, according to Autocar, the management whirlpool is keeping the Esprit "far from becoming a production reality."
If we're honest with ourselves, we'll keep in mind that the Esprit has been slipping into and out of a terminal ether for what seems like decades. None of us knows what is going on inside Hethel HQ, but the fact that there really is a lightweight, twin-turbo, 650-hp Lotus Esprit finally ready to be produced has to be, in spite of all else, very good news.