2008 Lotus Elise Sc - Liquid Blue (rare Color & Low Miles!) on 2040-cars

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Lotus Advanced Performance offers hints about special projects

Four months ago, Lotus teased the creation of an Advanced Performance division. The legendary sports car maker divulged that the department would build "ultra-exclusive and unique vehicles" outside of the firm's regular-production lineup, developing Lotus race cars, manage Lotus motorsports programs, work on customer commissions and create customer experiences from Hethel production tours and track days to global driving academies and "money can't buy" opportunities. In further comments to Autocar and Auto Express, the head of Lotus Advanced Performance (LAP), Simon Lane, gave clues about what's coming. Lane suggested a number of creations, but the part we're most excited about is "while wider Lotus Group moves towards full-on electrification, LAP is 'reserving the right to still play with combustion engines.'" These ICE powerplants could be slated for coming restomod projects based on plans and technical drawings for Lotus products in the 1960s and 1970s that were never produced. Lane said his 15-person team is "well advanced" on work on what he calls "scratch build" vehicles that will hearken to vintage wares but be "easier to drive and maybe [have] a better power-to-weight ratio and better brakes." We love our electric cars here at Autoblog, but the idea of lightweight revivals recalling Lotus' best years with classic lines, small-displacement engines and maybe even manual transmissions would be glorious. These won't be continuation cars, but all-new products with production runs said to be smaller than anyone would expect.    It's possible we could see something this year, 2022 being the 50th anniversary of Emerson Fittipaldi and Lotus winning the 1972 Formula 1 Driver's and Constructor's Championships in the Lotus-Ford 72D. That might explain the teaser image from February, if not the colors of the car in the teaser. Know what other momentous Lotus moment occurred in 1972? The Esprit concept debuted at the Turin Motor Show. Lane, who comes from service in Aston Martin's Q division, calls LAP "the most all-encompassing special operations department" among automakers. That means there will be work done on the electric side, too, potential services being electric drivetrain conversions of traditional Lotus cars, and creating new bodywork for the new range of battery-electric cars.

Lotus introduces Exclusive customization program

Lotus doesn't sell much beyond the Evora 400 in the US, but the announcement of a new personalization program won't be limited to just that model. The Lotus Exclusive program will be applicable to every model that Lotus makes, including the Elise and Exige in all their many iterations, the new 3-Eleven, and the Evora – which remains, for the time being, the only model currently certified for use on American roads. The company will even apply its new range of customization options to pre-owned models. Hethel is currently rolling out the Lotus Exclusive program in Europe, but plans to expand its availability later this year. Buyers will be able to pick from an expanded range of exterior colors – or have a custom hue mixed up specially – in matte, gloss, metallic, or pearlescent finishes. Custom graphics can be applied to the roof and mirror caps, and various exterior components (from spoilers to add-on decals) can be ordered in one of four colors, as can the three available styles of racing stripes. The interior will be available to order with five colors of leather and four colors of stitching thread to give the cockpit a unique touch. Of course Lotus isn't the first manufacturer to offer such a personalization service, which is fast becoming standard fare among exotic and luxury automakers – particularly in Europe. In the UK alone you'll find McLaren Special Operations, Q by Aston Martin, Rolls-Royce Bespoke, and Bentley's Mulliner division. Other examples include Ferrari Tailor Made, Lamborghini Ad Personam, and Porsche Exclusive. Dodge even offers the "1 of 1" program for the Viper GTC. At the very pinnacle of the exotic supercar market, however, manufacturers like Bugatti, Pagani, and Koenigsegg build every one of their supercars to order, according to the customer's specifications, so personalization comes part and parcel with the bragging rights. Related Video: X MAKE YOUR MARK WITH LOTUS EXCLUSIVE - Tailor made Lotus cars to individual customer requirements - Created by the Lotus Design team & available for both new and pre-owned cars - Exciting interior and exterior options, from subtle details to extensive personalisation Letting Lotus owners set the tone, the new personalisation service Lotus Exclusive offers sports car fans a unique ownership proposition.

Lotus Evija whirs onto Quail lawn to tempt 130 prospective customers

At last, we've met the Lotus Evija in its compact, electric-charged glory. The carbon-fiber-bodied electric supercar looks like liquid metal poured over some skeletal biologic form. The coupe represents the first all-new Lotus since the ten-year-old Evora went on sale, the first Lotus developed wholly under Geely ownership, the first in-house all-electric vehicle from Hethel, the first Lotus with a one-piece carbon fiber monocoque tub, and the first one Hethel HQ will send to the Nurburgring to break a lap record. Lotus announced that lap record tilt saying it should be "comfortably quicker" than the all-electric NIO EP9 road-legal EV that ran a 6:45. That has since been broken by the 6:05 figure Volkswagen achieved with its ID.R, a purpose-built electric race car. The 'Ring doesn't yet divide EV times into classes, so we'd still like to see Lotus go for outright honors. That is indeed unfair, but the Evija has the numbers to at least make a go of it. The four electric motors in the ID.R produce a combined 680 horsepower and 479 pound-feet of torque to move a car weighing 2,500 pounds. The Evija's 50 percent heavier at 3,700 pounds, but has almost triple the horses and more than double the torque, its two motors making a combined 2,000 horsepower and 1,254 pound-feet of torque. It does have active aerodynamics, including a moving rear wing, but it's still short a bunch of race aero, a giant front splitter, and a DRS button. No matter how the German caper turns out, we expect Lotus will be able to find homes for all the Evijas it offers for sale. Only 130 will be made, each one starting at around $2.1 million.