1995 1/2 Lotus Esprit S4s Rare Original Black Car Extremely Well Maintained on 2040-cars

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Lotus to add 2 new sports cars by 2020, SUV by 2022

British sports carmaker Lotus will bring two new sports cars in 2020 with an SUV right behind them in 2021 or '22, becoming the brand's first all-new vehicles since it began production of the Evora back in 2009.CAR Magazine reports the news in an interview with Lotus CEO Jean-Marc Gales. Of the two cars, he said only that one will be a replacement for an existing car, with the other likely to be a limited-edition, track-focused car slotted above the Evora. It'll base the cheaper of the two on an evolution of Lotus' bonded aluminum chassis, while the other will get a new carbon-fiber chassis and become the brand's new performance flagship. Chinese automaker Geely, which also owns Volvo, purchased a majority ownership stake in Lotus last year, adding what's hoped to be a measure of stability and badly needed investment to years of ownership changes and endless re-iterations of existing models. With Geely money backing the operation, it's likely these two vehicles will be more likely to come to fruition than the last batch of ambitious concepts from the company, which included a new Esprit, Elite, and Elan. Those never progressed beyond the concept stage. The company soon after revealed the Evora GT430 as its fastest, most-powerful road car to date, with a 0-to-60 time of 3.7 seconds, and it put the same supercharged V6 in the Exige to bump up horsepower to 430 and increase torque to 325 pound-feet. Meanwhile, Lotus is ending production of the 3-Eleven this year, and Gales has previously said the company was developing a new Elise for 2020, so it's likely that's one of the new cars. The Elise and Exige were withdrawn from the U.S. back in 2011. The new vehicles will benefit from technology from Geely's network of suppliers, and Geely is also apparently hiring new Lotus staff and investing "millions" in Lotus' production lines. Lotus said its sales were way up in both Europe and the U.S. during its last fiscal year, and while the brand still lost money it narrowed its financial losses and said it expected to be profitable before tax for the current fiscal year.Related Video:

2015 Belgian Grand Prix is a return to scheduled programming

With summer intermission over, the second half of the Formula One season commenced in the Belgian countryside at Spa-Francorchamps. After qualifying, it looked a lot like the first half of the season with just a few minor changes. Lewis Hamilton was even more dominant in his Mercedes-AMG Petronas than usual, regularly taking half a second out of his teammate in just the middle sector of the circuit. Teammate Nico Rosberg tightened it up a tad for his final hot lap, but Hamilton still took pole by 0.45 seconds ahead of Rosberg in second. With his Williams back at a power track, Valtteri Bottas got himself up to third, although more than a second behind Hamilton. Romain Grosjean in the Lotus in fourth had his best qualifying performance since his fourth-place grid spot at the 2013 US Grand Prix. This was a huge boon for Lotus, the team facing another financial issue off track that threatened to have its cars impounded as soon as they left the circuit. Grosjean had to have his gearbox changed before the conclusion of six races, however, so the five-spot penalty meant he'd actually line up ninth for the race. Sergio Perez put the Sahara Force India in fifth, where we're more used to seeing his teammate Nico Hulkenberg, just ahead of Daniel Ricciardo in the Infiniti Red Bull Racing in sixth. Felipe Massa got the second Williams in seventh, in front of the second Lotus of Pastor Maldonado in eighth. Then came the first and only Ferrari in the top ten, Sebastian Vettel qualifying ninth after a disappointing Saturday for the scuderia; teammate Kimi Raikkonen suffered gearbox issues and qualified way down in 16th. Carlos Sainz took tenth in the Toro Rosso. A new start procedure in Belgium meant drivers had to handle clutches on their own, without the engineers finely tuning bite points between the garage and the start line. That was in conjunction with another rule limiting the kinds of radio messages possible between engineers and drivers, aiming to put more of the car in the drivers' hands. After an aborted start when Hulkenberg's car quit while sitting on the grid, Hamilton made the most of the new procedure. His start wasn't amazing but he beat everyone else off the line, while those behind were alternately getting bogged down or leaping ahead. Midway through the first lap the top ten was Hamilton, Perez, Ricciardo, Bottas, Rosberg, Vettel, Maldonado, Grosjean, Massa, Marcus Ericsson. At the end of 43 laps, Hamilton would still be in the lead.

Lotus readying Evora crossover?!

If it seems to you like every sports car manufacturer is getting into the crossover game, that's because it's pretty much true. And now, we potentially have one more to add to the list, as Britain's Car magazine reports that Lotus – yes, Lotus – is proceeding with plans to build a crossover. Rather than build a new crossover from the ground up, however, Lotus is said to be developing a high-riding version of the existing Evora. It's tipped to keep its rear-drive configuration (rather than going with a proper all-wheel-drive system), with a raised ride height and more rugged styling. In that respect, it may emerge more like a Local Motors Rally Fighter than a Porsche Cayenne challenger. That may yet emerge as not such a bad thing as it may seem on the surface, but for those purists who'd balk at the notion of an off-road Lotus, the British automaker has other plans in store as well. The crossover would arrive on the heels of a refreshed version of the existing Evora, a potential convertible version of the same, and a hardcore, track-focused successor to the 2-Eleven is also said to be in the works. In the end, Lotus would only be the latest in a long string of established sports car makers to get into the crossover game. Porsche of course led the way with the Cayenne and followed up with the Macan, Maserati is set to follow suit, and last we heard, Lamborghini was still awaiting approval to build the Urus concept.