2007 Lotus Exige S Canyon Red 4,600mi Supercharged Manual Sport Suspension Pkg on 2040-cars

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Lotus Elise returning to US in 2020

If you've been hoping to get your hands on a new Lotus Elise, we've got mixed news for you. The good news is that Lotus will bring the Elise back to the US market. The bad news is that it won't happen before 2020. Lotus was forced to withdraw the model (along with the Exige) from the US market in 2011 after it no longer complied with US safety regulations and its temporary exemptions expired. Lotus first launched the Elise in 1996 when the company was still owned by former Bugatti chief Romano Artioli. It rolled out the current Series 2 model in 2001, and brought it to America for the first time in 2004. The larger Evora faced similar issues, and was modified in the form of the new Evora 400 that now meets US regulations. Lotus CEO Jean-Marc Gales tells Automotive News that doing the same with the Elise would be unfeasible. "We'd need smart airbags, plus side airbags and to change the whole front crash structure. It would add 100kg," or 220 pounds, said Gales. While modifying the current Elise would be prohibitive, the next version is being designed to meet American standards. That won't happen before 2020. In the meantime, Lotus continues to sell a small number of certain variants of the Elise and Exige for use exclusively on tracks. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2011 Lotus Elise News Source: Automotive News - sub. req.Image Credit: Lotus Lotus Performance

Lotus Type 66 is the Can-Am race car that never was

Most car reveals for Pebble Beach are all-new luxury and supercars, faithful recreations of classics, or some unique restomods. What Lotus has revealed isn't really any of those. The Type 66, while looking like a reproduction of a classic race car, is actually completely new, since it was never built in the first place. Apparently Lotus was considering entering the Can-Am racing series back in 1970, a time when the company was seriously competitive in Formula 1. A designer by the name of Geoff Ferris was put in charge, and drawings and models were made, but the project, called Type 66, never went any further. Those Type 66 designs survived, and to help celebrate the company's 75th anniversary, Lotus decided to bring the car to life. And the result is not exactly what it would've been built for 1970. The design is very similar, and the red, white and gold paint is what Lotus would've used. However, the body has been formed from carbon fiber (something that was definitely not used) and makes much more downforce thanks to more than 1,000 hours of aero development. Specifically, it can produce 1,764 pounds of downforce at 150 mph, more than the weight of the vehicle. The frame is more traditional, though, being made of extruded and bonded aluminum and aluminum honeycomb panels. The powertrain is a similar blend of vintage and modern. It uses a pushrod V8 of unknown manufacture, but with forged internals as well as modern fuel and engine management. It makes a huge 819 horsepower at 8,800 rpm and 550 pound-feet of torque at 7,400 rpm. It also has functional and classic-looking gleaming intake trumpets sticking out the back. Safety and features that are thoroughly modern are also included in the Type 66. It has electric power steering, ABS, a modern fuel sell, sequential manual transmission and an anti-stall multiplate clutch. Only 10 Type 66s will be built, one for every race in the 1970 Can-Am season. Each one will cost more than GBP1 million, or $1.27 million. And, unsurprisingly, it's for the track only. Related Video:

Lotus hiring 100 after securing lb100m investment

Lotus is getting a shot in the arm courtesy of corporate parent DRB-Hicom, which has announced a 100-million pound ($152.3M USD at today's rates) investment in the Hethel, UK-based manufacturer. The troubled brand was also in the news last week, with DRB announcing a new, three-year plan that would see variants of existing models introduced.
The money will create 100 new jobs in Hethel, with 45 new engineers, 40 manufacturing operatives and 18 university grads joining the team. Lotus has already seen an uptick in sales this year, according to a Norfolk-based news site, with 40 to 45 cars being produced per week and 722 road cars and 45 race cars sold between January and May. Even sales in the UK have seen a big jump - Lotus only moved 70 units in 2012, but it's already sold 80 cars in the first half of 2013.
Better yet, Lotus is citing an increased demand for its cars around the globe as the motive behind the new hires. While still quite uncertain, Lotus looks like it might finally be on the right track.