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Lotus Type 133 sedan caught testing in China

Before the Lotus Eletre battery-electric SUV debuted in March, Chinese car spotters snapped photos of prototypes in testing. The same has happened again with the Lotus codenamed Type 133. An image of the tester parked along a curb showed up on the Chinese site Weibo, with a camouflaged Eletre in the background left and an uncamouflaged Eletre parked opposite. The Type 133 is a four-door sedan being developed as a driver's car, benchmarked against and planning to take on the Porsche Taycan as well as the Audi E-Tron GT. Slated for a reveal next year, recent Lotus trademark applications for the names Envya and Etude lead watchers to believe the Type 133 will adopt one of those monikers for its debut in March, Envya getting the short odds. Lotus SVP of design Peter Horbury said the 133 wouldn't be just a smaller Eletre, we'll need to wait until the covers come off to know the truth of it. What we can tell for now is that the sedan doesn't look far off the kind of four-door we'd have expected from Lotus if the English maker had got into family sedans before the electric age. Peeking through the window, the driver's area gives off the same vibes as in the Eletre thanks to a squared steering wheel and minimalist instrument panel. An earlier spy shot picked up by Car News China shows a rear door with pillarless window. The biggest surprise is how long it looks. Some of that length could be a trick of the angle and the camera lens; even so, this won't be a wallflower. And why should it be? Said to sit on the same Electric Premium Architecture (EPA) as the Eletre — a derivative of parent company Geely's Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA) that supports the Polestar 4 and the new Smart range — we expect overlap in powertrain possibilities. That could mean an entry-level battery pack of 92 kilowatt-hours juicing a dual-motor drivetrain with 595 horsepower and 524 pound-feet of torque, and a 120-kWh pack powering four motors producing 893 hp and 727 lb-ft. That latter model should get the Type 133 from standstill to 62 miles per hour in under 3 seconds. After the sedan debuts, the Type 134 SUV isn't anticipated until 2025, a challenger to the Porsche Macan EV. The following year, Lotus returns to its roots with the Type 135 sports car that will usher the current Emira into retirement. Related video:

Lotus names Jean-Marc Gales as new CEO

It's been about two years since DRB-Hicom took over Proton, and through it Lotus. One of its first courses of action was to fire the existing CEO, Dany Bahar, and proceed to scrap most if not all of his (arguably over-) ambitious plans. In his place they put one of their own - Aslam Farikullah - as Chief Operation Officer, but now the Malaysian-owned British automaker has attracted an industry heavyweight to lead it into the future.
That heavyweight is Jean-Marc Gales. The British- and German-educated Luxembourgian has spent the past couple of years running the European Association of Automotive Suppliers (CLEPA), but may be better known for his previous posting as CEO of PSA Peugeot Citroën between 2009 and 2012, during which time he introduced the Citroën DS line, amongst others, and increased the French automaker's sales. Before PSA he worked for Daimler, General Motors and Volkswagen.
As the new Chief Executive Officer of Group Lotus, Gales will face the difficult task of growing a business based on three models - the Elise, Exige and Evora - that date back to 1996, 2000 and 2009, respectively. Whether he'll push for new models like his predecessor did remains to be seen, but he'd be wise to learn from Bahar's mistakes and avoid overextending what has always been a relatively small automaker.

A restored Lotus Esprit adds lightness on Petrolicious

Spencer Canon believes the Lotus Esprit is a misunderstood sports car. The wedge-shaped exotics' reputation suggests they are incredibly temperamental, which means lots of expensive repairs. Canon sought to make sure his Lotus didn't suffer from such maladies, which was achieved thanks to a rebuild from a bare shell. The result of his hard work exudes 1980s style with some modern flair and even inspires Canon's career creating bicycles. The Lotus was a wreck when Canon bought it, and he spent months just stripping off the old paint. The car's condition prevented a complete restoration to original spec, so Canon decided to improve the coupe. He modified it in simple ways, such as replacing the power windows with simple pull straps. He also took inspiration from the color scheme on his company's bikes and painted the Lotus blue with a lighter stripe diagonally along the side. The completed sports car angers some purists for not being entirely authentic, but it's hard to argue with the results. Plus, Canon's happy, and nothing else really matters. Canon's Lotus has a rousing exhaust burble once he gets out of the city and out onto the open road. Take a ride with him in the latest video from Petrolicious to hear it yourself and to get a better understanding about the Esprit. Related Video: