2024 Lotus Emira V6 First Edition Coupe on 2040-cars

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Lotus supposedly working up a new Elan, again

Geely's investment in Volvo, and giving Volvo the freedom to do what Volvo knows how to do, propelled the Swedish automaker to another level. This could be the year English automaker Lotus begins the same climb. Late last year, Bloomberg said Geely committed an initial $2 billion to the Lotus renaissance. That number was low, the Financial Times reporting Geely planned to invest billions over the next five years. In May this year, Lotus announced it was hiring 200 new engineers and opening a new engineering center to develop a new range of SUVs, GTs, and sedans that would expand consumer appeal to triple its current annual volume. Sports cars are a vital part of the new mix as well, Autocar citing Lotus insiders for a report that a new Elan convertible sports car has "a strong possibility of being revived in the next few years" as a nameplate.    Lotus made a splash about bringing back the Elan — along with a new Esprit, Eterne, Elise, Elite, and city car — at the 2010 Paris Motor Show. That was a very different Lotus, when Malaysian automaker Proton owned the English outfit and ex-Ferrari marketing honcho Dany Bahar manned the helm. In spite of promises of funding, the team at Hethel lurched through years of corporate drama and dire finances until Geely took over in 2017. The latest Elan whispers sketch a convertible targeting the Porsche 718 Boxster - Lotus in general has Porsche in its sights. The car pictured above is from the first re-animation of the Elan badge, from 1989 to 1995. A coming Elan would sit above the Elise in the lineup, with more space, amenities, and luxury, at the same time as it would focus on being the lightest and most agile in the segment. Before that arrives, however, Lotus needs to finish developing the sports car platform that will help carry the brand's new range for the next decade; The Lotus SUV uses Volvo's SPA architecture that carries the XC90 and XC60. CEO Phil Popham's Vision-80 program — which now seeks to grow annual volume not merely triple but six-fold to 10,000 cars by 2029 — will be centered around the multi-material architecture that replaces the Elise and Evora architectures presently employed. Due in two years, the rivet-bonded "alloy-core" chassis will likely include carbon fiber and other advanced materials.

Race Recap: 2014 Spanish Grand Prix is boom and bust [spoilers]

The Spanish Grand Prix's 2.892-mile Circuit de Catalunya is considered a preview for the rest of the season, since it's a combination of long front straight and twisting middle sectors mimic sections from every other Formula One track to follow. After the long break following the flyaway races to open the season, teams and fans have also been looking forward to this race to see if anyone had a realistic hope of catching Mercedes AMG Petronas; Infiniti Red Bull Racing honcho Christian Horner boiled his team's outlook for the season down to the line, "We've got to [beat them in Spain] if we're going to make a championship of it."
If we take that as our starting point then the weekend began as a bust. Lewis Hamilton only just beat Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg for pole, the Brit's final effort getting him 0.178 seconds clear of the German. Daniel Ricciardo, proving Red Bull is at least the best of the rest, took third but did so more than a second behind Hamilton. Valtteri Bottas of Williams lined up fourth, almost 1.5 second behind and Romain Grosjean delivered overdue good news for Lotus by taking fifth on the grid, more than 1.7 seconds behind pole. Kimi Räikkönen in sixth outqualified his Ferrari teammate Fernando Alonso in seventh, but he couldn't be happy about it because the Ferraris were nearly two seconds behind, and Jenson Button in eighth in the McLaren was more than two second behind. Felipe Massa put the second Williams in ninth, and Sebastian Vettel overcame a terrible start to the weekend to make it into Q3, then didn't set a time when his gearbox failed, then got dropped five places to 15th on the grid when the gearbox had to be changed.
When the lights went out, then came the boom...

2019 Quail Motorsports Gathering Mega Photo Gallery | Automotive Excellence

For the past 17 years, enthusiasts have flocked to The Quail Motorsports Gathering to see some of the hottest vehicles that automakers the world over have to offer. As you'll see below, 2019 is no different. We've collected image galleries of some of the best and most interesting vehicles that were on display at the event this year, and we've organized them in no particular order below. You'll see older vehicles rubbing fenders with brand-new models, from classic McLaren F1s to the very latest from Bugatti. Enjoy! McLaren F1s at the Quail 01-mclaren-f1-quail View 25 Photos 2020 Rezvani Beast at the Quail 01-2020-rezvani-tank-quail View 11 Photos 2020 Lexus LC Inspiration at the Quail 01-2020-lexus-lc-inspiration-quail View 9 Photos 2020 Acura NSX at the Quail 01-2020-acura-nsx-quail View 8 Photos De Tomaso P72 at the Quail 01-de-tomaso-p72-quail View 13 Photos Ferrari P80/C at the Quail 01-ferrari-p80-c-quail View 12 Photos SSC Tuatara at the Quail 01-ssc-tuatara-quail View 13 Photos Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus Baja Boot at the Quail 01-scg-baja-boot-quail View 12 Photos 2020 Drako GTE at the Quail 01-2020-drako-gte-quail View 9 Photos Acura Type S Concept at the Quail 01-acura-type-s-concept-quail View 12 Photos Pagani Huayra BC Roadster at the Quail 01-pagani-huayra-bc-roadster-quail View 15 Photos Lotus Evija at the Quail 01-lotus-evija-quail View 14 Photos Lamborghini Huracan Evo GT Celebration at the Quail 01-lamborghini-huracan-evo-gt-celebration-quail View 11 Photos Lamborghini Aventador SVJ 63 Roadster at the Quail 01-lamborghini-aventador-svj-63-roadster-quail View 16 Photos Aston Martin Valhalla at the Quail 01-aston-martin-valhalla-quail View 16 Photos Bugatti Centodieci Unveiling 01-bugatti-centodieci-quail View 17 Photos Featured Gallery Quail, A Motorsports Gathering 2019 View 38 Photos Misc. Auto Shows Acura Aston Martin Bugatti Ferrari Lamborghini Lexus Lotus Convertible Coupe Special and Limited Editions Performance Classics Sedan The Quail