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Lotus renames Russell Carr its head of design

There's been a changing of the guard at Lotus recently. The legendary British sports car manufacturer fired its controversial chief executive Dany Bahar and replaced him recently with Jean-Marc Gales. And now it's named a new chief designer. Or rather, renamed its old one to the post.
That designer is the appropriately named Russell Carr, who had previously held the post until Bahar brought in his former compatriot Donato Coco (with whom he had previously served at Ferrari) and charged him with designing a series of ambitious but ill-fated concept cars that debuted at the 2010 Paris Motor Show and were subsequently axed on Bahar's way out. Now Coco has been shown the door as well, effective at the end of this month. In his place, Carr - who has been with Lotus since 1990 - has been given back his old job after having been demoted to playing second fiddle to Coco for five years.
Although both Gales and Coco both served in senior positions at PSA Peugeot Citroën, Gales didn't join the French automaker until 2009 - the same year that Coco joined Lotus, five years after having left PSA to work at Ferrari.

The exotic '80s: Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lotus and the Porsche 959

There's no secret that we are big fans of the MotorWeek Retro Review series around here. In an automotive world that often focuses on the latest tech and what's coming in the future, it's refreshing to take a look into the past to get a new perspective. That said, the show is really outdoing itself this time by posting a full episode from the '80s to YouTube, complete with the original, jazzy opening. The video is an absolute standout, too, with drives of some of the best supercars that Europe could offer at the time. Among the now classic sportscars that MotorWeek got to drive are the Ferrari 328, Lotus Esprit Turbo, Lamborghini Jalpa and Autokraft AC Mark IV. There's even a preview that sings the praises of the tech in the Porsche 959. The episode is basically a showcase of most of the exotics from young enthusiasts' walls and school folders during the '80s and is not to be missed. News Source: MotorWeek via YouTube Ferrari Lamborghini Lotus Porsche Performance Classics Videos lotus esprit ac

Lotus Evora GT410 Sport exhaust is the best new holiday song

No matter what holidays people are celebrating, there's one winter celebration car enthusiasts can come together for: Driftmas. A Lotus Evora GT410 Sport was recently possessed by the ghost of Driftmas present Ken Block and decided to get sideways all over the Lotus campus in Hethel, Norfolk, England. The result is a beautiful winter symphony. The video is done in a slightly cheeky manner, as the yellow Evora shows up to work with a fully geared-up driver in the front seat, and a full Christmas tree stick to the rear engine cover. After blowing past a pristine Espirit S1 in a "slow" zone, the Evora slowly creeps through one of the garages, where a beautiful black and gold Type 72 race car sits quiet as a mouse. It then makes its way through a testing area and to a parking lot, where it rings a few bells around three specialty Lotus models, including what appear to be Exige Cup cars. It finishes the ride in front of the main office, where Lotus has another Christmas tree filled with little toy cars as ornaments. Before the Grinches start complaining about how it's not Gymkhana, that's correct. It's not. But we'd never turn our noses at a video with a soundtrack a sweet as this. Merry Driftmas to all. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Related Video: