1990 Lotus Esprit Stunning Flawless Condition on 2040-cars

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Lotus Evora 'Sports Racer' is oddly named and fully loaded

Lotus has just announced a new Evora 'Sports Racer' model that is, well, frankly not much more sporty or racy than the standard Evora or Evora S. Instead, the British company calls the Sports Racer a "visually enhanced and optimized version" of both the Evora and supercharged Evora S. To unpack that a little: The new trim will get a new set of unique exterior colors and a revised interior treatment, and it's fully decked out with options.
The 'Sports Racer' will be available in the buyer's choice of Carbon Grey, Nightfall Blue and the Ardent Red that you see in the image above (the only image we've seen of the car so far). Gloss black accents set the model apart and can be seen on the roof, forged wheels, mirrors and rear badges. Inside, one may choose between black-leather sports seats with red piping and stitching, or a Venom Red leather interior with black piping and stitching. How naughty.
In terms of tech, the 'Sports Racer' gets Lotus' Sports Pack and its remapped throttle response, higher redline, more powerful cross-drilled brakes and a more aggressively programmed Dynamic Performance Management system. The stereo system is also upgraded from the basic Evora, with a DVD player and seven-inch touchscreen display thrown in for good measure.

Lotus Elise Cup 260 celebrates the automaker's 70th anniversary

Lotus rides the special edition train nearly as often as Jeep. When you only sell a few models, you need to make the most of what you have. Today, Lotus announced a new very-limited-edition variant, the Elise Cup 260. Just 30 examples will be built and, based on pricing, it doesn't look like it will be coming to America. Hey, the cars are likely all spoken for already. The Elise Cup 260 builds on the Cup 250 and takes influence from the Lotus Evora GT430 and Exige Cup 380. Lotus says this car is even lighter than the already pint-sized Cup 250. Downforce is the name of the game with the Cup 260. The car makes 397 pounds of downforce at 151 mph (44 percent better than the Cup 250), helping the car maneuver around a circuit with copious amounts of traction. The key components here are louvered front fenders, a carbon fiber front splitter and a carbon fiber rear wing that wouldn't look out of place on an FIA-spec GT car. All of the lightweight performance options from the Cup 250 are standard equipment on the Cup 260. The sill covers, roll hoop cover, front access panel and engine cover are all made of carbon fiber. It also uses a polycarbonate backlight glass to save more weight. The Cup 260 has two-piece rotors and two-way adjustable Nitron dampers at all four corners. Strangely, the Elise uses AP Racing calipers up front and a set of Brembo clamps out back. The Elise Cup 260 is powered by a supercharged 1.8-liter inline four making 250 horsepower and 188 pound feet of torque. In the right hands, the Lotus will hit 60 mph in just 3.8 seconds. Top speed is listed as 151 mph. Lotus' Hethel track is the true benchmark of any car to wear the green and yellow badge. On it, the Cup 260 is 2.5 seconds faster than the Cup 250. The exterior has been done up in gold and features a couple of wreaths meant to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Lotus' first car. The car comes standard with Alcantara upholstery, but if it were our money we'd spring for either the yellow or red Tartan trim pack. As befitting any Lotus, weight savings was first and foremost. Things like air conditioning, carpeting and sound deadening material are all optional extras. Pricing has only been announced for Europe, but the UK base price converts to roughly $77,800. Not cheap, but few if any cars provide the pure, unadulterated driving experience of a Lotus. Related Video:

Genii capitalizing on Lotus F1 tech with new sports car?

Detractors will tell you that there's little to be applied from Formula One racing to the cars we drive, but what about the cars most of us could only dream of driving? We're talking about supercars from the likes of Ferrari and McLaren - two hugely successful F1 racing teams that have successfully made the transition into building exotic sports cars for the road. And soon there may be one more.
That would be the Lotus F1 Team, which is rumored to be working on a sports car project of its own. Now we know what you might be thinking: Lotus already makes sports cars. Indeed they do, only the F1 team has nothing more to do with the automaker behind the Exige and Evora than the name they share. Today the team (formerly known as Toleman, Benetton and Renault) is owned by Genii Capital, whose chairman Gerald Lopez recently confirmed the rumors to Auto Motor und Sport: "We are going to develop a carbon chassis for a sports car that can be built in large quantities.... But this has nothing to do with Formula 1."
With little to nothing in the way of details available, the circulating rumors had tied the venture to on-again, off-again Italian auto marque De Tomaso. But our source at ATS (which recently bought the rights to the De Tomaso name following Gian Mario Rossignolo's aborted attempt to revive it) firmly denied the prospect of any such collaboration. Spokesmen for the Lotus F1 Team would not divulge any information; neither would the press office for parent company Genii Capital, leaving the door wide open to speculation once again.