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Renault settles on Lotus, to take 65-percent stake in F1 team

Renault's coquettish moves toward becoming a constructor again have been news all season. The expected maneuver, should Renault say "Oui" to such, was for the French carmaker to repurchase the Lotus team - the team it sold at the end of 2010 to Genii Capital. Then last week we got the surprise news that Renault had been talking to Force India about taking a majority stake, but that information came with the context that Renault had discussions with several teams about such a move. Autosport reports that Renault has finally decided to get back together with Lotus, taking a stake worth up to 65 percent for 65 million pounds. The deciding factor was said to be the facilities that Lotus has available compared to Force India, including the Enstone factory formerly owned by Renault, plus a computational fluid dynamics program, driver-in-the-loop simulator, and a 60-percent-scale wind tunnel. The final shareholding stake will be split between Gerard Lopez at 25 percent and Renault ambassador Alain Prost at 10 percent. Renault will make a 7.5-million-pound payment immediately, completing the acquisition by paying 5.75-million-pounds per year for the next ten years. On top of that, Renault will invest a budget commensurate with those of Mercedes-AMG Petronas and Infiniti Red Bull Racing. The carmaker's board and CEO Carlos Ghosn have approved the deal, it is up to Lotus shareholders to agree to everything by Monday, when Autosport says the papers will be signed. The deal puts team drivers and the Red Bull engine supply in question. It should be expected for Romain Grosjean to remain, but keeping Pastor Maldonado is not a certainty. As for engines, Red Bull's engine supply contract states it must be Renault's priority, so Renault could stick with the Mercedes power unit Lotus currently uses for one more year, or help Red Bull get in bed with Mercedes. We should know more next week. Related Video:

James Bond Lotus Esprit submarine car headed to auction [w/video]

We've covered many cars from the movies and TV that have made their way to auction (the original Batmobile, good old General Lee and even Bond's iconic Aston Martin DB5), but this one ranks up there among the rarest and coolest. RM Auctions has just announced that the Lotus Esprit submarine car used in the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me has been added to the docket for its upcoming auction in London, September 8-9.
Of course, there are dozens of Bond cars floating around out there in collections, but none as unique as this Lotus, which ended a chase scene in the movie by taking a long walk off a short pier and transforming itself into a submersible. Since CGI was a meaningless collection of letters back then, the producers of the film actually built a fully functional Lotus Esprit submarine for the shoot. They hired Perry Oceangraphic in Florida to turn one of their six Esprit body shells into a fully functioning submarine, and former US Navy Seal Don Griffin was tapped for piloting duties. RM Auctions claims the Esprit submarine cost over $100,000 to build at the time, which is about $400,000 in today's dollars.
The submarine car comes with a incredible story, too. After filming in the '70s, it was shipped to Long Island, NY where it was kept in a storage unit that was paid in advance for ten years. When the storage contract ended in 1989 and no one claimed the contents, they were sold off in a blind auction to an area couple who had no idea what they were getting. The car has been shown occasionally in the years since, but its value remained purely speculative, until now. To date, the most valuable Bond car we know of is the original Aston Martin DB5 used in Goldfinger and Thunderball that sold for $4.6 million in 2010, but when the gavel falls at RM Auctions' London sale in September, we'll find out if the car nicknamed "Wet Nellie" on set can beat it.

Lotus Motorcycles C-01 now 'ready for the road'

When we first laid eyes on leaked images of the Lotus Motorcycles C-01, we wondered if its laid-back, sport cruiser shape was really appropriate for a motorcycle bearing any connection with Colin Chapman and the company's famous "add lightness" mantra. We've now seen official pictures of the bike in multiple color schemes, including classic black and gold, British racing green and even a variant that resembles Martini livery, and while we think it looks pretty cool, our opinion hasn't really changed.
Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised that the C-01 isn't an embodiment of the Lotus ethos, as the company that intends to build it isn't really Lotus at all, its builders - German racing firm Kodewa and tuner Holzer Group - merely having licensed the name of the British sportscar maker. It was designed by Daniel Simon, who once worked for Volkswagen and consulted for Bugatti and is the man credited with creating the reborn Tron Light Cycles. Still, looking past its questionable heritage, the C-01 looks pretty darn awesome, and there are some interesting bits that have us looking forward to the production version that's reportedly due within the next two months.
As expected, power comes in at 200 horsepower, courtesy of a modified version of KTM's 1,195-cc V-twin engine. The chassis is made up of steel, titanium and carbon fiber, with a seat height of about 28 inches. Its wheelbase, at about 65 inches, is a full 10 inches longer than a real street-legal superbike, and its front end is raked way out in front with a 19-inch wheel. Those dimensions mean we shouldn't expect much racetrack prowess, unless its rider is only planning on going in a straight line. Indeed, with a claimed dry weight of under 400 pounds, the Lotus Motorcycles C-01 ought to be mighty quick down the quarter mile.