Lotus Evora - Re-birth of a Legend?

To old men like me (!), Lotus evokes fond memories of childhood. Jim Clark racing in a Lotus F1 car; Emma Peel driving around the country roads of the home counties in her Lotus Elan; Colin Chapman working his magic on a miniscule budget. The Elan, The Europa, The Elite, and even ‘The Prisoner’ in his Lotus 7. All iconic images; all hugely redolant of a bygone time.

Lotus has managed something of a renaissance in the last decade with the launch of the Elise, and its sister cars, they managed to produce a car that matched the reputation of the Elan. Small, nimble, great fun and not too costly. The once astonishing Esprit (which looked like something from a science fiction film when it was launched in the early 70s) even managed to survive (although it was limping a bit at the end!) for nearly 30 years. But for the last decade, Lotus has really been a one-trick pony. Sure, their chassis fettling skills are still much in demand, but the road cars seemed (and where) just a variation on a theme. But things are changing at Lotus, and it’s great to see.

News that the much anticipated Lotus Evora is for sale from the end of 2008 was great to hear. And to add to that, Lotus intends on launching the new Esprit in 2010. Finally, Colin Chapman can smile again from beyond the grave.

The Lotus Evora is a 2+2, mid-engined car - a proper GT. It has a heavily tweaked Toyota V6, giving acceleration of under 5 seconds to 60 and a top speed of 160 mph. This is getting in to 911 territory. And you can be sure the handling and grip will be second to none. Styling-wise, well, look at it. You don’t need a badge to see it’s a Lotus.

It’s going to be a few months before we can get hold of the Lotus Evora to see if the car lives up to the hype. But if it does, Lotus will have pulled off a master-stroke!