Lotus News

The British-built sports cars are famous for their giant-killing reputation, supercar performance for a fraction of the price, and new importer Ateco is working both fronts. The company's first step has been to leverage the Aussie dollar's strength against the pound to make effective price cuts of up to 20 per cent. The base model Lotus is now $2000 cheaper at $67,990 while the supercharged SC is now just $77,990, a saving of $17,000. The performance has also been tweaked with all Elise vehicles now loaded with the previously optional sports pack valued at $6000. It consists of twin oil coolers, Bilstein dampers; Y spoke forged alloy wheels and ProBax sports seats. It's all good news for new owners but not much consolation to the 10 Elise buyers this year who paid up to $94,990 for the privilege of putting a Lotus in their garage. Lotus Australia general manager Glen Sealey sympathised but noted pricing had been set by the previous importer. "We officially became the Lotus importer this month and we've overhauled the entire structure," he said. "The first-year plan is to double sales to 100 vehicles . getting volume on to the streets helps establish a presence. We're looking at the Lotus brand equity to see just where it fits into the market. The Lotus name has global appeal, it is a case of working out where to position the models." Sealey wouldn't comment on the previous pricing of the Lotus models in Australia but said Ateco's business case was based on increasing volume and realigning prices to Lotus's natural competitors. "We'll re-launch and re-price the Evora," he said. "The other two name plates (Elise and Exige) are established and in some ways look after themselves but the Evora is where we see the potential for big volume growth. First we had to determine where it sits against the likes of Porsche and we've now adjusted the model mix to have the Evora S and (automatic transmission) IPS.

... at the world's leading classic and performance car event, the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in the US. Lotus says the concept is a road-going version of its planned entrant into the new global motorsport GTE category, which includes the Le Mans 24 Hours. The hot Evora runs a 315kW-plus engine that mates to a sequential AMT racing gearbox. Wheels are ultra-lightweight forged alloys with centre-lock hubs shod with Pirelli P-Zero Corsa tyres. "The Evora GTE Road Car Concept isn't merely a paint scheme or homage to a race car - this is a serious race car that makes for a very serious road car,'' says Lotus. The GTE Concept will this week be shown within the Lotus exhibit at Pebble Beach this week before being moved onto the Concept Car Lawn for display throughout the remainder of the weekend. It's black and mean and not coming to Australia. The Exige Matte Black Final Edition - which does exactly that: marks the end of an era of Exige production - has a power upgrade to 190kW, an exclusive matte-black paint finish, black Alacantara sport seats and a higher level of standard equipment. Only 25 examples of this Exige will be built, each with their own numbered plate, which Lotus says will help make these cars instantly collectible.

The musician, real name Kasseem Daoud Dean and husband of R&B singer Alicia Keys, is Lotus' new vice president of creative design and global marketing.Lotus says it's a natural fit: "Like Group Lotus, he means business. He's a risk taker with considerable credentials including music producer, rapper, designer and painter'', the otus announcement reads."Like our cars, he's multi-award winning - this year he shared a Grammy Award with Jay-Z and like Group Lotus, he keeps good company - this man regularly works with the likes of Bono, Kanye West, Beyonce and Alicia Keys."

Following the lead of BMW and Aston Martin, Lotus has designed a concept three-door hatch that is less than 3.5m long and will have an innovative electric drive train. It says the car, called the Ethos, could be ready for sale as early as 2013. It was the sixth car shown by Lotus at this year's Geneva motor show and despite its sales potential, was basically overlooked by the public as they became dazzled with Lotus' other sports-car offerings. The Malaysian-owned but English-based niche-model sports-car maker could call on its parent, Proton, to help build the car. It could even become powered by a small petrol engine for Malaysia and other markets, and with the Lotus-developed three-cylinder petrol generator and electric motor hybrid system for a more exotic version for emission-sensitive markets. Though Lotus Cars group PR manager Alastair Florance says it's still a concept, the car features significantly at the company's head office in Norfolk, UK. "But this is not the car shown at the show with a Proton badge - that is a completely separate car,'' he says. "The Ethos can make it to production in about 2013 - but we haven't made the final call on that. "It is shown as a concept with a hybrid power train using the new Lotus-designed system of a range-extender petrol engine and an electric motor. But that's just one possibility. It could have a small petrol or diesel engine instead of the hybrid.'' Lotus' 1.2-litre three-cylinder petrol engine - which in this case is made by Fagor in Spain - is specifically designed to act as a generator for the lithium-ion battery pack. It does not drive the wheels and therefore can be located anywhere in the car - front, back, under the seats and horizontal or vertical. "The range extender is for applications where the car is driven for long periods,'' Mr Florance says. "Perhaps we would have an electric-only system, with a plug-in charger, for city purposes where it doesn't need the extra weight and complexity and expense of the petrol engine.'' The Ethos concept has a range of 60km as a full electric car, but up to 500km with the range-extender system. The engine is designed to run on varying fuels, including ethanol and methanol. In electric mode, it is as quick as most other traffic. It can accelerate to 100km/h from rest in nine seconds and top speed of 170km/h. With the range extender engine in use, its 54kW/240Nm generator will charge the batteries to provide sufficient energy to allow the car to cruise at 120km/h.

Then go and win races on a Sunday and sell, sell, sell the road-going versions to all manner of punters on a Monday.This is exactly what Ford did on 1962 when it released the Cortina Mark I. Colin Chapman at Lotus race cars got the contract to work on 1000 of them for homologation for Group 2 touring car racing in the UK and Europe. Ford would then sell them through its dealer network.The folks at Lotus proceeded to install all manner of mechanical upgrades and technical wizardry to ensure these cars went fast and were capable of winning races. Then to give themselves an additional advantage Ford and Lotus enticed some the best in the world to drive them. Open wheel heroes such as Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart and Jackie Ickx all strapped into the Fords. Its light weight and agile handling meant these Formula One jocks and others won, and won often. And so the legend was created.To the uninitiated the Mark I cars look like the poverty pack models. But to those who know the discreet yellow and green `Lotus' badges on the rear guards and the green stripe along the flanks are the giveaways.When Ford introduced the restyled Mark II Cortina in 1967, the Lotus version also debuted. Mark II Lotus Cortinas are rare in Australia. "I estimate there are about fourteen", says David Fotheringham, the owner of the one featured here.David's car is build-number 331 of 1967. It was imported by Geoghegans Sports Cars in 1971 from the UK, and David is the third owner in Australia. In all those years only 57,100 miles have been put on it.The Cortina has not been restored in any way, however its iconic ermine white paint was given a re-spray sometime in the seventies and the engine enlarged. The front bumper has also been split, Mark I style. Nothing else has been touched and David intends to keep it that way."There's no need to make any changes. The car is in wonderful condition and I like the patina of its age." he observes.Open the bonnet and you are immediately confronted with the double overhead cam shaft 1558 cc motor filling the engine bay. Out to the side are strapped two Weber DCOE 40s carbies. It all looks very efficient and effective. The power output is 140 BHP, propelling the car a top speed of over 100 mph.This not a trailer queen car. "I take it on club runs about eight or nine times a year", David says. Not content with the Lotus, David also has 1967 GT Cortina and an unusual 1966 V4 Ford Corsair. So it's no surprise to know he is the President of the Hunter British Ford Club.David explains his passion for smaller Fords. "My first car was a 1967 Cortina GT. I bought it in 1977 and sold it a few years later. Then in 1995 I had an opportunity to buy it again, but before I could close the deal the car was stolen and just disappeared. So I decide to buy a GT anyway. And that got me started".

But here I am behind the wheel of not one, but two Ferraris, a Lotus, a Lamborghini, an Aston Martin and a Porsche.

It was love at first sight."They were light years ahead of the opposition," says Geertsma, now 70."They were lighter, had four disc brakes, a wheel in each corner, independent suspension and a stiff chassis. Lotus was first in many areas with fibreglass bumpers, Formula 1 ground effects, monocoque chassis and the engine as part of the car itself."During the '50s and '60s, Geertsma saw Lotus founder and engineer Colin Chapman driving an Elise and legendary F1 driver Jim Clark in a Lotus 25 at the circuit. It's little wonder, then, that the Ipswich businessman got into racing Lotuses after he migrated to Australia."I had my leg amputated from cancer in 1957, so when I got into racing in 1994 I went looking for race car drivers," he says."We had a Lotus 18 Formula Junior with several different drivers, but the best was Jerry Perkins, brother of Larry. Terry and Larry raced in Europe. Larry won the Formula 3 championship and Terry had won the Copenhagen race. Terry always put in 10 out of 10 in performance whenever he got behind the wheel and they are both very good mechanics."The racing team folded in 2007, but Geertsma's love affair with Lotus has persisted off the track. He bought his first road-going Lotus, a 1960 Elite he picked up in Melbourne in 1985 for $19,000."I thought, 'What have you done, you idiot?'," he says.The original car with chassis number 1082 was a Lotus demonstrator with a Maxima body which was destroyed in June 1960 in north Wales when Lotus sales manager Ian McLeod drove head on into a bus. McLeod was severely injured while passenger and Canadian motoring journalist Tom Davenport died on impact.The current car uses the gearbox and a few other parts from the original but now has chassis number 1449 with a Bristol body. It is powered by a four-cylinder 1216cc engine with a lightweight alloy head and block.Lotus rated power at a tiny 56kW and torque at 104Nm, but because the fibreglass monocoque vehicle only weighed about 660kg, it was super-quick and nimble.It's now worth about $75,000 and Geertsma wouldn't part with it."I'd sell my family before I'd sell the Elite," he says. "The Elite is Chapman's first road-going car. It's virtually a race car for the road. You could just put a number on the side, race it and be a winner."He also had a 1977 Porsche 911 which he crashed and burnt. In 1990, he replaced the Porsche with a 1967 Lotus Elan SE he bought in Sydney for $17,500. It is now worth about $40,000."It was partly restored, but it wasn't a good job, so I had to start the restoration again from the beginning," he says.He replaced the gearbox with a four-speed box from an MG Magnette, but the rest is standard. It is powered by a 1558cc four-cylinder cast-iron block and alloy-head engine with 78kW and 146Nm.Geertsma says it's not only more powerful than the Elite, but smaller in every dimension and weighs only about 640kg."I'll be keeping these cars for the kids," he says.

Action hero Mickey Rourke, supermodel Naomi Campbell, former Queen guitarist Brian May and actor Stephen Baldwin all turn up to help generate excitement around five stunning new models. Lotus is heading into a new era, targeting a direct confrontation with Ferrari, and it dazzles with a giant event that positions the company as Britain's new supercar maker. But things could change quickly if former Ferrari boss Dany Bahar does not get the money he wants. He already says Lotus will move its manufacturing base to Magna in Austria, taking 1200 jobs from the UK, if he does not get around $100 million in government loans. The total investment in the Lotus plan is more likely to be $800 million, with Proton of Malaysia - owners of Proton - promising to underwrite any losses over the next three years. That's the time it will take to get the Elite, Esprit, Elan, Elise and Eterne into production. All five are shown at Paris - against a preview of the Elite alone in the run-up to the event - but none is a full production car and estimates for on-sale dates range from three to five years. The born-again Esprit supercar was rumoured to be first into action but has been overtaken by the Elite as Lotus positions itself for the future. Still, the question of how a tiny company that currently has only a handful of models and a small budget will now be able to develop so many high performance models is not answered in Paris. It is also odd for Lotus to uncover so many proposed models, revealing so much of its future line-up, so far out from production. The most enticing of the cars presented is the Esprit, which is also the most likely to make it into a showroom near you and is due in 2013. A remake of the former wedge-shaped classic, the new Esprit will take on Ferrari with a mouth-watering and mid-mounted 5.0-litre V8, which is ‘pressure charged’ and even has an optional KERS hybrid assistance system. The combined power output is 456kW. The engine will be linked to a seven-speed dual clutch automatic transmission for super fast shifts. Lotus says the car weighs just 1295kg which means a power-to-weight ratio that allows it to make the dash from 0-100km/h in just 3.4 seconds. All the other models presented share the Esprit’s sharp front-end styling and wedge body design, including the Elan, another remake of a Lotus classic. It is a two-seater with a pressure-charged 4.0-litre V6 that makes 331kW and weighs the same as the Esprit. It’s due at the end of 2013. The Elite is a grand tourer and has the same engine as the Esprit, but it is front-mounted and the car is due in 2014. It has a retractable hard-top and weighs 1650kg. Lotus also presents a new lightweight Elise, which is not due for another five years, which takes up the same styling cues as the other new concepts. It also rolled out the Eterne, a four-door model aimed at the growing four-seat grand tourer market. Lotus says this model, also five years away, runs the same V8 as the Esprit and Elite, but is also available with an optional all-wheel-drive system. But that's not all. Tucked away at the back of the Lotus stand is a tiny City Car Concept. It's a little like the Aston Martin Cygnet, which means it will be used to offset the heavy CO2 emissions of the supercars and also give buys a little fun for city runs. Meanwhile, Lotus is headed in a new direction in Australia. It is expected to become part of the Ateco empire at the start of 2011 in a major shake-up of sales across the Asia-Pacific region. Ateco boss Neville Crichton is on the Lotus stand at the Paris Show for a champagne celebration, although he refuses to confirm any deal. "We talk to everyone. I talked to a lot of people at the show," Crichton tells Carsguide. Ateco is already the Australian importer for Ferrari and Maserati. The new Lotus family Elite: Set for sales in 2014 at the start of the new Lotus generation. A 2+2 grand tourer to rival the Ferrari F599. Eterne: The first true four-door sedan with a Lotus badge, but also gets a supercharged V8 and F1-style KERS hybrid pack. Elise 2015: The lightweight sports car continues into a new generation with a sexy new look. Elan: Claimed to be the heart of the new Lotus lineup, taking over from today's Evora as both a two and four-seater in 2013. E sprit: Originally intended to be the first of the new-age Lotus models but now pushed back to 2013 with a supercharged V6.

It's the Elite, a long-overdue successor to the Esprit, that promises true supercar performance with a pricetag in the $300,000-plus range. The car is a front-engined 2+2 coupe that is also being developed as a hardtop convertible. Deliveries are not expected until 2014. The Elite was dreamed up and developed by the team of ex-Ferrari staff who now control Lotus, led by managing director Dany Bahar. It's a massive step up from the road racer Elise and part of a plan to turn Lotus into a super-luxury brand to rival Ferrari and Lamborghini. "There will always be those who believe that Lotus should stick to small sports cars, but we didn't take the decision to design something like the Elite lightly. It's based on months of careful research and planning," says Bahar, "It's worth noting this sector has been very successful for us in the past, and now the Elite raises the benchmark higher still. Make no mistake, there's a definite market requirement for the Elite - it's the ultimate sports car feel with comfort and space." The Elite is expected to be followed by at least two other new models, also up and beyond the Elise. Lotus is not going fully public with details on the car until the first day of the Paris Motor Show but has released some teaser information. "There's no denying that the Elite is breathtakingly beautiful to look at, but its so much more than that: it's a car that over-delivers in all other aspects as well," Bahar says. "One could say it's a car of perfect contradictions; it's compact yet spacious, high performing yet low emitting, lightweight yet still reassuringly solid.'' The car has a 5-litre V8 engine - perhaps from Lexus - with 450 kiloWatts of power and 720 Newton-metres of torque, good enough for a top speed of 315km/h and a 0-100km/h sprint time below four seconds. There is also a model with an optional hybrid system, using a Formula One-style Kinetic Energy Recovery System, although Lotus says the CO2 emission of the regular car is still only 215 grams/kilometre.

The British sports car brand is planning an upscale push and will reveal the first details - an all-new concept car and two spin-offs from its Evora - at the Paris Motor Show in September.  Lotus is running a countdown clock to the show on its official website under the headline 'The future starts here'.The Lotus concept car is still secret, although inside sources point to a revival of the Esprit supercar as a potential rival to the Ferrari F458.But the Evora updates have emerged through a leaked Lotus email which reveals there will be a go-faster Evora S and an automatic model, which are both already being tuned through track testing at the Nurburgring in Germany.The change at Lotus comes following a major management reshuffle under former Ferrari honcho, Dany Bahar. He has hired a string of other ex- Ferrari executives in a move to boost the brand and provide the talent - design, engineering and sales - to go after the Italian brand.Lotus Cars is having a busy time with limited-edition models of the mainstream Elise, an Evora hybrid concept and even a Formula One-style track car for wealthy owners.In Australia, Lotus is heading for a revamp of the business that will bring it under an Asia-Pacific umbrella for the first time. Details are expected to be announced before the end of the year.