The New Lotus Evora

Lotus Eagle hits the road in Germany

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDzTd6duPlc

Lotus release a limited edition of the Elise called the Clark Type 25 Elise SC.

 Named in honour of Jim Clark who died 40 years ago at Hockenheim.

Its limited to just 25 cars - the number of Clark's 1963 Lotus F1 car and also his number of F1 wins.

It's a standard  Elise SC, which means a supercharged 1.8-litre four-cylinder developing 217bhp and a 0-60 time of just 4.3 seconds. It also comes with loads of extras inclusive of the price..

£36,000 ish..

Tickets are now available online for the Lotus 60th celebration on September 14th.

Goto www.lotus60thanniversary.com

Also there will be a new parts sale by the After sales department.

The can be found by following the link:-

http://www.club-lotus.co.uk/septsalelist.pdf

During the 2008 Donington weekend, and a great deal of valuable stock was taken from Mick Miller's.  

Someone specifically targeted the early Elan by taking engines, cylinder heads,dashboards, windscreens, a galvanised Elan chassis and  enough parts virtually to restore two or more complete Elans.Except for the engine parts everything was new. Hardly anything was taken for the +2 Elan.

If anyone entertains any suspicions about any restoration in progress, especially of a DHC Sprint, tThey would be interested in any information.

Please be aware If you get approached about any Elan spares.

Mick Miller Classic Lotus
Carlton Cross
Main Road
Kelsale
Nr Saxmundham
Suffolk IP17 2NL

01728 603307

Lotus Design Hot Wheels® Concept

Group Lotus plc has teamed up with Hot Wheels®, the famous global die-cast brand, to design, develop and produce a Lotus Hot Wheels® Concept vehicle. This 1:5 scale model was on display to the world at the annual SEMA Show at the Las Vegas Convention Centre between 29th October and 2nd November 2007, and a 1:64 scale version of the design will become part of the Hot Wheels® product range in spring 2008.

To celebrate its 40th anniversary next year, Hot Wheels® approached Lotus and other world leaders in the automotive industry with the challenge for each company to produce a vehicle that embodies its own engineering philosophy and brand. The result from Lotus is a stunning open-top two seat sports car concept.

Russell Carr, Head of Lotus Design said; “This was a dream job for the design team because, for many of us, when we were children, it was Hot Wheels® that first ignited our passion for cars and design. Lotus Design’s international reputation for designing visually dynamic and exhilarating sports cars perfectly fitted the brief for this programme and we relished the opportunity to design a concept that was free from the typical technical and legal constraints of a full size car. In addition the design offered unique challenges because it has to work as a toy and we therefore had to remember how specific views, features and tactile qualities of toy cars fascinated us as children. I am very proud of the final design by Steven Crijns that succeeds in being both instantly recognisable as a Lotus and a Hot Wheels® Car.

Steven Crijns, Design Manager at Lotus Design and creator of this concept design explained; “Hot Wheels® cars are barely 75mm long, so specific attention went to create a bold shape that would work well at this scale. Another challenge was to create an exciting design that would work well as a toy. The car needed to be recognisable as a Lotus without having to turn it over to look at the badge underneath, so I took elements from the Elise and Exige such as the headlight design, the Lotus ‘mouth’, the pronounced wheel arches and trademark bonnet graphics. I was keen for the design to express the Lotus philosophy of performance through lightweight: the shrink wrapped body is kept to an absolute minimum to save weight. The dynamic voluptuous curves make the car look agile and fun to drive. Bold aerodynamic aids are incorporated to achieve exceptional Lotus handling. The top exit radiator at the front, a distinctive Lotus design feature, the rear diffuser and a large rear wing all provide down-force helping the vehicle stick to the road. In addition, large side air intakes and an open rear end aid engine breathing. Inside the car, the exposed centre spine is part of the structure and incorporates the switches and gear linkage and supports the rear wing.”

Mike Kimberley, Chief Executive Officer of Group Lotus Plc said “We are delighted to have worked with
Hot Wheels®, who share our passion and enthusiasm for all things automotive. Lotus Design has a
global reputation and is responsible for the design of all Lotus cars, including Europa, Exige and iconic
Elise and many designs for our engineering clients globally. The same design team who created this
stunning concept is also designing our new range of cars, the first of which, codenamed Project Eagle,
will go into production at the end of next year.”

More pictures on http://www.seriouswheels.com/cars/2007/top-2007-Lotus-Hot-Wheels-Concept.htm 

Bonds new Underwater Lotus?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_7240000/newsid_7246300/7246399.stm?bw=bb&mp=wm&asb=1&news=1&bbcws=1

Those who want sQuba may never be able to get their hands on it as there are no plans to put it into production.

Lotus have now supplied Sussex Police with an  ExigeS, powered by a supercharged engine producing 218bhp. It can accelerate to 60mph in just 4.1 seconds and go on to 148mph.

First Lotus pickup rolls off production line

Lotus Cars is delighted to announce that its first light commercial vehicle rolls off the production line today.

The Lotus Elise 'Load Lugga' is an Elise-derived flatbed that seeks to secure a slice of the ever-growing worldwide market for sportscar-derived pickup trucks.

Utilising a Briggs and Stratton pull-start diesel engine, uniquely supercharged by Lotus' own engineers, the Elise 'Load Lugga' is the first Lotus to marry advanced 4-wheel drive technology with the Lotus design philosophy of 'performance through lightweight'. A useful 5kg payload, together with an optional towing hitch offering a further 10kg of load-hauling capacity, ensures the new Lotus will be equally at home carrying a small bag of sugar as an expanded polystyrene surfboard.

With carbon fibre roof rails and perforated aluminium bull bars ensuring the new Elise derivative looks the part without compromising performance, hopes are high that 0-60mph acceleration is less than 3 seconds, and will have flatbed fans reaching for their chequebooks.

An active payload management system, linked to the engine';s oil pressure control module, optimises ride and handling round even the sharpest bend, while big chunky tyres increase ground clearance to an all-terrain-conquering 4 inches.

Trevor Houghton-Berry, Lotus Head of Commercial Operations looked to the future 'The Elise 'Load Lugga' is our first move into the lucrative LCV market and certainly lives up to the Lotus philosophy of 'change the rules';. We like trucking and we like to truck!'.

Mark O'Shaughnessy, Lotus USA Sales and Marketing Director commented, 'We can no longer ignore Lotus' big opportunity in the pickup market - we want a slice of the action and are gunning for a 0.0026% market share this year and 0.0027% next. The Elise 'Load Lugga' will be known as the F1.50 stateside and we are set to take the market by storm. 200 Lotus Elise F1.50's in the first year? Bring them on.........'.

Note: Happy April 1st :D

If you want to see what bad driving can do to to an Elise then look at http://www.wreckedexotics.com/elise/index2.

Do you want to smell like your car?

Lotus have launched it's own fragrenece.

The fragrance, it is said,  'gives you a feeling of driving through the Mediterranean in an Elise - the open top of the car, the smell of fresh flowers and the water.'

Does it have the faint odour of bugs in your teath with the faint tang of hot tarmac? I haven't tried it yet so I can't say if it is bootiful!

I was told that 95% of all Lotus' are still on the road. 

So that means that 5% made it home!