Lotus to unveil something big at next Paris Auto Show

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We hate teasers because they make us anxious, impatient and nervous. Lotus just sent us one, announcing something big that’s reserved for the Paris Auto Show on September 30th; that’s exactly 100 days from now.

It’s so big that Lotus is calling it “the dawning of a new era” and “the future evolution of an iconic British brand.” Wow, what could that be?

After a quick survey around the office, most staffers think we’re about to see a new Esprit. As the highlight of Lotus’ line-up from 1976 to 2004, the Esprit was a child star, the car being chosen as James Bond’s ride in the 1977 flick The Spy Who Loved Me. The Esprit was initially equipped with a 4-cylinder engine, a turbocharger was added in 1980, and a 350-horsepower, twin-turbo V8 was made available from 1996 on.

A new Esprit would obviously be slotted above the new Evora and couldn’t be powered by anything other than a V8.

Others figure that a new Elise could be it. Produced since 1995 and largely unchanged since, the Elise is a lightweight, sharp-handling roadster that has been powered by a Toyota-sourced 1.8-litre 4-cylinder engine since 2002.

Or, we could be totally wrong, and Lotus is introducing something completely new. A 100% electric sports car, perhaps? No, wait, that’s called a Tesla .

More details will follow as we count down the days. Of course, we’re anxious, impatient and nervous.