New Lotus Supercar May Feature Lexus V8
There's a distinct love affair between car enthusiasts and Lotus. Time and time again, customers return to the legendary marque simply because few cars deliver such intoxicating thrills at the wheel.
 |
| Even today, Lotus continues delivering lightweight thrills to car enthusiasts. (Photo: Lotus Cars Canada) |
It's been that way since the brand's inception. Aside from the ubiquitous Cobra, the Lotus 7 is one of the most popular classic sports cars to ever be reproduced in kit or turnkey form. In more recent years Lotus continues delivering lightweight thrills to Europeans (and soon North Americans) with its Elise roadster and recently announced Exige hardtop, while still enticing a handful of select buyers with its long-running Esprit.
 |
| This computer-generated Esprit predicts what the next generation of Lotus's trademark car might look like. |
But Lotus has ended Esprit production, with few available for sale, leaving the brand and its dealers with only the less expensive Elise and Exige in its lineup - basically two versions of the same car. To put this into perspective, Lotus without the Esprit is the British equivalent to Porsche with no 911. As good as the Boxster is, in Lotus' case the Esprit, there's a lot of green left on the table with no supercar in the mix.
While the photos of the car pictured here are purely speculative, the project is real and alive. The rumor mill has the new car featuring a V8 once again, but with power bumped up from 350 to somewhere around 450 to 500 horsepower. It would make logical sense if Lotus worked a deal with its Elise/Exige engine supplier, Toyota, with the obvious choice being a tuned version of the Lexus 4.3-liter V8.