2013 Lotus Esprit only Lotus concept to go into production

Article
Gallery

By Brett Davis | November 02nd, 2010

Remember the five stunning Lotus concept models the company unveiled at the recent Paris motor show? According to European reports, Lotus is only going to put one of them into production; the Lotus Esprit.

It’s been a while since we last saw the Lotus Esprit in production form, with its light-weight mid-engined package. Some of the versions were quite fast and ahead of the competition as well, such as the S4s and the ‘V8′. Both of these variants were considered true supercars ready to rival the likes of Ferrari, Porsche and Lamborghini.

Now Lotus wants another slice of that supercar cake once again. This time, instead of turning up to the battlefield with a 261kW, 3.5-litre twin-turbo V8 – like the previous Lotus Esprit V8 of the Nineties – it will come with a 5.0-litre, 456kW supercharged V8 and a brand-new seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox.

The car is said to tip the scales at 1496kg – fairly heavy for a Lotus – but the power of the revised Lexus IS F V8 engine is sure to be enough to over rule the mass.

Autocar says the car should be able to achieve 250 grams of CO2 per kilometre and do the 0-100km/h sprint in just 3.2 seconds. European prices are expected to hover around the EUR90,000 to EUR140,000 mark.

Click this for more information and specs on the car.

Jonty

That is one fine looking car…just like the old Esprit it looks good from all angles.
nickdl

Such a shame they’re only going ahead with the Esprit. They all looked ready for production. In hindsight it does seem like it would have cost too much to produce all of the other Lotus concepts but it really would have revived the brand.

Still the new Esprit sounds really exciting, it looks great and I’m sure it will drive even better.
Stevo

“..revised Lexus LFA V8″ – wouldn’t it be a revised Lexus IS F V8?

http://caradvice.com.au Brett Davis

Yes, that’s what I was meant to say.
Cheers mate,
Brett

http://skasev.com skasev

The next Bond car without a doubt

http://www.facebook.com/martin.villegas Ellipsis

That would be cool to see Bond return to a Lotus again.

Lotii

You cannot take Lotus seriously till they build there own powertrain/engines

Just another Big-T[tm.F-0] kit car

Jimmy

So the Pagani Zonda isn’t serious with its reworked Mercedes V12? And essentially, many Audi’s used revised Lamborghini engines and vice versa. This is a pretty common thing. I think Lotus have earned the respect of most people who know a bit about cars.
JR

I Challenge you to find a car maker who has’nt used someone else’s powertrain at some point.

Vins

From certain angle, it looks like a cross between Mazda RX-8 and Gallardo. Nevertheless, it looks really nice.
greenroom

i was busting for the elise…oh well, i’ll take the esprit i guess…
Shak

Until Lotus themselves confirm these reports i wont believe them. Their new CEO talked up the concepts quiet a bit during the Paris Show so you would think that they were going to at least build a couple of them.
Wayne Kerr

Toyota does make some nice engines, but it takes Lotus to put them into an exciting car.
Bob.

I read an article that states the Lotus mentioned that the Esprit is the only one in the development phase. the article says that considering that the others are still a fair way out from the production date that it could be development of those models have not begun yet.

I do hope these others are still being produced, if money weren’t an issue, i’d take one of each… thats how much i like um.
topdog

This car looks friggin hot. I dont car what engine is in it
Igomi Watabi

Bitterly disappointing. All of the concepts looked ready and stunning. Pity if they choose to put the least relevant one into production.
http://www.almigo.tv Almigo

’1496kg – fairly heavy for a Lotus’ you know you’re doing well making light cars when under 1 and a half tonnes is considered ‘heavy’.
panos

EPIC FAIL compared to THE original Esprit pfff
Bretthart27

STORMTROOPER!!