Lotus makes the definitive benchmark sportscar – ask any motoring pundit on a specific sportscar’s ability, and the response will almost certainly include: “It’s not as good as a Lotus”.
They are the ultimate lightweight dream cars, punching well above their weight and champions of the handling ring. The Elise is quite possibly the finest roadster on sale today, while the Lotus model range is a roll-call of the greatest sportscars in the world.
And not content with making its own, Lotus even turns its hand to help out others – witness the spectacular Lotus Carlton, and the mind-bogglingly quick Vauxhall Astra VXR.
This weekend sees the Norfolk-based carmaker celebrate its 60th ‘diamond’ anniversary with a special, one-off diamond-set Lotus Europa worth £150,000.
Fresh from its debut at the 2008 British Motor Show, the stunning all-new Lotus Evora looks set to wow the crowds.
The Evora is Lotus’ all-new sportscar, and is the most powerful model in the range – a 3.5-litre V6 Toyota engine sits in the middle of the Evora producing 276bhp.
This means a 0-62mph time of less than five seconds and a top speed of 150mph.
And what about the classic Lotus Seven? This car is the embodiment of Lotus’ sportscar philosophy – lightweight, simple and tractable, and was designed by Lotus founder Colin Chapman.
The Lotus Seven saw 15 years of production between 1957 and 1972, but today exists as the fantastic Caterham Seven, after Caterham bought the rights to build the Seven.
How about the utterly hardcore Lotus 2 Eleven? Itself based on the harder Exige (pictured above) version of the Elise, the Lotus 2 Eleven is a strictly track-day affair, offering up 252bhp from its supercharged 1.8-litre engine – and a 0-62mph time of just 3.8 seconds.
Which is your favourite Lotus? And as we round up the top Lotus sportscars for sale on Auto Trader, are there any we’ve missed out?
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The Lotus Elise Series 2. I’ve owned one for 3 years and it never failed to put a smile on my face. Absolutely cracking car and exceptional value for money. Because they are so light, they are really economical. The driving position is superb too! I can’t wait to get another one one day.
The Esprit. Easy. All varients were stunning but the V8 was and is the greatest Lotus of all time. Here’s hoping the new one, when it finally launches takes Lotus back into the premier league taking on the likes of Porsche & Ferrari!
the Lotus Epsrit has without doubt been the crwoning glory for the Lotus company. although now out of production, the last batch almost entirely bought by our US cousins, verify its true super car status. the Guigiaro style later revamped by the ‘Stevens’ wand later in life, ended production with what all Lotus devotees had wanted from the ’60s. a glorious Lotus developed V8 engine. go up to one of the last Lotus Esprit twin turbo V8 and hear her roar! just a pity Lotus did not continue making the engine in special guise for their own use, and to be commercially economical, also sell the V8 to Morgan, Ginetta, Marcos and TVR perhaps. we all now wait in patience for the new Esprit. lets hope it is totally new, fully Lotus developed and sporting Lotus own engine even. never forget a Lotus is a truely unique, superior driving sportscar that costs far less than any rival yet delivers extraordinary handling that can not be equalled. Lotus stirs the compassion.
the calibra a brilliant car for its day unfortunately
the wing mirrors although electric the unit holding
the mirrors where a fixed unit and could not be
moved in wen parked,as they clipped into a holding mount ,so only the mirror was on a ball pivot so if hit by other vehical the whole caseing would most off the time need replacement due to being ridgidly attached to the holding mount with no spring recoil.This was the only fault i found with this car,i mean the engine was tunned by one of the greats LOTUS. That says it all.