Somehow this went into the wrong thread basket. (Sorry for the 3rd post in as many minutes... but...this is interesting

Lotus R&D has been very busy. At the Paris Motorshow they unveiled 5 new models for the next few years - Esprit, Elan, Elise, Elite, & Eterne (a 4door).

http://live.lotuscars.com/

In my opinion they are doing away with the radical (IMHO ugly) styling, which should make them a little more likeable by the mainstream. Hopefully, they've built some quality into them, too.

It will be fun to see how the new ones stack up against our Porsches.

 

The Espirit is back! ( I missed it when it went away.)

I hope they stick with their traditional light & quick mantra.

 

Lets hope that it works out. We need some new variety in the racing scene.

 

Would be nice...but who are we kidding? They'll drop the ball. It's Lotus.

 

Really good looking cars, but would need a trained eye to distinguish between the different models.

 

styling of any of there new cars.

 

I am confused as well. Why are they going to make 6 models? No other “exclusive” (since they used that word at least a dozen times) car maker has 6 models. As well the 5 new cars they unveiled all look the same. Even the four door looks mostly like the others just with four doors, LOL. The CG for the intros was TERRIBLE! I am glad these are concepts and it sounded like they are a few years (I think I heard 4) off. My bet is they will drop a model or two and make them look a bit different from one another, or at least I hope that is what they do :\

 

They are getting a 1.2B loan infusion over 10 years to upgrade their manufacturing capabilities. The CEO wants to take it from <1000/yr up to ~10,000/yr.

I suspect they will also drop a few of the planned models, too. They do kinda look all the same, don't they? If I was running the show, I'd cut it down to 3 manageable platforms: The girly little Elan-Elise cabrio (iPOD Nano), Espirit Coupe/Targa for middle age men(iPOD 32GB), and then a 4 door concept family hauler (iPHONE).

 

They use engines from Toyota Camry......

 

Not that I am supporting these models, but Porsche arguably has 16 or so versions that all look the same. They are all 911 based cars, but never the less listed as different models.

 

The advantage of a Toyota engine is cheap to buy (for Lotus), cheap maintenance for the owner, and very reliable. Add that to a lightweight body, and the engine will seem very fast!

 

Agree, they all look identical to me. Very disappointing.

 

Yeah, the Toyota engine is absolutely great. If the rest of the car was built as well as the engines I would love it! Also between the IS-F and the LFA it's pretty ridiculous to claim that Toyota can't make a great performance engine.

Anyway, these are just concepts so who knows how they will change before production, but the Elan 2+2 sure looks great. It's lighter and more power than the 911, with mid-engine.

 

Yes but they are all 911 as well. There are supposed to be different cars...

 

They should've called them: Esprit S, Esprit, Esprit Cabrio, Esprit Sedan