The new Lotus Elite concept was the only car out of the 5 new concepts that Lotus unveiled much before the official Paris unveiling. If the Esprit is a supercar like a 458 Italia and the Eterne is a 4-door GT like the Rapide, the new Elite is a 2+2 GT like an Aston Martin DB9. Under the hood is the same 620 PS 720Nm high-revving 5.0 litre V8 that’s we’ve seen in all the big-powered new Lotus cars that were unveiled at Paris.
“There’s no denying that the Elite is breathtakingly beautiful to look at but it’s so much more than that, it’s a car that over delivers in all other aspects as well. One could say it’s a car of perfect contradictions, it’s compact yet spacious, high performing yet low emitting, lightweight yet still reassuringly solid. It’s a car that we are exceptionally proud of at Lotus and we truly believe that there is nothing else like it out there both in terms of styling and performance,” says Lotus CEO Dany Bahar.
“Make no mistake, there’s a definite market requirement for the Elite – it’s the ultimate sports car feel with comfort and space. There will always be those who believe that Lotus should stick to small sports cars but we didn’t take the decision to design something like the Elite lightly, it’s based on months of careful research and planning. It’s worth noting that total 2+2 production represented over 20 per cent of Lotus build between 1948 and 1996 (pre small car platform) and 11 per cent over all, this sector has been very successful for us in the past and now the Elite raises the benchmark higher still,” he added.
Lotus intends to put the Elite into production in early 2014 with an estimated price tag of £115,000. For comparison’s sake, an Aston Martin DB9 goes for between £122k to £132k.
Look after the jump for more pix and a video of the new Lotus Elite. The video has a very short 3D animation of the car’s convertible roof folding down around the 1 minute and 25 second mark. Of course, it’s still a concept car for now with no working rolling chassis – the car hopefully will be put into production by early 2014.
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Boring.. Lotus is losing their touch
A folding metal roof is all the rage right now…
but a full electrochromic glass roof will be more awesome, cuz you’ll get more space in the back and in the boot, the full GT experience
Take lesson from the ferrari california = rear bench is almost useless, unless you bring your kids , and Maserati Grancabrio has excellent rear legroom, but the boot is so small, there wont be any weekend getaway for 4…
Lotus quite up to date with the world that now is favorite 4 seater sport car like Porsche panamera… even lotus lack 2 door behind
cabin looks like a prius lol
naughty looking face at the back….haha
is the instrument meter full LCD? no needles? nice… really 21st century item.
I’m in love…. this is one of the most beautiful Lotus being produced.
Head light shape remind me on the RX-8, argh… too bad.
Elan looks much better.
Elan’s design is quite boxy,perhaps inspired by the folded paper design of Lotus Esprit but Elite has a different styling which much more ‘Elite’ than other Lotus.
beautiful!!!
At last Lotus built a really nice car to look not only to drive…..
The front looks like S2000 from the front view.
aston martin flow
lotus got an italian job
rumor said that tune group will buy major stake in lotus. can paul verify this?