Earlier today, Lotus Cars Malaysia held a hand-over ceremony for the very last unit of the Lotus Exige LF1 – of which only 81 have been made – in Pavilion KL. The event saw Proton CEO Datuk Abdul Harith Abdullah and Lotus Cars Malaysia head (also Proton R3 boss) Tengku Djan Ley present the keys to owner Datuk Nik Hamdan and his daughter.
Why 81? Well, Lotus has had 81 Grand Prix wins, and each of the numbered Exige LF1s celebrate the victories in chronological order – for example, car #1 commemorates the first victory at Monaco in 1960, while #81 marks Kimi Raikkonen’s 2013 Australian GP win. Nik’s is car #52, which represents the 1973 Austrian GP win by Ronnie Peterson. Nik is in fact one of two Malaysian buyers of the car, we’re told.
Lotus Exige LF1 owners are treated to factory tours for two at Lotus Cars’ Hethel, Norfolk, UK facility and the Lotus F1 Team‘s Enstone headquarters. Also thrown in is a Collector’s Edition Owner’s Pack which includes an Exige LF1 Membership Card that entitles bearers to discounts on Lotus merchandise. Finally, owners get a half-scale replica of Romain Grosjean‘s helmet, a Lotus F1 key fob and a Lotus F1 USB stick.
The F1-inspired black and gold paint scheme with red accents do make it look good. Peeking through those gold alloys (17s front, 18s rear), wrapped with Pirelli P-Zero Trofeo R tyres, are AP Racing four-piston callipers and two-piece ventilated and cross-drilled 332 mm discs.
Other features include an aero package comprising an unmissable front splitter, rear diffuser and rear spoiler, a free-flowing exhaust system with bypass valve, Lotus Dynamic Performance Management (Touring, Sport and DPM off modes) and track-tuned four-channel ABS.
Inside, the trim is in leather and “technical fabric” with plenty of gold contrast piping and stitching. ‘LF1’ logos are embroidered on the headrests; ‘Lotus F1 Team’ logos on the seat backs. Completing the package are an individually-numbered carbon fibre build plate and CF engine plate.
The limited-edition is based on the Exige S, so a 3.5 litre DOHC VVT-i V6, fortified with a Harrop HTV 1320 supercharger utilising Eaton TVS technology (how exciting does that sound?), feeds 350 PS at 7,000 rpm and 400 Nm of torque at 4,500 rpm to the rear wheels via a six-speed manual ‘box. The car reaches 100 km/h from rest in four seconds before maxing out at 274 km/h.
Of course, for Malaysia, the Lotus Exige LF1 was offered on a special-order basis. We’re told the starting price was RM438,777, before taxes. In comparison, the regular Exige S Coupe, which is officially part of Lotus Cars Malaysia’s range, will set you back RM405,777, nett before OTR costs.
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Let’s hope she’s a good driver
As long as it’s using Toyota engine, she will not face any problem and yet she has full confidence with it thanks to the Toyota engine.
Lotus are Toyota Camry engines fixed to a Go-Kart body.
It’s not that simple
And if you able to date her… then can test drive BOTH (I mean her sport car and her normal car).
Damm…… thought you were refering to “car-cherng”.
RM400k+ but inside looks like satria neo???
The other way round, tt’s neo’s dash design derived from Lotus car
interior looks even worse than neo. even worse than saga
Who cares when most cars on road cannot beat the sprint
Obviously you’re not aware of Lotus design and styling principle
Lotus has always prided itself in awesomeness through light weight. Hence, the bare chasis bottom – to trim away the useless fat. But I think it looks great. Plus, you could put a small bag or a handbag between the driver & passenger (underneath the dash).
What a waste of money buy this car, better buy nissan gtr ada uuummmph. Lotus lousy car not excited to have this car . Sam looo no resale value.
because they can.
by the way gtr35 is so common nowadays. and it’s bulky.
He has money he can buy any car, unlike you
i think they already have GTR. so, maybe just wanna buy other car that what she/he wanna try.
Did Proton begged the Datuk to buy their car since Proton has low sale. Even the Datuk also doesn’t want the car so gave to her daughter.
Yes, you’re right…..Proton must be busy globe trotting to beg the other 80 buyers.
What a show off!
better use the 400K and buy other cars that are better in performance, handling and style….
Finally…can start plan 2 close down from Proton
Better use that amount for other better car! Inside design outdated.
That chick is hot..Hnnnghhhh
With such an interior, now i know y lotus dun make much money….
power window ada warrenty ka?
Rich buyer dun even care about that
Datuk Nik Hamdan is the Company Director of Weststar Group of Companies. One of its main customers is the malaysia’n army. so now you know how this fellow can afford to buy a lotus for his daughter. with GST coming, the army will have more money to buy vehicles from Weststar. Malaysia Boleh!
wrong datuk nik hamdan la, this one is from barakah petroleum not weststar
same laaa
Still on normal disc brake, c’mon lotus? Where is carbon ceramic?
fooi yo…datuk’s toy car
the buyer owns the most advance helicopter fleet in southeast asia. His chopper count is more than what the army, air force and civilian owns.. He buys helicoptes like it is a candy….
THe interior is hideous .
What’s with the 2-tone and silver color at the bottom.
It seems like just ‘bare metal’
I have to agree. The exterior of the car looks beautiful. You walk around it, take in all the curves and creases, then when you’re satisfied, you open the door.
“What the heck is this? Did I open the door of another car by mistake?” you might find yourself asking.
Perceived quality (which is already quite important in the B-segment car market, by the way) is extremely disappointing here in a RM439k sports car. They really need a serious discussion and revamp of their interior if they intend to attract new buyers to their brand. I get that their intention is to have a minimalist cabin but an interior can still be spartan, minimalist, without looking so much like an afterthought. Having the floor sides looking like bare metal is like they neglected to put the cladding in. And…yeah…they should really ditch all that silver paint and accents in the cabin, including the one around the steering wheel, handbrake lever and shift knob.
The only thing aesthetically redeeming about this car has got to be the exterior, which is quite handsome for me.
I know Lotus’ ethos around building their minimalist, lightweight cars but, come on, you have to be honest about that cabin. It’s not the most inviting now, is it?
Obviously, if the customer is looking for a bit more creature confort, there is always the Evora and if one can wait, the new Esprit.
The Elise and Exige has always been minimilist in design right from the get go.
In malaysia, these will be exclusively rich mens play toys. If they want creature conforts, there is always thier fleet of luxobarges to choose from.
Oh, I’m not talking about creature comforts. Just a better product impression. Minimalism doesn’t have to look unappealing to the masses. Could be as simple as choosing a different color for parts or changing the shape of something. More attention to detail, etc.
Buy before gst. :D
Ha, he bought product of a sinking ship!
As if other companies never be bailed out
at first when I saw the interior, I thought i was in the year 2000.
Still you only can smoke this car only in dream, lol
When I saw Corolla Altis interior, it reminds me old style KE-70
Lucky daughter, do you bother if me driving you around? :D
It’s performance not bad, 0-100 km/h only 4 seconds can fight gtr35 ..
lol…u gonna be serious bro, this car performance is average for what it can do , it only special that it is a limited edition lotus pride’s road car…that is, and it will be track performance more than on road performance , Gtr35 is on another level to compete with this one here
All the money proton made in malaysia selling their cars to the poor and marginalised ended up in norwich propping up lotus and their high pay and first world economy.
If Porsche had continued building cars according to tradition i.e. rear drive rear engined cars, they would be bankrupt. it took a guy with great foresight to build SUV’s and front engined sports cars for porsche and it became the most profitable manufacturer in the world.
When will lotus follow suit? or are they still napping.
i spot a Hublot watch on his wrist.
Why would a gurl want this kind of car??? Why datuk want to buy this for his daughter?? A coupe bmw or merz or audi???
because he already have bmws, mercs and audis parked somewhere around malaysia.
Obviously if her father can buy this Lotus, she would also have a BMW, Audi, Mini, Porsche,etc, in their family garage.
barakah petroleum’s boss. also has a chrome gold aventador
this car is spare change for him
I would really love to own a Lotus!!!
It’s a limited edition car. Most likely will be kept in storage and price will increase. They will not care whether the dashboard looks dated or not.
When you driving this car, it’s time for you to feel the steering, the throttle, the handling…. Why you so concern about the dashboard?
Female driver + Manual Car = ???
Yerp, founder of Barakah Offshore.. Other then Aventador, he got 911 Porsche, BMW 5 Series, BMW 7 Series, Merc S Class Hybrid, Lotus Elise and Alphard too..
How do you know what car he has?
How do you know what car he has?
Mate, how do u know he owns all those cars? you’re such a creepy person, mate.