Bond may have long since abandoned the Lotus brand in favour of Aston, but that’s not to say that the embattled carmaker is dead and buried. In a recent interview with , Lotus CEO Mike Kimberly announced that the company is finally overcoming its financial woes and is on the brink of revealing a new 2+2 coupé and the next-generation Esprit.Evo, Lotus CEO Mike Kimberly announced that the company is finally overcoming its financial woes and is on the brink of revealing a new 2+2 coupé and the next-generation Esprit.content here
The upcoming Esprit has been in development for the past few years, but the company’s mixed fortunes (encompassing debts in the region of R800 million and the threat of a potential Proton takeover) have hindered the project’s progress.
According to Kimberley, the debts have now been cleared thanks to an altered business plan that sees the company working on a 65 unit per week basis and eliminating extant stock. He also announced that the new Esprit will emerge towards the end of 2009 and will receive its powerplant from a “a very well-respected prestige carmaker.”
Kimberly is reluctant to go into any further detail, but speculations as to who the mystery benefactor could be currently point to either BMW or, possibly, Aston Martin. An alliance with Aston does appear to fit the bill, given its association with Lotus in the development of chassis and suspension components for the Vanquish.
Word on the design of the new car is similarly nebulous at the moment, and despite the glut of heavily disguised test mules seen in the wild, the design has already been sent back to the drawing board once. This quest for excellence in the design and engineering of the new model is understandable, given the near-R1 million price tag the car will command. At that price, the new car had better shake off the shoddy mechanicals and pyrotechnic nature of its electrical system of its evocatively wedge-shaped predecessor.
A more intriguing project is a 2+2 coupé which will slot into the company’s model line up between the Elise/Exige/Europa and the aforementioned Esprit. Codenamed Project Eagle, the concept version that was shown to has been described as a “Bertone-bodied Dino 308GT4 with a modern Lotus twist.”
The coupe will continue on the lightweight theme of the company’s present offerings, but will not utilise the chassis from the Elise. Instead, an aluminium tub accompanied by fibreglass panels will form the basis of the new car. A mid-mounted 3,2-litre V6 sourced from Toyota will most likely provide the power and will deliver around 223 kW to the rear wheels. The concept will break cover at next year’s London Motor Show and sales are expected to commence in early 2009.
It is encouraging to see Lotus gaining some momentum after a difficult couple of years, and even with a strong five-year plan on the table, projects such as a Lotus-tuned Proton Satria Neo have had to be shelved in order to make room for the Esprit…still, in most people’s books, that’s a fair trade off!
