Lotus teamed up with hip hop artist and producer Swizz Beatz (a.k.a. the husband of world-famous R&B singer Alicia Keys) to make a special version of the Evora GTE, and the outcome of this collaboration has just been unveiled at the Alvin Ailey’s Opening Night Gala in New York. However, the only thing that makes it different from the standard Evora GTE - which is already a sort of special edition in its own right - is its chrome ruby red paint job with black accents. Everything else is the same: it has a 3.5-liter supercharged V6 delivering 444 hp, modified rear wing, enlarged air-intakes and uses the same ultra-light materials, which allows it to be 100 kg lighter than the Evora S it derives from.

Swizz Beats will continue to cooperate with the British brand in future promotional and commercial events, a partnership that resembles what Range Rover did when they chose Victoria Beckham as testimonial for the launch and customization of the Evoque. One thing though: no bling, no jumping suspension.. we just cannot see the hip-hop touch on this car. Not that we are missing it.

via | AutoEvolution

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A few months ago legendary ‘The Who’ frontman and car-lover Roger Daltrey, CBE, teamed up with premium British sports car manufacturer Lotus to design a one-off Lotus Evora to be actiouned off for charity. The outcome of the project is the pictured Roger Daltrey Lotus Evora S 2+2 Coupe, which will be auctioned for Teenage Cancer Trust on Thursday 1 December.

The most distictive traits of the car are a thin red line the graces front lip, side sills and rear bumper, logos of The Who on the sides, Union Jack in shades of grey on the lower sides and rear spoiler and Mr.Daltrey’s autograph, elements that characterize the style of the interior as well. “It’s not every day you get asked to design for one of the legendary British car makers - said Roger Daltrey - As the car is being auctioned for Teenage Cancer Trust, I decided to get some advice from a teenager, Toby, who is 18 and the son of John Entwistle’s roadie. We came up with the ideas together.”

The model uses the same 3.5-litre V6 engine (delivering 350 hp and 400 Nm of peak torque) and IPS automatic gearbox as the stadard Lotus Evora S. The car is expected to fetch between 50,000£ and 70,000£ (about 60,000-80,000€ / 80,000-110,000$), and the sale will take place at a Bonhams auction house location in Surrey, England. Phone, online and absentee bids will be accepted, here’s the auction link.

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Lotus isn’t exactly planning a repeat of the Paris show at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show, but after a new Elise S and Evora GTE, apparently more will be announced. To start with the new Lotus Elise S will replace the SC model and will offer a new 1.8-litre supercharged engine with 220 hp. It’s aim is also to introduce reduced fuel consumption and emissions on the model.

A Lotus Evora GTE special edition model will also appear with more than 438 hp. New technology being presented includes the Lotus Serial Precision Shift transmission on the Elise and the Intelligent Precision Shift on the Evora S. After that we’ll get another two Lotus models at Frankfurt.

Details are utterly scarce right now (damn you Lotus), but the PR spin is that one will be one of the quickest roadgoing Lotus’ ever produced and the other will mark Lotus’ return to an adrenalin-filled motorsport discipline.

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Here is the first image of a new supersports Lotus Evora to be released. The new top-end sports car will be anticipated by this Evora GTE Road Car Concept prototype to debut at the Pebble Beach Concours in the next few days. The British sports car will be equipped with a 3.5-litre V6 Toyota engine producing about 426 hp. The transmission will be a sequential racing gearbox and other racing features will include front and rear spoilers, and alloy wheels shod with Pirelli P-Zero Corsa tyres.

The new concept car takes its inspiration from the Lotus Evora GTE competition car and we understand will have a 2012 production debut. The model will appear alongside the final edition matte black Lotus Exige swansong for the US market. More images to come from the Pebble Beach event.

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When you think of Italian police cars you might have in mind something like a very mean Alfa, or even a Ferrari. But after the state Polizia got their Lamborghini Gallardo police car, the Carabinieri have turned to Lotus instead for its highway vehicle. Hence we get a Lotus Evora S Carabinieri highway patrol car, decked out in full livery and complete with stuff like a fridge for transporting organs, emergency detection system and Enhanced Vehicle Automation (EVA) system for on-the-ground navigation and surveillance.

The Lotus Evora S are licenced to the Carabinieri for the next two years and will undergo maintenance checks at Lotus’ Italian network. Only specifically trained drivers will be able to use the vehicles, and the pics show Carabinieri track testing the Evora S at Hethel facilities. Will it be a boost to the Lotus image in Italy? The company already has a number of Italian executives in its echelons, and this is just another example of the Little Italy happening in Lotus right now as it gets some new product designs out there from former Ferrari employees.

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In a detailed report from InsideLine, Lotus CEO Dany Bahar is looking to larger car manufacturers to buy Lotus so that the company can continue to develop its standalone models and make the investment required to build its line-up. The publication mentions a name like Toyota as an example of the kind of pairing up the CEO would like to see, as he embarks on a mission to do the following:

• expand the Lotus product portfolio
• reposition (we add relaunch) the brand as a premium marque competing with the likes of Porsche
• increase annual sales to six to eight thousand units a year by 2015

With that plan in mind, it’s clear that added investment and a significant backer is probably required. In the meantime, amongst all the marketing glitter from Lotus of late, the road to product development has been a rocky one. After recent reports that the Lotus Elan is being shelved, Autocar now says that Lotus has a hit list of 150 things it wants to change about the Elise and Evora.

Continue reading: Lotus sale and 150 changes to Elise and Evora?

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Before Lotus kicks off with a complete overhaul of its range starting with the Esprit, we could see a number of heavy modifications made on other models, including a new Lotus Exige and revamped Evora. The reports come from Autocar who quote CEO Dany Bahar as “hinting” at a possible new Exige model at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show.

The new Exige would be in addition to a refresh of the Lotus Evora ready for 2012 and that could sport a new cabin showing off a modern Lotus interior. Lotus will be outsourcing its cabin builds to the CSI company in Germany, known for its work on the Audi R8 and Mercedes SLS. The Evora range should also extend beyond the recent Evora S to include other models.

Further reports from the publication suggest that the new Lotus Esprit will get a V8 engine from Hethel, while the Elan and other models will receive V6’s. More to come from the show in March.

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After a quite stunning line-up of Lotus models at the 2010 Paris Motor Show, for quantity if nothing else, there haven’t been many indications from the company of where it’s going, substance-wise. We were worried for a while there that after seeing the glossy Lotus magazine, the weird and eclectic conceptual art campaign, and a series of highly polished design videos, that Dany Bahar and his Lotus team were more about swagger than substance.

Which is why we were especially curious to check out this Autocar test drive video of the Lotus Evora. After reports that the only Lotus to get an engineering overhaul was going to be the new Esprit, we also heard that Lotus intended on raising quality to compete with the likes of other supercar and luxury car makers like Ferrari and Aston Martin.

So we’ll take future Lotus plans as playing in that field - upping its game through quality build and technology and not just fancy marketing. That will obviously help with image, but Lotus has plenty of pull on its own if it can back up its snazzy new look. Autocar claims that at the moment, the Evora S is the most important car in the Lotus line-up (suggesting that it won’t be axed?) and it should give us some indication of where the company is going in its fast-moving, new developmental phase.

According to the test drive, the cabin has a much better build quality than the previous model and that’s just the start. In terms of driving the new Evora S, it seems that what was a great driver’s car at the beginning - with fantastic cornering and stability - just got itself some “proper supercar performance”, and superior torque right across the range; which all means that it’s a “riot” to drive. Is Dany Bahar putting his money where his mouth is? If this video is anything to go by, yes. In English terms it’s “bloody marvellous”.

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In very curious reports, it’s said that the Lotus Evora could get axed in what would be another big decision for the future Lotus range from new CEO Dany Bahar. The Evora model was revealed at the London motor show in 2008 but reports from es.autoblog are that it could come to the end of its career in 2013.

The British sports car was created to compete with the Porsche Cayman and represents the first attempt for Lotus at emerging from its purist sports car niche with models like the Elise and the Exige. The Evora is Lotus’ vision of a granturismo model, such that there was even talk at one stage of an open-top model. It looks like there may not be a spot for it in the future of Lotus product line-up. In fact, the model was missing from the video series on Lotus product that we saw recently.

The arrival of the new Lotus Elise, Elan and Esprit models means that things might have been getting crowded in the Lotus corner of the sports car segment and so to avoid suffocation, something has got to be removed. The specifics are that the Evora was too timid in its attempt to follow the quality and luxury finish typical of a Lotus and after the Paris show revealing of new Lotus models it looks like we’re definitely going in a different direction.

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Lotus chose the first official day of summer (yesterday, but in the North of Italy you wouldn’t never have known it) to tease us with the launch of their new model or as the British sports car maker calls it the ‘dawn of a new era’ leading up to the car’s unveiling at the Paris show.

Whether it will be an Evora convertible or the long delayed Esprit we’ll know for sure in less than a 100 days, but we expect that Lotus will sending out more teasers over the summer.

After the jump you can read their PR release.

Continue reading: Lotus Teases Us with the Dawning of a New Era

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These Lotus spy shots show a revamped Lotus Exige masquerading as what could possibly be the new future Lotus Esprit. In fact, the rear is almost unbelievable and it is what indicates the new Esprit powertrain, according to reports. There are plans to build a new Lotus Esprit, considered essential to the brand, which would have an impressive power-to-weight ratio.

The new Esprit engine is unknown as yet, but it could be a V8 from Toyota, and it’s not entirely certain how modifications to the aluminium chassis will play out. The project is apparently in a very early stage, and will use a version of Lotus’ Versatile Vehicle Architecture.

The Lotus Esprit would be the top-of-the-range model, described as the “ultimate expression of the brand”. We should soon get a full Lotus product plan from the new CEO Danny Bahar, and reports already show a rough idea of what that will be. The Exige, Europa and Elise will be entry-level models with their four-cylinder engines, while the V6 Evora will take up the middle in the Lotus range, with the Esprit right at the top.

Lotus Esprit spy shots

Source | Autocar

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The Lotus Evora Type 124 is the star of the Lotus stand at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show, although the Elise and Exige Cup model year 2010 were also on display. The track-prepared Evora is equipped with the V6 3.5-litre from Toyota with more than 400 hp. Weight has been reduced, though, by 200 kg to keep to 1,200 kg overall. The coupe is equipped with a 120-litre capacity fuel tank so that it can compete in the 24-hour Sepang, Silverstone, Nurburgring and Dubai races.

Lotus Evora live pics from Frankfurt

Continue reading: Lotus Evora Type 124 pics from the Frankfurt motor show

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