1991 Lotus Esprit Turbo Se Coupe 2-door 2.2l on 2040-cars

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Lotus working on a more spacious daily driver with a kinder price

Lotus has another sports car in the works, with a reveal planned for later this year or early next. It could be the second piece of the puzzle former Lotus CEO Jean-Marc Gales spoke of to Automotive News in 2018, saying parent company Geely "has approved three new models: Two sports cars and the third an SUV." The last new serial production car the English carmaker introduced was the Evora in 2009, the penultimate model in a four-car lineup in the UK that includes the Exige and Elise below, the Evija battery-electric hypercar above. Automotive News Europe writes that the coming sports car will be an "entry-level model" and "provide enough interior space for everyday use," based on an interview with new automaker CEO Phil Popham. Entry-level doesn't mean least expensive, though, rather a price range from GBP55,000 to GBP100,000, which is $68,000 to $123,670 in our money. Those figures would be entry-level here in the U.S., where the sole Lotus is the Evora GT and costs $96,950 before destination. In the UK, the Elise Sport 220 is priced at GBP41,655, the Elise Cup 250 at GBP49,555. For reference, a Porsche 718 Cayman begins at GBP44,790 over there, a Jaguar F-Type at GBP54,510.  The second sports car referenced a couple years ago isn't the Evija, if we can believe last month's report from Autocar. The magazine wrote there's a mid-engined hybrid coupe supposedly evoking the Esprit on the way, scheduled for debut the first half of next year. It will slot in above the Evora, which starts at GBP85,900 in GT410 Sport guise in the UK, and produce more than 500 horsepower with help from a mid-mounted Toyota-sourced V6.  Back to that entry-level car, the most surprising news is when AN writes it is "destined to be the company's last combustion-engine model." That begs the question, what happened to the SUV? Patent images of a Lotus people-hauler leaked in 2017, in 2018 the carmaker said the SUV would hit the market by 2022, and in the middle of last year spy shooters caught what we thought to be a Lotus SUV mule hidden under bodywork of Geely's Lync & Co 01. The AN piece mentioned that "Future options could also include SUV or sporting sedan, according to Popham." But if AN has it right about internal combustion engines, the SUV will be a surprise showing before the entry-level sports car, or will be electric.  And what would the end of ICE-powered models do to the chances of the lightweight revival models Lotus fans want?

2015 Spanish F1 Grand Prix makes its Deutsche mark

The first race of the European Formula One season inaugurates the second phase of the Championship. Teams overhaul their cars with the big updates they've been working on since Australia, and at the end of The Battle of Spain we find out how the positions on the field have changed. Mercedes-AMG Petronas driver Nico Rosberg brought a big update to his psychology, straight-up beating teammate Lewis Hamilton to take his first pole position of the season. Mercedes owns the front row and Ferrari maintains its status as primary challenger, Sebastian Vettel lining up in third. Williams proved it's been hitting the books to do better in class, though, Valtteri Bottas slotting into fourth. And Toro Rosso's visit to a track that rewards strong aero rewarded them with the best team grid position since the Italian Grand Prix in 2008: Carlos Sainz secured fifth, ahead of Max Verstappen in sixth. Kimi Raikkonen's bout of Saturday woes – it seems the Finn is always handicapped by lots of tiny issues – continued in Barcelona with one of his sets of prime tires getting cooked by malfunctioning tire warmers. He recovered well enough to take seventh on the grid, but he's got some strong competition ahead of him. He led three other drivers in the Continuous Issues department, Daniil Kvyat unable to wrestle his Infiniti Red Bull Racing higher than eighth, Williams driver Felipe Massa getting it wrong in Turn 3 to fall five places behind his teammate Bottas, and Daniel Ricciardo in the second Red Bull enduring another engine change and sloppy car behavior to get tenth. And while it turned out to be a steady race a little rough around the edges, the positions on the battlefield just might have changed. A little. Of the 66 laps in the race we might have seen Rosberg for three of them – maybe. The German got a smashing start, had a clear lead into Turn 1, and after that we checked in occasionally during his two pit stops and again at the checkered flag. He owned the entire weekend the way we're used to seeing his teammate do, and the cameras left him alone to run his race. No one got within seven seconds of him during the first third, and as the pit stop strategies played out that cushion grew. He finished seventeen seconds ahead of Hamilton, and 45 seconds ahead of third-placed Vettel. Hamilton, on the back foot all three days, stumbled out of the gate.

Lotus Esprit S1 gets wet and wild in 'Forza Horizon 4' James Bond trailer

It only makes sense. When the official trailer for Forza Horizon 4 ( FH4) first debuted at E3, details showed the game is set in Britain. Those who were ahead of the curve might have recognized this as a foreshadowing of sorts. Celebrating the launch of FH4's XBOX One and Windows 10 demo on Sept. 12, Playground Games announced that the next version of the beloved racing simulator will launch with an available Best of Bond pack that includes many of James Bond's storied rides. As expected, the list is heavy on the Aston Martin, but there are plenty of other goodies, too. Included in the 10-car pack are the 1964 Aston Martin DB5, a 1969 Aston Martin DBS, a 1986 Aston Martin V8, a 2008 Aston Martin DBS, a 2015 Aston Martin DB10, a 1974 AMC Hornet X Hatchback, a 1977 Lotus Esprit S1, a 1981 Citroen 2CV6, a 1999 BMW Z8, and a 2010 Jaguar C-X75. If you can name every movie that all of these vehicles are from, pat yourself on the back and grab a martini. View 15 Photos Microsoft is rewarding those who are all-in on FH4. The Best of Bond pack will come with the Ultimate Edition of the game that is allowed an early play date, starting Sept. 28. For those who haven't fully committed, the Best of Bond pack will be available as an add-on for purchase when the game launches globally on Oct. 2. The action-packed trailer shows many of the vehicles transforming or busting out tricks they're known for from the films, including the Lotus emerging from the sea. Although players will not be able to drive any vehicles under water (that we know of), several of the gadgets will make it into the game and will be viewable during Forzavista mode. The '64 DB5 has many of its features, such as the bumper rams and revolving license plate, while the Lotus will have an available body kit, fins and all. The Bond pack also comes with a few features irrelevant to the cars, including two Bond outfits and six "quick chat" phrases that can be used during multiplayer. The pack adds to an already impressive catalogue of vehicles that includes more than 450 different rides. Available now to pre-order, the FH4 Ultimate Edition is priced at $99.99, the Deluxe Edition is $79.99, while the base game is $59.99. For those who love Bond but don't own a gaming system, don't forget about the recently announced DB5 Lego kit.