2011 Lotus Evora 2+2 on 2040-cars

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Next Lotus Elise to draw from its roots

Recently-appointed Lotus CEO Jean-Marc Gales told Autocar that work on the new Lotus Elise, which is coming in 2020, is already underway, and thanks to growing sales, the automaker is set to make a profit for the first time in 20 years. Gales also dropped some details about the new sports cars' design philosophy and underpinnings. According to the report, the new Elise will utilize the same aluminum chassis technology found in the original Elise and won't bear any resemblance to the 2010 Elise concept. Instead, the upcoming vehicle will uphold its roots with a lightweight design that emphasizes driver involvement at an affordable price. The new Elise is rumored to weigh in at roughly 1,984 pounds, almost 384 pounds more than the original Elise. In order to meet US crash ratings, the Elise will most likely be wider, but have the same length as the current model. Power will probably come from a Toyota unit producing between 134 horsepower and 245 horsepower. The Elise is expected to come to the US where it will be offered with a manual and automatic transmission, which will both come from Toyota as well. Gales claims Lotus has more orders now than in any year in the last 10 years, with the US being one of the automaker's most important markets. Related Video:

Lotus Evora, Exige, and Elise add lightness to Geneva

The folks at Lotus have been quite busy over the past few months adding lightness to their vehicles. Since December, the company has introduced lighter, quicker versions of the Evora, Exige, and Elise, and all three members of the trio are present at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show. Each one is special in its own way, but if you crave a nimble sports car, you probably wouldn't be disappointed with any of these new models. The Evora Sport 410 is the most luxurious member of the bunch, at least by Lotus standards. At 2,921 pounds, it's also the heaviest, but a 410-horsepower 3.5-liter supercharged V6 makes this one the most powerful, too. The coupe can rocket to 60 miles per hour in 3.9 seconds and to a 186-mph top speed. Lotus will make just 150 of these special Evoras per year, and they'll have carbon fiber parts for the roof, tailgate, sports seats, and more. Best of all, this will be the only one of these three that will get a North American version. The Exige Sport 350 Roadster is the coolest member of this group, featuring tartan seats that we absolutely love. It's also the quickest of the three, reaching 60 mph in just 3.7 seconds, and it tops out at 170 mph. The rapid sprint is possible because the 345-hp 3.5-liter supercharged V6 only needs to push 2,480 pounds. The Elise Cup 250 rounds out the group with the lightest weight at 2,053 pounds (2,030 pounds with the optional Carbon Aero Package) but the least power at 243 hp. However, it certainly isn't slow with a 60-mph run in 3.9 seconds and a top speed of 154 mph. Lotus plans to make just 200 of them year each year. If you could pick any one of the three, which would you choose? The Evora might be the most livable every day but chucking around the Elise could be a barrel of fun. There're also those fantastic seats in the Exige. Let us know in Comments which one you want the most.

Lotus Type 66 is the Can-Am race car that never was

Most car reveals for Pebble Beach are all-new luxury and supercars, faithful recreations of classics, or some unique restomods. What Lotus has revealed isn't really any of those. The Type 66, while looking like a reproduction of a classic race car, is actually completely new, since it was never built in the first place. Apparently Lotus was considering entering the Can-Am racing series back in 1970, a time when the company was seriously competitive in Formula 1. A designer by the name of Geoff Ferris was put in charge, and drawings and models were made, but the project, called Type 66, never went any further. Those Type 66 designs survived, and to help celebrate the company's 75th anniversary, Lotus decided to bring the car to life. And the result is not exactly what it would've been built for 1970. The design is very similar, and the red, white and gold paint is what Lotus would've used. However, the body has been formed from carbon fiber (something that was definitely not used) and makes much more downforce thanks to more than 1,000 hours of aero development. Specifically, it can produce 1,764 pounds of downforce at 150 mph, more than the weight of the vehicle. The frame is more traditional, though, being made of extruded and bonded aluminum and aluminum honeycomb panels. The powertrain is a similar blend of vintage and modern. It uses a pushrod V8 of unknown manufacture, but with forged internals as well as modern fuel and engine management. It makes a huge 819 horsepower at 8,800 rpm and 550 pound-feet of torque at 7,400 rpm. It also has functional and classic-looking gleaming intake trumpets sticking out the back. Safety and features that are thoroughly modern are also included in the Type 66. It has electric power steering, ABS, a modern fuel sell, sequential manual transmission and an anti-stall multiplate clutch. Only 10 Type 66s will be built, one for every race in the 1970 Can-Am season. Each one will cost more than GBP1 million, or $1.27 million. And, unsurprisingly, it's for the track only. Related Video: