2011 Lotus Evora 2+2, Premium And Sport, (on Mso) on 2040-cars

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The black and gold Lotus Evora Sport 410 GP Edition is heading to America

Few race teams have such deeply iconic liveries as Team Lotus. From the Gold Leaf cars from the late 1960s to the bright yellow Camel cars that lasted until the early 1990s, arguably none is more iconic than the John Player Special cars that brought world championships to Emerson Fittipaldi and Mario Andretti. Now that same sleek black and gold paint scheme can be had on the new Lotus Evora Sport 410 GP Edition. Even better, it's heading to America. While the GP Edition isn't anything more than a special paint scheme, what a wonderful design it is. The livery is based on the John Player Special Team Lotus cars that competed in Formula One between 1972 and 1986. The black paint is accented with gold stripes along the hood, fenders, doors, and rocker panel. Gold Evora Sport 410 logos adorn the rear while a "Word Champions" emblem flanks the engine cover. The Evora Sport 410 is the lighter, faster version of the thoroughly reworked Evora 400 that we drove last year. Lotus says it's the fastest road car the automaker has ever built. It hits 60 miles per hour in 3.9 seconds and tops out at 190 mph. They US version has been specially curated by Lotus engineers in order to be both light and meet federal crash test standards. Unfortunately, Lotus is only building 150 total each year for worldwide markets. Related Video:

Lotus Evija X track special appears in spy photos at the Nurburgring

Few people would say the Lotus Evija is lacking in performance. It's meant to make just shy of 2,000 horsepower and is light for an electric car at around 3,700 pounds. But apparently Lotus wants to go further. These spy shots reveal a wild track-only special that's clearly labeled the Lotus Evija X testing at the Nurburgring. We're assuming this X will be substantially lighter than a regular Evija. It has a bare carbon body with seemingly fewer individual pieces. The headlights are gone and so are the rear windows. The interior appears gutted, too. That carbon body is far from stock, too. It's much wider and has all manner of downforce-producing add-ons. The front has a massive front splitter and canards and cutouts above the front wheels. The sides even have wide splitters with struts. And the X's crown aero accessory is that enormous wing that rises well above the roof.  The wide body also encompasses fat slick racing tires that are almost certainly not street legal. They bear the Pirelli P Zero name on the sidewalls, and they're wrapped around center-lock wheels. AP Racing brakes are tucked inside. There are of course plenty of questions surrounding the Evija X. It's definitely a track-only machine, but is it a one-off, or is it going to be sold in extremely limited numbers to select buyers? Maybe Lotus wants to take the Evija racing? Though it seems more like a rules-be-damned type of car like the Pagani Zonda R. Or maybe the Volkswagen ID.R, the fastest electric car to lap the 'Ring, would be a closer analogue to the Evija X. The spy photographer that provided these photos said the track was rented out for the day by Lotus, and some sort of notary was on hand, likely to certify a lap time. If Lotus is gunning for an EV lap record there, the Evija R is going to be outrageously fast. The ID.R's time sits at a shocking 6:05.336. And if the Lotus tops it, it would become the second fastest overall car at the 'Ring. We'll definitely be looking forward to more details and an eventual lap time. Related video:

Lotus hiring 100 after securing lb100m investment

Lotus is getting a shot in the arm courtesy of corporate parent DRB-Hicom, which has announced a 100-million pound ($152.3M USD at today's rates) investment in the Hethel, UK-based manufacturer. The troubled brand was also in the news last week, with DRB announcing a new, three-year plan that would see variants of existing models introduced.
The money will create 100 new jobs in Hethel, with 45 new engineers, 40 manufacturing operatives and 18 university grads joining the team. Lotus has already seen an uptick in sales this year, according to a Norfolk-based news site, with 40 to 45 cars being produced per week and 722 road cars and 45 race cars sold between January and May. Even sales in the UK have seen a big jump - Lotus only moved 70 units in 2012, but it's already sold 80 cars in the first half of 2013.
Better yet, Lotus is citing an increased demand for its cars around the globe as the motive behind the new hires. While still quite uncertain, Lotus looks like it might finally be on the right track.