1988 Lotus Esprit Turbo Se on 2040-cars

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Xcar tosses the Lotus Evora 400 around in the rain

Lotus appears to be blooming again after a rocky period, and the company is launching the Evora 400 here in December for $89,900. Xcar just got a hold of one of these updated coupes on a rainy day to find out if it can be a Porsche competitor. With 400 horsepower, the aptly named Evora 400 tops the Porsche Cayman GT4 by 15 ponies, and with a purported sprint to 60 miles per hour in 4.1 seconds, the Lotus also nudges out the Porsche by a tenth of a second. So on paper, the two coupes are quite comparable. Of course, Xcar also digs deep into more subjective factors, like how it actually feels behind the wheel. If you think you prefer a little more wind in your hair, the company is developing an Evora 400 roadster, too. Rather than an actual droptop, the roof will reportedly consist of two, removable carbon-fiber panels. It'll arrive on these shores in the coming years as part of Lotus' re-emergence.

Lotus said to be planning new sedan, crossover [w/poll]

Lotus has been in limbo in recent years. After former CEO Dany Bahar revealed his plans to build six new models, its parent company was sold, Bahar was sacked, his plans were canceled and a new CEO was hired in the form of former Peugeot chief Jean-Marc Gales. The industry has been waiting ever since to find out what Gales would do with the storied marque, and now we seem to have some indication.
Reports coming in from Malaysia indicate that Jean-Marc presented to the board of parent company Proton a plan for Lotus to build a new sedan and crossover. Though details are scarce, and may seem downright blasphemous for an automaker that built is reputation on lightweight sports cars, it would not be the first time that the House that Colin Built has toyed with either idea.
The company presented the APX crossover concept at the 2006 Geneva Motor Show, and the Eterne sedan concept as part of Bahar's far-reaching plans at the 2010 Paris Motor Show. The new plans may use these concepts as starting points or could go another direction entirely.

Lotus team out of Le Mans, full driver list published

We can scratch off one more car from the list for the 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Lotus T129 LMP1 car has been dropped from the entry list of the 82nd running of the historic race, with organizers citing "a lack of preparation" as the reason. On a more positive note, the list of 168 drivers in 56 vehicles has been officially published for the June 14 race.
Like the Lotus team currently in Formula One, the Lotus T129 uses the iconic British brand's name and colors but is actually built by a separate company. It previously ran a Lola chassis in the LMP2-class (pictured above). The Le Mans organizers claim the car will likely be on display during the 24-hour race, but it won't make it's competition debut until the World Endurance Championship round at the Circuit of the Americas in September. The T129 is being replaced by an Oreca 03 chassis with Nissan power in the LMP2 class, entered by Millennium Racing.
The Lotus' retirement came as the teams had to send in the names of the three drivers nominated to race each car. This year there are racers from 26 countries with the most coming from France (39), Britain (29), the US (17) and Italy (15). The latest tally of entries breaks down to 9 LMP1s, 19 LMP2s, 9 LM GTE Pros, 18 LM GTE Ams and the Nissan ZEOD RC as the experimental Garage 56 entry.