Lotus has built the last copies of the Elise, Exige and Evora. This marks the end of an extremely important era for the British brand.
Lotus opens a new chapter in its eventful history, in which unfortunately there is no longer room for the Elise, Exige and Evora. The brand therefore says goodbye to the three successful models in one fell swoop, whereby the departure of the Elise and Exige in particular hurts for a while.
With the Elise, Lotus introduced a model in 1996 that was widely praised for its handling and which probably saved the brand from destruction. It was really still a Lotus according to the old principle of Colin Chapman: ‘Simplify, then add lightness’. The Elise started life as a mere 725 kilo two-seater that only needed 120 horsepower to be seriously fast. Especially in the corners, the Elise was impossible to keep up with for many times stronger supercars.
In 2000 the Elise was joined by the Exige based on it. To put it plainly, the closed version of the Elise that sharpened the performance a bit. Like the Elise, the Exige was last delivered to a new generation about ten years ago. Still with the recognizable basic shape, but all with a slightly more modern design. The two still guarantee impressive performance with relatively modest power sources. The power grew with each generation, as did the weight, but the basic principle remained the same.
Just before we could welcome the last generation of the Elise and Exige, Lotus pulled the curtain on the Evora in 2008. A model that had to be more accessible to the general public, so less spartan than its older brothers. It became the only Lotus to appear on the new multi-model platform. Among other things, the brand planned to come up with a new Esprit and Elan – of which there were even concept cars – but they never came, just like the Eterne and the Elite.
The end and the future
So now the curtain falls for these three big names in Lotus history. In total, the Elise, Exige and Evora were good for 51,738 copies. That is no less than half of the total production in the history of the now 73-year-old Lotus. Although it hurts to say goodbye, they will have a warm place in the memory of the brand. Now Lotus is entering a new era. The Lotus Emira still keeps a bit of the old Lotus alive, but in addition there are four EVs, including two SUVs. This will undoubtedly bring an end to the time when people still lived according to Chapman’s credo, but it seems a sensible step for the survival of the Lotus brand.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl