Close-up pics of the GT

[dxg999]

I can't speak Italian, so I have no idea of the wheres of the whys of it, but there are plenty of close-up pictures of (an albeit camoflagued) GT at this link:
http://www.drivingitalia.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=33079

They give a really good picture of what this will look like in reality and might spark your interest.

I'd love to know where they were taken, etc. If anyone can translate, I'd be interested...

[PetrolTed]

Interesting. Obviously at quite an advanced stage.

[DodgeyRog]

I spoke to a guy at Lotus on saturday, after selling him a car, on our way from the station to the dealership he expressed deep concern over the picture in Autocar(?), apparently it just been signed off for test, thus the warehouse background surrounded by boxes etc. They're rather concerned that someone had access to the area in question so obviously points to an employee. He seemed quite worried about it.

I think they test them on those hills in Italy for brakes and general running in warmer climates? They tested the Elise there and seem to recall an article back in the early 90's of Esprit SE testing prior to S4 launch in Performance Car.

Looks a nice car, i wonder how much of it is M250 inherited?

>> Edited by DodgeyRog on Monday 25th July 13:26

[telecat]

Ran it thru Babelfish. The original poster was trying to discover what the car was as he had come across it while in Rimini on Holiday. Opinion is split but the majority think it is a Lotus with the rest an Opel Speedster variation. It appears to be testing out there as it had a lot of sensors on it. One poster believes that Lotus spent a lot of time in that area while tetsing the Elise and uses that as evidence it is a Lotus.

[neuron]

All the big companies use a facility in southern Italy for high speed testing and the mountains in Northern Italy/Austria for brake testing.....this was somewhere in between. Not keen on the lip spoiler. I bet the bloke who put all that tape on the front hates ruining it's good looks!!!!

[kevin ritson]

The conservative looks and longer rear overhang (presumably for storage as much as the larger enginr bay) would suggest Lotus are looking at an older demographic than the Elise. But unless they've looked at putting structural beams (surely too much engineering for what they can do right now) in the roof it's likely to have wide sills, which I'd see as a potential stumbling block. Plus with only two seats they're not going to catch the Elise owner starting a family market.

The likely light weight (surely a tonne's the maximum weight they'd want) also suggests not too much in the way of comfort, possibly restricting it's GT qualities.

So what market do people think the car's likely to get? Personally I'd like the car to succeed as I'm sure anyone would.

[DodgeyRog]

But as a pre-production model it has the makings of a tasty looking bit of kit. The Elise looked guff in comparison to the finished peice. I'm guessing they're aiming for the slightly more practical market regardless of age group. Bring it on!!!

[85S3na]

This is definetely registered as a Lotus, as per the databases insurances companies use for on-line insurance quotes (based on the registration number) - however the database doesn't show what type of Lotus (it assumes it's an Elise variant) - so not sure if this would be the Esprit replacement or more likely the new Excel.

Either way, it looks great.

Jonathan 85S3NA

[Tuna]

I still can't work out what it's meant to be. The styling doesn't seem to pick up any Lotus cues. It seems to be a straight two seater, but I can't for a minute believe it's the new Esprit. If it's meant to sit between the Elise and the Esprit, it seems to share no family resemblance to either, nor does it sufficiently differentiate itself from the Exige and Elise to be a true mid range machine.

Lotus have said that the mid range machine will be developed after the Esprit.

So either this is a stop-gap machine, or for another client. If it's the Esprit, Lotus are doomed. After the episode of top gear with the Ferrari F430, Lotus have got to produce a machine that really competes at the top of the market. This doesn't look to be it.

[neuron]

I really wouldn't worry, this IS NOT the Esprit replacement. Test mules for that have already been seen out and about and it is a totally different machine (longer, wider, V8 burble etc etc etc). This is is more akin to what is being widely named in many mags as Europa. There is a LOT of speculation on LOTS of forums about what is what. THIS IS NOT ESPRIT !!, THIS IS NOT ELISE Mk3, it's already been named in UK car mags as project name Sepang, and as the photo's on an italian site show it has a 4 pot engine (probably turbo'd i.e. VX220 engine). I suppose it all keeps Lotus' profile up in the media.