Elise 99T
Yet another limited edition Elise from Lotus
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Lotus are once again looking back to their glory days as inspiration for another limited edition Elise.
Unusually though - and to the dismay of some UK buyers - the new car will be a left hand drive car destined for mainland Europe only.
Limited editions are normally produced during quiet times of production so that a number of cars can be made without waiting for orders specifying particular trim and or colour combinations. Lotus has latched onto this in recent years and produced a number of these 'specials'.
The Lotus Elise Type 99T is a celebration the 1987 Lotus 99T which holds the honour of being the last ever Lotus Formula One car to win a Grand Prix.
The Lotus Type 99T bore huge changes both inside and out from its predecessor the Type 98T. The first and most noticeable change was that of the livery. Gone was the world famous black and gold JPS colour scheme, now replaced by the bright yellow and blue of new sponsors Camel.
Changes under the skin were even more significant. Moving away from the Renault powerplants that had been employed since the Type 93T in 1983, the 99T harnessed a new twin-turbo Honda unit capable of pushing out more than 800bhp. Perhaps the most significant change however was the reintroduction
of the revolutionary 'Active' suspension system. Active suspension had been in development for a few years at Lotus and had even been tried out on
previous Formula One cars. With the introduction of the system on the 99T Lotus yet again changed the way Formula One cars were designed. Active suspension was eventually outlawed as it gave massive performance and
handling advantages.
Driven by Ayrton Senna and Satoru Nakajima during the 1987 season, the 99T proved to be one of Lotus' more successful modern day Formula One cars.
Wins in Monaco and Lotus' last ever victory in Formula One at Detroit meant that Ayrton Senna and Team Lotus finished third in the World Drivers
Championship standings and the Constructors' Championship respectively.
The 99T Elise won't go quite as quick, but it will be the same colour 
. Painted in unique 'Saffron Yellow' the car comes with subtle blue detailing to mirror that of the original race car. Unique black Lotus styled eight spoke wheels complete the racing look from the exterior. The interior is furnished in perforated black leather sports seats and door panels, complemented by a black alcantara dash panel. Cross-drilled brakes, CD player, black soft-top and black carpets complete the look.
Commercial Director of Lotus Cars, Tengku Hasmadi got quite excited about the yellow car: "I cannot think of a better way to celebrate Lotus' illustrious history than the Elise Type 99T. Sharing not only the colour scheme, but also the Lotus characteristics of 'Performance through Lightweight' and world beating ride and handling, the Lotus Elise Type 99T is one of the most desirable sportscars on the road today."
lotusv8 said: It aint a Lotus at heart if its got a Honda engine in it.
V8Thunder is right...
Why don't you tell that to Ayrton Senna via www.afterlifetelegrams.com/AFTERLIFE/
>> Edited by Bonce (moderator) on Tuesday 25th February 09:35
LotusV8 said: NO. No damn Jap Honda engines in the Lotus. MAKE YOUR OWN DAMN ENGINES LOTUS! I swear, when lotus brings over the Elise to the U.S., if they put a Honda engine in it, they just lost a customer. It aint a Lotus at heart if its got a Honda engine in it.
The beauty of an off the shelf engine is that someone else has already spent millions developing/testing it...so they can then sell them to Lotus at under £1K per engine.
Any grease monkey can work on a mass produced engine but you wouldn't want anyone except Lotus touching your precious Lotus engine, with proper authorised parts and that would cost BIG $$$$.
www.brandes-dschuedow.de/lotus_esthi/
V6 Bi-Turbo power in an Elise - quite tasty, quite expensive. Oh, and its yellow, too.
Felix.
>> Edited by Feuers on Tuesday 25th February 12:46
I have seen this countless times on the Esprit, and in recent times with the Elise now. If they want a special ed. why not as well as a a snazy colour scheme, work over the motor and suspension, maybe special tyres, different wheel design, new steering wheel and trim material...
Or are they so into cheep is cheerful and think Lotus buyers are as intelligent as Jade from Big Brother?
They just always seem to be their own worst enemy... then wonder why they can't sell enough cars.
Maybe since one of my cars is in for a respray, I could use the opportunity to make a Lotus special 99T edition with my Esprit with a respray of the body and wheels.... hmmm... need a to order the badges in. 
As for the engine.. huh, well, I can't remember Lotus ever using an engine totally their own, except the Esprit V8 (which was only made so they could sell it to someone else). The reason might be because they are too busy developing engines for other car companies, that pay more than we do.
Regards,
Nicholas
(Esprit SE MY92 , Esprit V8 MY03)
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