If not the most surprising bit of product development ever announced, it was heartening to see the Lotus Emira Turbo SE confirmed for sale in the UK. The badge is a nice nod to the past (when the future of Lotus looks mighty perilous), and the spec should bring the best from the AMG powertrain. The fact that the SE makes the Emira look as good as it ever has, especially in red with those new wheels, really is the cherry on top. Even at £90k.
But if it’s a stunning red Lotus sports car you’re after, look no further than the PH auctions. Because going under the hammer later this week is an S2 Exige S. And even with strong residuals, it’s not going to cost £90,000. This year marks a quarter of a century of the Exige, the incredible K-Series engined coupe first emerging in 2000. It was only made for a year, in very small numbers, and even by Lotus standards the S1 Exige was pretty extreme. The most recent S3 matured the Exige to some extent, doubling the size of the engine and adding hundreds of kilos with some Evora bits. Still a wonderful car, though a very different prospect to the four-cylinder Exiges.
This is why S2 cars like this one remain so coveted, more than 20 years after launch. They represent that sweet spot between the raw, unfiltered nature of the original and the more accommodating (all things being relative) S3. You’ll likely know plenty already: 8,000rpm Toyota power was a boon, American sales opened up Lotus to a whole new audience, and a GT3 race car took the Exige’s plucky giant-killing nature to the track.
While there’s no such thing as an undesirable S2 Exige, this one is an S. S for Supercharged, of course, which bumped power from the Toyota 2ZZ 1.8 from 190hp to comfortably beyond 200hp. There was an even more useful uptick in torque as well, so often the benefit of forced induction, making the Exige a little less frenetic at everyday speeds. The S remains the most sought-after S2.
This one arguably more than most, with engine work that should now see it producing 260hp. It’s showing fewer than 45,000 miles still, or just 2,500 per annum now it’s 18 years old; there are plenty of owners in the Exige’s past but plenty of history as well, those who perhaps found it too full on at least taking care of it. The current keeper will have it serviced and MOT’d for the auction winner.
Pretty compelling, right? Lotuses like this, cars like this, aren’t going to be made again, so the best examples of those that did happen look more exciting than ever. From B-road blasting to track day thrills, there really isn’t much beating an Exige. You don’t even have to worry about a fiddly Lotus roof. Bidding for this one ends on the 27th, or just a few days before the clocks go forward - what a British Summer Time it could be with this in the garage...
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