Pour one out for Lotus Elise, Evora and Exige
The entire current lineup of Lotus died earlier this year clear the way for Lotus’s Emira’s Future, although Lotus continues to produce the last Elises, Evoras and Exiges throughout 2021 to say goodbye. All of that ended on Wednesday in Hethel, UK, with production officially underway.
Elise has been around since 1996, while Exige from 2000 and Evora from 2009, three cars that I believe Lotus will never stop making until they announce exactly that. Lotus says 51,738 Elises, Exiges and Evoras were built, including all three you see above, along with nearly 10,000 cars built for other manufacturers.
The final three will also not go on sale, but will instead be included in Lotus’ heritage collection. they are:
Joining the collection will be the last Elise, a Sport 240 Final Edition finished in Gold and the last of 35,124 units; the last Exige, a Heritage Racing green 430 Final Edition Cup – number 10,497; and the last Evora – a GT430 Sport finished in Metallic Black – the last of 6,117.
You will recall that the Tesla Roadster was also partially built at Hethel, along with the Opel Speedster. Now, Hethel will be refitted and used to build the Emira, which is Lotus’ last internal combustion engine vehicle. Lotus also has the Evija, an all-electric vehicle it calls “the most powerful production car in the world,” along with the all-electric Type 132, an SUV. we have heard about before, and full disclosure will be this spring.
That Lotus SUV, by the way, would be interesting for a company whose organizational philosophy is “Simplify, then add light.” I mean a small, lightweight, racing-style SUV that in theory sounds like an accident, and if there’s anyone to dismiss it, it’s Lotus, a Porsche Macan warrior for those have hobbies. Maybe I just want to believe.