I'd never buy new. I can't afford one for a start!

But even if I could, it's a lot of money and still looks too much like and Elise variant.

It will be a desirable car though and I imagine that especially with credit crunch limited sales, the re-sale values will be relatively strong. Unlike the Europa!

 

There were several reasons Lotus didn't go Targa;

1. It couldn't be made to work with the 2+2 seating, the lack of which is seen as a disadvantage in that market. It's apparently a reason why the 911 continued to outsell the NSX, apparently.

2. Torsional rigidity.

3. You can charge more for the 'open' variant.

I'm somewhat perplexed by criticisms that it looks too much like an Elise. Lotus have only done one car in a decade, so there is little room for styling evolution. That car is is efficient and pretty. Kind of begs the question, WTF do you expect it to look like: A Porsche? Instant criticisms of plagiarism. A BMW? I can crash my own thanks. Bizarre.

 

Lotus' future platform strategy

 

The Elise compariosn is not criticism... just an observation.

I'd like to see one in the flesh, but it in the photo's I've seen it often looks like an Elise with slightly different lights. I'm also not sure it looks that pretty.

I still want one though and can't wait to see one in the flesh.

 

Slightly touchy Nick???

The reasons I and others bemoan the looks is, without seeing the car in the flesh it looks very similar in size to the Exige in that dark colour, yet the Evora is meant to be a GT and priced accordingly. I'm happy for the new car to look like an Lotus, I'm glad it doesn't like a Honda, there

 

Thats very very nice I LIKE! a beefy engine and convertible too, if it has the handling to boot which no doubt it will I'd like one but in years to come when the prices come down.

Really like this car.

 

I assume the Evora is bigger than the Elise/Exige, so the similarity in looks is probably a strength rather than a weakness - it certainly does Porsche no harm to keep the brand identity strong between cars, it's what their customers want.

Since Lotus have built a reputation on handling, for a GT car to look like it's sportscar siblings suggests it will handle as well as they do, which is always going to be more difficult in a bigger car, and I would think that's what the Lotus buyer wants (I certainly do).

In terms of the design itself, it's a smoothed off, less angular look which as Nick suggests is an evolution of what they offer now, without straying too far from the 'brand'. The more cars a company produces, the quicker it can evolve (BMW for instance, look at how they went from the Z3 to the Z4, but look at how many cars came in-between for the look of the brand to change sufficiently for them to do that, Lotus had the S2 Elise, Europa and now the Evora).

Seriously tempted by one of these as an upgrade to the Exige, but I'll wait and see about reliability before I do anything....

 

My only criticism on the styling is that there's only one light cluster on the back and not two.

 

Looks great to me, I wouldn't get that hung up about the styling if it's as good fun to drive as it appears.

I don't like the sound of these e-diffs though. I suppose if they feel the same as a mechanical one it doesn't matter but they just seem, well, gay.

 

how much will they ask for it?