Photo: Lotus
At the 2010 Paris Motor Show, financially-troubled Lotus took the veils of the Esprit styling concept. As the name implies, the one-off was meant to preview the automaker’s future range-topping model. Work on the all-new Esprit started in 2006, and power was supposed to come from an in-house developed twin-turbo V8.
Yeah, right! To this day, the Hethel-based company relies on Toyota’s 2ZZ four-cylinder and 2GR six-cylinder, both supercharged for good measure. Fast-forward a few years, and in September 2014, Lotus announced that the Esprit project was canceled.
Subsequent years saw the motoring media report all sorts of favorable circumstances for the Esprit, and today’s story serves as the latest of those reports. According to Autocar.co.uk, the all-new Esprit supercar will hit the streets in 2020.
The British publication draws attention to what the chief executive officer, Jean-Marc Gales, announced in January 2018. To make a long story short, two sports cars are confirmed for 2020, as well as the long-rumored sport utility vehicle sometime later. Considering that Lotus is owned by Geely, the Chinese company that controls Volvo and Polestar, the roadmap mentioned by the CEO is within reason.
“The two cars” set to arrive in 2020 “will include a new star model that will sit above the Evora — essentially placing it as a modern-day version of the Esprit.” This guesstimate also sounds realistic, more so if you bear in mind the old Esprit was a rival for the Ferrari 308, 328, and 348.
Mentioning the Prancing Horse is not a coincidence. Not that long ago, Geely head An Cong Hui said: “Lotus used to be ranked alongside Ferrari and Porsche, so we need to come back in that rank again.”
Moving back to chief exec Jean-Marc Gales, the big chief is conscious that “Lotus will being to embrace powertrains from other division within Geely.” Volvo and Polestar rely on three- and four-cylinder powerplants, the largest displacing 2.0 liters. In regard to output, the engine is rated at 341 PS (336 brake horsepower) in the Polestar 1.
Subsequent years saw the motoring media report all sorts of favorable circumstances for the Esprit, and today’s story serves as the latest of those reports. According to Autocar.co.uk, the all-new Esprit supercar will hit the streets in 2020.
The British publication draws attention to what the chief executive officer, Jean-Marc Gales, announced in January 2018. To make a long story short, two sports cars are confirmed for 2020, as well as the long-rumored sport utility vehicle sometime later. Considering that Lotus is owned by Geely, the Chinese company that controls Volvo and Polestar, the roadmap mentioned by the CEO is within reason.
“The two cars” set to arrive in 2020 “will include a new star model that will sit above the Evora — essentially placing it as a modern-day version of the Esprit.” This guesstimate also sounds realistic, more so if you bear in mind the old Esprit was a rival for the Ferrari 308, 328, and 348.
Mentioning the Prancing Horse is not a coincidence. Not that long ago, Geely head An Cong Hui said: “Lotus used to be ranked alongside Ferrari and Porsche, so we need to come back in that rank again.”
Moving back to chief exec Jean-Marc Gales, the big chief is conscious that “Lotus will being to embrace powertrains from other division within Geely.” Volvo and Polestar rely on three- and four-cylinder powerplants, the largest displacing 2.0 liters. In regard to output, the engine is rated at 341 PS (336 brake horsepower) in the Polestar 1.
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