Two pieces of cool news in this new Lotus Exclusives special: a salute to one of the coolest movie cars of all time AND news that a US-legal version of the Evora 410 is headed to the USA around May of 2017.
The Lotus Exclusive team rebodied parts of the Evora Sport 410’s nose and tail to make it a true homage to the 1970s Lotus Esprit S1 that James Bond used so deftly to escape the bad guys on a mountain road… before driving off a cliff!
Oh no!
But wait: in one of the greatest Bond (and action cinema moments in general) car stunts, the car used its sharp, shark nose to dive underwater. The wheels flipped into rudders and a propeller moved the car along safely underwater. To the shock of his gorgeous female passenger, the Bond Lotus then drives up onto the beach for a graceful exit of our hero.
Safe and sound. And not even wet!
The new nose and tail of the Evora 410 Bond special emphasize the dark and wide lower intake of the Esprit up front, its black central beltline across the doors, and with unique taillamps and rear fascia. The effect is convincing as a superhot sports car — even if this one doesn’t share the same Esprit badge as the original.
The cabin is certainly on the mark: it blends leather race buckets with alcantara and … a very-1970s red tartan cloth accent!
Where is that original stunt car? Owned by the one and only Elon Musk, who bought it after there were rumors his Teslas were not, in fact, watertight.
We did a fascinating overlay analysis to see how close the two cars really are. Intense results — they are kissing cousins!
2017 Lotus EVORA Sport 410 – By Lotus Exclusive
UNIQUE LOTUS EVORA SPORT 410 HONOURS ICONIC ESPRIT S1
Unique, one-off Evora Sport 410 created by Lotus Exclusive
Tribute to one of Lotus’ most famous liveries
Lotus Sport 410 sales success continues
Representing the state of the supercar art, a one-off Evora Sport 410 has been commissioned through Lotus Exclusive as a tribute to one of its most famous ancestors, the Lotus Esprit S1.
Launched in October 2016, the Evora Sport 410 has wowed motoring press and customers with its combination of effortless pace and intuitive handling. With production limited to just 150 examples a year worldwide, the build schedule is filling up fast.
The benchmark was set by the original Lotus Esprit S1 as seen in the Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, and Lotus’ in-house personalisation department has crafted a special, one-off Evora Sport 410 in commemoration.
Combining the latest in Lotus engineering with period details, the new pure-bred supercar takes design cues from the iconic Esprit and integrates them into a car with class-leading performance. Packing 410 hp into a car that weighs just 1,280 kg, it sprints from 0-60 mph in just 3.9 secs.
Jean-Marc Gales, CEO, Group Lotus plc said, “So many of us recall the impact of the Lotus Esprit when it hit the big screen in The Spy Who Loved Me, and we wanted to honour that with a special Evora Sport 410. It’s the perfect tribute to such an influential Lotus, but a world away in terms of its abilities and performance. Supremely fast and agile, rivals’ cars look overweight and underpowered in comparison. Lotus was founded on the principle of lightweight engineering and, even today, nobody does it better.”
Lotus Exclusive
The work of the in-house personalisation department, Lotus Exclusive, this one-off Evora Sport 410 features many unique design touches. A special, colour-coded bumper modifies the car’s front end, while the one-piece carbon-fibre tailgate is part keyed white to give the illusion of a traditional liftback. In addition to a black coach line, delineating the car’s waist, it sports a bespoke badge script on the B pillar – in the style of the original Esprit’s graphics.
Nods to the Lotus Esprit S1 from The Spy Who Loved Me continue inside, with the insert panels of the carbon-fibre sports seats and door cards trimmed in the popular heritage Tartan, while red contrast stitching complements the Alcantara® dashboard and console finish.
Beneath the personalisation, this unique car retains all the engineering elements that make the Evora Sport 410 so formidable. From the supercharged, 3.5-litre 6-cylinder engine, producing 410 hp at 7000 rpm and 420 Nm of torque at 3500 rpm, to the highly advanced aerodynamics, which deliver up to 64 kg of downforce, it’s designed to deliver both on road and track.
The Evora Sport 410 remains refined on B-roads, but blisteringly fast when needed. The use of hand-made carbon-fibre components has been key in keeping mass to a minimum, with each specifically designed to enhance the car’s performance. Covering the car from nose to tail, they include front splitter, revised front access panel, roof section, tailgate, rear quarter panels, as well as the rear diffuser.
Transparency Analysis – Draft Layers
These lightweight carbon components not only reduce the kerb weight of the Evora Sport 410 but also help lower the centre of gravity, allowing for the recalibration of the suspension, which, along with re-valved dampers and a reduced ride height, provide better body and roll control – but not at the expense of comfort and composure.
This one-off Evora underlines the work of the increasingly popular Lotus Exclusive service. Combining traditional British craftsmanship with modern design, it inspires buyers to spend time tailoring the character of their Lotus with a comprehensive array of options. Jean-Marc Gales, CEO, Group Lotus plc continued, “Our customers have really embraced the Lotus Exclusive service, with 25% of new cars undergoing some form of personalisation. It is well established that Lotus cars come with benchmark performance as standard. Now, thanks to the skilled team at Hethel, responsible for hand building all Lotus cars since 1966, you can specify a Lotus that perfectly reflects your personal tastes.”
The Lotus Evora Sport 410 is limited to a global production run of one-hundred and fifty vehicles per year, and is on sale in Europe and rest of world markets now. A Federal version of the Evora Sport 410 for the North American market will arrive this spring.
ENDS
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Tom Burkart is the founder and managing editor of Car-Revs-Daily.com, an innovative and rapidly-expanding automotive news magazine.
He holds a Journalism JBA degree from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Tom currently resides in Charleston, South Carolina with his two amazing dogs, Drake and Tank.
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