What's Wrong With This Picture: Evora-lution Edition

Edward Niedermeyer
by Edward Niedermeyer

The Lotus Elise has been refreshed for 2011 [via Autocar] to bring it more in line with its new flagship sibling, the Evora. In the process, the Evora’s ability to look more achingly beautiful in person than any photo would lead you to believe may just have been passed along. From these pictures, the Elise does seem to have lost a bit of the je ne sais quoi that put its predecessor on top of my quasi-realistic dream car list, but that’s alright. Even if the new looks don’t improve in person, the used models are more realistically obtainable. Besides, the Evora haunts my dreams more relentlessly than any car has in a while (helped not a little by rave reviews from such trusted sources as Dan Neil and evo Magazine). Don’t you worry about me.



Edward Niedermeyer
Edward Niedermeyer

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  • Ronnie Schreiber Ronnie Schreiber on Feb 16, 2010

    Colin Chapman will prove to be more influential than Enzo Ferrari. Composites, reducing weight, aerodynamics, innovative construction techniques. Lotus, on the road and on the track, has been a pioneer. For those of us who were fans of Lotus back in the day or owned some of their early cars, the success Lotus has had in the past decade or so has been gratifying. Mike Kimberly, who recently retired, steered the company through some very rough waters and left it in much better shape than it was when Chapman died. It's now one of the leading automotive engineering firms in the world. They've done contract work ranging from the original DOHC ZR-1 Corvette V8 to the aluminum superstructure of the current Aston Martins. Their road cars are generally acknowledged to be the closest thing to a track car on the road today as well as competing performancewise with much more expensive cars. As the Wall Street Journal called the original Elise, "Ferrari performance at Toyota prices". One thing that I like about the current crop of Loti is that they bring up styling cues from the original Europa and Elan. Nothing wrong with the Giugiaro Esprit - it's a classic, but lately Lotus has been very good with having a consistent brand identifying style. The Evora took the styling language in a particular direction and now Lotus is redoing the Elise to reflect that trend. They both still immediately say Lotus to me. This would be the third generation of the Elise, if I'm not mistaken. It's hard to imagine but the Elise is now 14 years old. Frankly I like the styling of the 1st gen Elise better than #2, but I can live with the styling of any Lotus, even the Lotus Cortina, as long as it handles like a Lotus. Lotus' reputation for lightweight cars is so well established that when the Evora was announced there was a certain amount of wailing and gnashing of teeth by the Lotus faithful over the idea of a 3000# Lotus, but the Evora is both larger than the Elise, it's also much more luxuriously fitted. The Elise is, even in it's most luxurious trim, pretty hair shirt. FWIW, one can trace the development of Lotus cars from the original Elite, through the Elan and Europa, to the Elan +2, to the four seat Elite and Eclat cars to the growth of Chapman's family. As he got older, he had no problem making bigger, more luxurious cars for himself and for his customers. Colin Chapman enjoyed the nicer things in life. While Lotus cars have always given great bang for the buck, they've never been cheap and with the exception of the early Elises have generally been fitted along the lines of luxury cars. Heck, they were fitting Elans with electric windows by the late 1960s (Lotus never bothered to engineer a crank window regulator - early Elans had counter sprung pull up windows).

  • Jimal Jimal on Feb 16, 2010

    I lust after the Elise and Exige. Fortunately my day job allows me enough seat time in Exiges that I haven't had to buy one yet. I had approval from my better half, but that was before the baby came. Oh well, he who hesitates...

  • Ronin It's one thing to stay tried and true to loyal past customers; you'll ensure a stream of revenue from your installed base- maybe every several years or so.It's another to attract net-new customers, who are dazzled by so many other attractive offerings that have more cargo capacity than that high-floored 4-Runner bed, and are not so scrunched in scrunchy front seats.Like with the FJ Cruiser: don't bother to update it, thereby saving money while explaining customers like it that way, all the way into oblivion. Not recognizing some customers like to actually have right rear visibility in their SUVs.
  • MaintenanceCosts It's not a Benz or a Jag / it's a 5-0 with a rag /And I don't wanna brag / but I could never be stag
  • 3-On-The-Tree Son has a 2016 Mustang GT 5.0 and I have a 2009 C6 Corvette LS3 6spd. And on paper they are pretty close.
  • 3-On-The-Tree Same as the Land Cruiser, emissions. I have a 1985 FJ60 Land Cruiser and it’s a beast off-roading.
  • CanadaCraig I would like for this anniversary special to be a bare-bones Plain-Jane model offered in Dynasty Green and Vintage Burgundy.
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