Group Lotus has announced the start of one of the world’s most elite clubs – the Lotus Club GT. This special club was created to bring together people with a passion for Lotus and motorsport for a racing driver program that is unique, unforgiving, and unforgettable.
All you need to enter this amazing club is to be the owner of one of Lotus’s premium race-bred models – the Evora GT4 and Evora Enduro with club specification. Club events come courtesy of the marque’s professional works drivers and the Lotus F1 Team. Club GT will ensure members get the most from their cars and from themselves, and become legends in their own lifetime.
The club was officially inaugurated at this week’s Autosport International Show at the Birmingham NEC that started on January 12, 2012. The perfect place to enjoy bucket seats, carbon-fiber and the smell of burnt rubber.
The Evora GTE Concept’s engine is still a bit warm from its 2011 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance debut, and Lotus is already revving up the production version for the Frankfurt Motor Show. The Evora GTE road car was originally designed as a special limited edition for the Asian market, but Group Lotus has decided to expand its production to meet demand and reach further markets.
The Evora GTE is powered by a race-tuned 3.5-liter V6 engine that delivers a total of 444 HP, making it the most powerful Lotus road car ever built. It also delivers a comfortable and refined element to its high performance driving characteristics.
Commenting on the Evora GTE road car, Group Lotus CEO Dany Bahar said: "The response to this model in China has been so incredible, within days we had sold out with 114 orders. In response we decided that the only logical step from a business perspective was to increase production and widen our reach.
"What is unique about this car, is not just that it’s a serious race car – it’s a serious car. People get so excited when they see and especially hear it for the first time. It’s a very special car and will appeal to a very special type of driver – and they won’t be disappointed!"
UPDATE 09/13/2011: The new special edition Evora GTE has finally been unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show today. The new model comes with carbon fiber front and rear bumpers, a carbon fiber rear wing, and carbon fiber doors. This measure, next to the lightweight Recaro carbon fiber seats, help to reduce the total weight by 231 lbs.
UPDATE 12/19/2011: Lotus has dropped new images of the special edition Evora GTE - and we have to admit it looks great in yellow. See all of the images in our picture gallery!
The evolution of the Lotus Evora GTE, most extreme Lotus vehicle ever, went by rather quickly. After debuting a concept version at the 2011 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in August, Lotus then went on to put out the production Evora GTE in September at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show. This quick turnover has now been followed up by a special edition GTE courtesy of Swizz Beatz.
Swizz Beatz is an American record producer, DJ, rapper, and painter, although some may only know him as the husband of R&B superstar, Alicia Keys. He, along with
Lotus Design, came together to create a special Evora GTE unveiled at Alvin Ailey’s Opening Night Gala in New York. This special edition is noted as such because it is finished in a chrome ruby red paint. Everything else is strictly standard GTE. It features the typical rear brake cooling ducts, modified rear wing, enlarged intake vents behind the B pillar, and intense use of carbon fiber for the roof, sill detailing, and other carbon accessories. These elements help reduce the Evora’s total weight by about 231 lbs.
Being since this was a creative collaboration, no changes were made to the power source of the Evora GTE. It is still working with a race-tuned 3.5-liter V6 engine that delivers a total of 444 HP, which still makes it the most powerful Lotus Evora road car ever built.
No details were given on the car’s prices just yet, but prospective buyers will surely have to dish out more than the $180,000 price tag of the standard Evora GTE.
UPDATE 12/06/2011: Brain Food Film has unveiled a video from the launch party for the new Evora GTE by Swizz Beatz. Special guests included Lotus CEO Dany Bahar, Alicia Keys, Russell Simmons, Stephen Baldwin, Carmelo Anthony, and a surprise performance from Swizz and TI. Video after the jump!
Lotus has always had the pulse for doing charitable things as they have built numerous special edition models to help raise funds for charities. A few months ago, they built a special Evora called the Freddie Mercury Edition - Mercury was the lead vocalist of Queen - to benefit the Mercury Phoenix Trust Foundation.
Recently, the British automaker went back to that same route by unveiling another special edition Evora S, this time personalized by no less than The Who front man, Roger Daltrey.
With the help of Lotus, Daltrey was given the reins in personalizing this car. In addition to signing the car himself, Daltrey also added in red striping details, as well as a number of "The Who" badges and a Union Jack logo on the tailgate. For their part, Lotus gave the special edition Evora Tech and Premium packages that include a Metallic Black paint finish, a reversing camera, and best of all, a 3.5-liter supercharged V6 engine that produces 345 horsepower.
The Evora Roger Daltrey Edition is set to be auctioned off on December 1, 2011 with proceeds going to the Teenage Cancer Trust.
"Without teenagers and their energy and passion for music, we wouldn’t have Rock ’n Roll as we know it," Daltrey said. "There is no doubt in my mind that we’re really making a difference."
Interested bidders will need to bring their check books with them because the car is expected to go under the hammer for around £70,000, which is around $93,400 based on current exchange rates.
We reckon Galpin Auto Sports needed a break from all those customized Ford vehicles they’re bringing to the 2011 SEMA Auto Show so they turned their attention towards a few sports cars from across the pond. One of these vehicles is a 2012 Lotus Evora, which GAS took the challenge of reinventing from a road-going sports car into a fully-dressed track-spec race car.
The result is the Evora R2R, a car that features plenty of aerodynamic upgrades, including a new front splitter, a new rear wing, new side skirts made from aluminum, black racing decals, racing seats dressed in fine Alcantara, and a new set of 19" (front) and 20" (rear) flat-back racing wheels.
To uphold its new race car identity, Galpin Auto Sports also added a new Flowmaster exhaust system, clearing way for the sports car’s 3.5-liter V6 engine to receive an increased output of 300 horsepower, up from the 280-horsepower output of the standard road-going roadster.
All told, Galpin Auto Sports accomplished what it always seems to do best. Impressive modifications all around are nothing new to these guys and they proved that yet again with the Lotus Evora R2R.
