Lotus is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year, and in the happiest of coincidences, the sports car manufacturer has just built its 100,000th car. To commemorate the occasion, Hazel Chapman, the widow of Lotus founder Colin Chapman, has approved the launch of the 100,000th Lotus model, a one-off GT410 called the Evora GT410 Jim Clark Trust Special Edition.

What makes the Lotus Evora GT410 Sport Jim Clark Trust Special Edition special?

The Lotus Evora GT410 Sport Jim Clark Trust Special Edition is a true special edition in every sense of the word. Literally, there’s only one of its kind. The car features exclusive colors to commemorate Jim Clark, the Scottish race car driver who died at the wheel of a Lotus race car at the Hockenheim race track in Germany back in 1968.

The exterior of the Evora GT410 Sport Jim Clark Special Edition proudly wears a red paint finish with matching silver trim spread throughout the body. Lotus didn’t just throw these two colors together by accident. Red and silver were the primary colors of the original Lotus Elan, and they were used on this one-off Evora GT410 Sport to bridge its past to the present and future. Step inside the Evora GT410 Sport Jim Clark Special Edition, and you’ll be surrounded by a tartan interior. Every upholstered item in the cabin of this one-off make comes in the unique color as an homage to the legendary racer from whom the one-off Evora GT410 Sport gets its name.

The exclusive touches end there. By and large, this is still a “standard” Evora GT410 Sport. Its looks didn’t change, and there were no additions to the interior. It’s still the same lightweight, carbon fiber-clad sports car that Lotus unveiled as part of its 70th anniversary. It even features the same 3.5-liter supercharged V-6 engine that produces 410 horsepower and 310 pound-feet of torque, figures that are good enough to get the sports car to 60 mph from an idle position in just 3.9 seconds before jetting off on a top speed run that peaks at 180 mph.

Even if it’s not a “special edition” in the traditional sense that’s littered with exclusive touches and plenty of add-ons, the Evora GT410 Sport Jim Clark Special Edition is a model that stands out on its own, largely because it's also Lotus’ 100,00th model, a distinction that no less than Hazel Chapman never thought would arrive. “70 years ago, I never dreamt that there would be a 100,000th Lotus,” the wife of Lotus founder Colin Chapman said. “I’m immensely proud of the company and Colin’s legacy. Today Lotus still builds such fantastic sports cars, and I’m touched to be able to see the 100,000th car.”

The Lotus Evora GT410 Sport Jim Clark Special Edition isn’t for sale. That said, you can win the car through a competition organized by the Jim Clark Trust to raise funds for its new museum. Should you want to enter the competition, you can do so by finding out more about it at www.jimclarklotus.com.

Further reading

Read our full review on the 2016 Lotus Evora 400.

Read our full review on the 2017 Lotus Evora 410.

Read our full review on the 2017 Lotus Evora GT430.

Read more Lotus news.