Lotus launches limited-edition Bathurst Elise model
The British carmaker celebrates the legendary 12-hour race with this Australia-only special edition.
Lotus today announced the limited-edition Elise, which pays homage to the Bathurst 12 Hour race. Dubbed the Cup 250 Bathurst Edition, the new model was launched after the 2020 race. For this year's Bathurst 12 hour, Lotus invited over 150 Aussie enthusiasts to the event, who were then able to pit their personal cars against the Mount Panorama circuit after the endurance competition.
Lotus Elise Cup 250 Bathurst Edition highlights
- Black forged alloy wheels. These 10-spoke, ultra-light-weight alloys finished in black really set the model apart from the rest of the line-up. The front wheels are 16 inches and the rear measure 17 inches in diameter, giving the car some rake.
- An Elise Cup 250 Bathurst Edition plaque. With the model's build number.
- Bathurst Cup 250 decals. These decals depict the layout of the Mount Panorama circuit.
- Monaco White paint. The Bathurst limited-run models are finished in Monaco White. This is the same colour that was used on the famous amphibious Lotus Espirit S1 from the Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me. One of the film prop cars is now owned by Tesla's Elon Musk.
- Performance tyres from Yokohama. The Elise Cup 250 rides on sticky Yokohama Advan A052 competition tyres.
- Tuned suspension. The standard Elise Cup 250 has Bilstein dampers and Eibach springs, giving the car a stiffer damping rate.
- Roll bar made from aerospace steel. Underlining the car's track ambitions is a roll bar made from T45 steel, which serves the dual purpose of eliminating chassis flex.
- Motorsport interior. Lotus has kitted out the interior with carbon race seats covered in Alcantara and bound together by contrast stitching. Bare alloy interior trim pieces are also used. There's the option to strip out weight by going for add-on (or should that be take-off?) packs. Even the instrument dials are designed for ease of reading when travelling at warp speed around a racing circuit.
Australia has had a long relationship with Lotus
Lotus's regional director David McIntyre explained that Australia and the British marque have had an extensive and closely linked history.
"It's great to kick the year off in Australia, a market that was very successful for us in 2019," McIntyre stated. "Lotus and Australia have a long and rich history and we are committed to building on this close relationship moving forward."
According to company sales data, Australia was Lotus's sixth best-performing market worldwide.
Lotus was founded by Colin Chapman, an engineer and motorsport visionary. Many of his developments for racing cars have been widely adopted and are still employed today. He is credited with saying "Adding power makes you faster on the straights, subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere," a notion that Lotus still adheres to to this day.
2020 will be an exciting year for Lotus in Australia
McIntyre went on to say that 2020 would prove an exciting year for Lotus. Specifically, he mentioned the first deliveries of the Lotus Evija electric hypercar.
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Picture: Supplied
