NEW LOTUS MODELS

Under CEO Jean-marc Gales, Lotus’s cars have gone from strength to strength. Following the company’s recent takeover by Geely, we drive the ultimate incarnations of the current line-up

AUTUMN AT POTASH LANE, Hethel, and the wind still whips across this EX-USAF airfield with defiant ferocity, just as the gnarled tarmac and concrete roadways of the 1940s, still visible in places here and there, are reassuringly familiar. Yet these days it’s juxtaposed with a reminder of Lotus’s rollercoaster history over the past decade: the modern test track, with its smooth asphalt, and the shadow of an unfinished factory, the building’s ghostly structural frame exposed to the elements; reminders, positive and otherwise, of the turbulent ‘Bahar era’ that promised so much, but ultimately delivered so little.

Today, however, we have three cars before us that define the most recent era at Lotus – the Gales years: three new models that little bit faster, lighter, keener than the previous pinnacles of their respective ranges. For many of you the appearance of the Elise Cup 260, Exige Cup 430 and Evora GT430 will be cause for celebration – a sign that Lotus continues to extract incredible performance from its long-serving models with the kind of budget that wouldn’t fund the vending machine in Audi’s glovebox design department for a year.

But I also have no doubt that there will be plenty who view these latest models – two out of three that are yet more special editions – as a cynical ploy; Lotus trying to make more hay out of yet another sliver of carbonfibre, another decal set, an extra few horsepower over last month’s ‘special’. That’s not the reality, not in our view, but CEO JeanMarc Gales’ strategy of only building cars to order, and a focus on a relentless pursuit of expensive, low-volume models, has not been without its detractors. Of course, Gales can now point to rising sales, profitability and, most importantly of all, the grand prize of outside investment from Geely