Lotus
November 30th, 2011 by NZ Classic Car
2007 Formula One World Champion, Kimi Raikkonen, will join the Lotus Renault Formula One Team for the 2012 season, after spending the last two years competing in the World Rally Championship, and has signed a two year contract with the UK-based team.
“I’m delighted to be coming back to Formula 1 after a two-year break, and I’m grateful to Lotus Renault GP for offering me this opportunity,” said Kimi Räikkönen at the official announcement. “My time in the World Rally Championship has been a useful stage in my career as a driver, but I can’t deny the fact that my hunger for F1 has recently become overwhelming. It was an easy choice to return with Lotus Renault GP as I have been impressed by the scope of the team’s ambition. Now I’m looking forward to playing an important role in pushing the team to the very front of the grid.”
November 5th, 2011 by NZ Classic Car
NZ Festival of Motorsport Books
Neil Hart – Whitianga
B Venni – Morrinsville
Tony Avery – New Plymouth
Keith Robertson – Manukau
Will Neal – Papakura
Neale Faulkner – Auckland
Spark Jaguar XK120 Roadster
Robert Tudor – New Plymouth
Greenlight Muscle Cars
Stephen Tuck – Hamilton
AutoArt Lotus Cortina
Robert James – Auckland
October 17th, 2011 by NZ Classic Car
To honour the Lotus Renault Formula One Grand Prix team, Lotus has just revealed a new special edition. Named the Lotus Evora S GP Edition, the company plans to produce just three examples.
Each of the exclusive vehicles will pack all the usual treats of the standard Evora S, plus the Premium Pack with SuedeTex which is a fancy faux-leather seating material. Lotus’ Tech Pack is also part of the deal, along with a set of forged diamond cut design 19-inch wheels.
It’s the paint scheme that really makes this special edition stand out. Each version is uniformed in a gold-and-black paint scheme that pays homage to the Lotus Renault Formula One Grand Prix race livery. This livery itself is a tribute to the John Player Special Lotus of old. So in an odd way it’s a homage of a homage or two homages deep if you prefer. If you’re keen you’ll need to get together £69,950 (or $137,700 at current conversion rates) and head over to the UK, even then, they’ll probably be all gone already. Read the rest of this entry »
September 23rd, 2011 by NZ Classic Car
30 years after World Rally Championship victory in the Talbot Sunbeam Lotus it’s time for Lotus to return to rallying with the brother of the newly launched Exige S – the Exige R-GT.
The Exige R-GT will participate in the newly formed FIA GT category of the FIA World Rally Championship on tarmac in Monte 
Carlo, Tour de Corse and San Remo.
For Group Lotus’ Director of Motorsport Claudio Berro the return to rally has an extra special meaning; “My motorsport career started in rally, in fact, I even took part in the Talbot Sunbeam Lotus’ Italian Rally championship winning a race in San Marino back in 1981 so this is a very nostalgic moment for me. As we unveiled the car in Frankfurt, alongside the original championship winning car, I had the chance to get back inside and the smell was exactly the same – it brought back many happy memories for me.
“With the new R-GT rules in rally, it’s a very interesting time for us to return to the sport. Naturally our approach this time around will be different to when we won the championship with Talbot three decades ago but I think our philosophy is definitely the same, we want to compete and ultimately we want to win. Our new rally car, the Exige R-GT is a dream come true for those who are passionate about GT racing – this will be their car.” Read the rest of this entry »
September 17th, 2011 by NZ Classic Car
Thanks to the NZ AutoArt distributor, we are giving one lucky reader the chance to win this terrific, 1:18 die-cast model of the iconic Lotus-Cortina MkI valued at $199.95. Amazingly well detailed, this heavyweight model is a superb collectible – and very hard to get hold of, the last shipment of this model sold out within days.
To be in to win this desirable model just click on the link below and answer the following question: Read the rest of this entry »
September 16th, 2011 by NZ Classic Car
British carmaker Lotus has pulled the covers off its heavily facelifted 2012 Lotus Exige S and Exige R-GT at the Frankfurt motor show.
The reworked 2012 Lotus Exige S is powered by a 3.5 litre supercharged V6 engine that produces 257 kW (345 hp). It’s a huge amount of power for a car that weighs just 1080kg, so it’s power-to-weight ratio is very impressive.
In terms of styling the Exige facelift has a new one piece bumper/bonnet clip along with new headlights. The rear also receives treatment with an integrated boot lid spoiler, large bolt-on wing and lower diffuser. Read the rest of this entry »
July 16th, 2011 by NZ Classic Car
Donn, his father and brother all owned different model Lotus-Cortinas, doubtless making them the only New Zealand family in which all the males once owned an example of this most prized Cortina variant
Appropriately enough, as the youngest member of our family, I was the last to own a Lotus-Cortina, a MkII. It didn’t have quite the mana 
of the original but was probably a better, more forgiving road car. My brother, Rodger, owned a facelifted ‘aeroflow’ version of the MkI with the wider grille, but it was my father’s early MkI that carries the most coveted classic heritage and is still around today.
Dad never raced his Lotus, but it came with an impressive competition history.
Both Rodger and myself competed with our cars, so all three of these special Fords had been driven in anger on the tracks – which was always what Lotus-Cortinas were all about.
Lotus creator Colin Chapman would have been appalled had he known my father fitted a tow bar to his Lotus-Cortina, but how else could he transport his power boat and trailer to the lake or beach? Read the rest of this entry »
May 24th, 2011 by NZ Classic Car
Lotus may have biten off more than it could chew when it revealed a group of five concepts at last year’s Paris Motor Show. The five concept vehicles that were revealed were the Elan (pictured), Elise, Elite, Esprit and Eterne. Now Lotus has announced updates on two of them.
Lotus is putting its major efforts into the new Esprit which is set to be the brand’s new supercar flagship and is on course to arrive by 2013. The new Elan has been severely postponed and now it may not be seen before the end of 2016. Why? Well many people in-the-know are blaming the Lotus Evora.
Lotus had planned to shut down Evora production so that it could give way to the Elan. Now, Lotus management has decided that the Evora will receive a longer “traditional model cycle” with potentially a second-generation. If the Evora does continue into a second generation, it will put the Elan’s entire existence into question. Read the rest of this entry »
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