Tag Archives: Lotus Evora

Radford confirms performance specs of Lotus Type 62-2 John Player Special

British coachbuilder Radford on Wednesday confirmed performance specs for the flagship John Player Special version of its Lotus Type 62-2 retro sports car. 

Radford unveiled the Lotus Evora-based Type 62-2 in August as a modern take on the Lotus Type 62 race car of the 1960s, and announced the John Player Special model the following month. In addition to the classic black-and-gold John Player Special livery used on many Lotus Formula One cars, this version packs more power than the base 430-hp Classic and 500-hp mid-range Gold Leaf versions of the coach-built sports car, at 600 hp.

Now Radford has also confirmed a 0-62 mph time of 2.9 seconds, 0-124 mph in 8.4 seconds, and an electronically limited top speed of 186 mph. For reference, Lotus quotes a 3.8-second 0-60 mph time for the 416-hp Evora GT, and a top speed of 188 mph with the available manual transmission.

Lotus Type 62-2 coach-built by Radford John Player Special

Lotus Type 62-2 coach-built by Radford John Player Special

Radford previously confirmed that all versions of the Type 62-2 will use the same 3.5-liter supercharged V-6 as the donor Evora. The John Player Special gets upgraded pistons, con-rods, and camshafts, plus a bigger supercharger, to achieve its 600-hp output.

The John Player Special also gets a more aggressive aero package, carbon-ceramic brakes, carbon-composite wheels measuring 18 inches in front and 19 inches in back, and Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires. Radford also claims this is the lighter version of the Type 62-2, with a sub-2,204-pound dry weight.

Radford is currently accepting orders and plans to start deliveries in the second quarter of 2022. Production will be limited to 62 units, and only 12 of those will be the John Player Special. The company hasn’t discussed pricing.

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Lotus Elise, Exige and Evora to bow out in 2021 ahead of new series of sports cars

Lotus on Monday confirmed the arrival of a new series of sports cars to replace the company’s aging Elise, Exige and Evora models.

The first of the new sports cars, code-named the Type 131, will be revealed in prototype form later this year though production won’t start until 2022. This means we’re likely to see the car arrive as a 2023 model.

Production of the Elise, Exige and Evora will end during the coarse of 2021, Lotus said.

Lotus Hethel headquarters renovations

Lotus Hethel headquarters renovations

Lotus will invest 100 million British pounds (approximately $136.8 million) in its plant in Hethel, United Kingdom, to support production of the new series of sports cars, as well as the Evija battery-electric hypercar which starts production in 2021. The company will also hire around 250 new staff. This is in addition to the 670 staff added since 2017, when Geely and Malaysian company Etika acquired Lotus from previous owner DRB-Hicom.

The new sports cars are expected to be the last models based on Lotus’ extruded and bonded aluminum platform that dates back to the original Elise launched in the mid-1990s. A test mule for the Type 131 wearing makeshift Evora body panels (shown below) has been spotted testing. As mentioned above, the first prototype will show up later this year.

The good news is that the sports cars are being developed for sale in the United States. Lotus CEO Phil Popham revealed in a January interview with Automotive News that the sports cars will have a wide price range to help boost their appeal, particularly in the U.S. He hinted at a starting price of about 55,000 British pounds (approximately $75,000) and a top-end figure of about 105,000 British pounds.

2023 Lotus Type 131 sports car test mule spy shots - Photo credit: S. Baldauf/SB-Medien

2023 Lotus Type 131 sports car test mule spy shots – Photo credit: S. Baldauf/SB-Medien

The sole Lotus currently sold in the U.S. is the Evora which starts at just under $100,000.

Not much is known about the new sports cars but some form of electrification, likely mild-hybrid technology, is expected to play a part.

Eventually, Lotus plans to go the full-electric route. In addition to the Evija, Lotus in January said it will jointly develop an electric sports car with France’s Alpine. The company is also known to be working on an SUV that will most likely be based on a dedicated EV platform borrowed from Geely. The SUV will be built at a plant in Wuhan, China, with Lotus keeping its U.K. production for sports cars only.

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