Lotus has teased a new rear wing – but what is it for?
Lotus
In an ambitious expansion of its business and brand, Lotus has announced a raft of new projects under the umbrella of Lotus Advanced Performance, including cars commissioned by customers themselves, a renewed motor sport presence and a mysterious new prototype design.
To illustrate the idea of a new dawn of design, Lotus has presented a slightly ambiguous render, which it describes as “an enticing new image of a rear wing from Lotus Design [which] hints at an exciting future project,” possibly one intended for competition or as a track car.
This may link in to ambitions in motor sport, which will for now take the form of supporting racing purchasers of the Emira GT4 competition car, the final combustion engine powered-machine to be produced by the Norfolk company.
Based on the Lotus 62 sports car, Button and the Norfolk firm produced the Radford 62 project
Radford
After linking up with Jenson Button’s bespoke Radford coach building project, Lotus now states its aim to produce “ultra-exclusive and unique vehicle” halo projects, as well as “exclusive high-spec and highly desirable versions of Lotus cars, allowing customers to stand out from the crowd.”
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Similar to Bentley’s Mulliner division, Rolls-Royce Bespoke, McLaren Special Operations and Q by Aston Martin, Lotus buyers will now have the opportunity to personalise the colours, trims and materials of their road-going cars. It has previously run ‘Lotus Exclusive’ and ‘Lotus Configure’ services, but now apparently intends to go more in-depth than ever.
To mastermind the operation, the Hethel firm has brought in Simon Lane, who headed up Aston’s personalisation service.
“I have always been a Lotus fan, and this has to be one of the most exciting roles in the automotive industry right now – a blank sheet of paper and the opportunity to launch a completely new division at the world’s most ambitious car brand,” said Lane.
“Working in tandem with the hugely experienced Lotus Design team, and colleagues in our engineering teams around the world, we are going to build the most exciting and exclusive Lotus cars, embracing our exciting electrified future while also honouring our illustrious past.”
