Lotus Contemplating Resurrecting the Esprit

Under new ownership, Lotus suddenly has plenty of cash and plans. The British automaker is developing its first SUV, plus two sports cars. CEO Jean-Marc Gales did an interview with Autocar recently, revealing more about these plans, including that the Esprit might be returning.

The first sports car will replace the Elise in the lineup. That vehicle is getting long in the tooth, so no shock there. The second will be more exciting, possibly a modern iteration of the Esprit supercar. Whatever it’ll be called, Gales did say it will be made using plenty of lightweight composites, like what Lotus has been doing lately. That means an extruded, bonded, and riveted aluminum chassis, plus carbon fiber, etc. for the body.

If you know automotive history, the Esprit bit the dust back in 2004. About a decade ago, Lotus floated the idea of bringing it back, but financial woes cut that plan short. Now that Lotus is on solid financial footing again, the idea is to launch this new supercar in 2020. That’s fairly soon, so Lotus must already be hard at work on that and the Elise replacement.