Unique Lotus Evora Sport 410 honours iconic Esprit S1

26-Feb-2017
Blog

 Representing the state of the supercar art, a one-off Evora Sport 410 has been commissioned through Lotus Exclusive as a tribute to one of its most famous ancestors, the Lotus Esprit S1.

Launched in October 2016, the Evora Sport 410 is limited to just 150 examples a year worldwide. The benchmark was set by the original Lotus Esprit S1 as seen in the Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, and Lotus’ in-house personalisation department has crafted a special, one-off Evora Sport 410 in commemoration. Combining the latest in Lotus engineering with period details, the Sport 410 takes design cues from the iconic Esprit and integrates them into a car with class-leading performance. Packing 410hp into a car that weighs 1,280 kg, it sprints from 0-96km/h in just 3.9 secs.

Jean-Marc Gales, CEO, Group Lotus plc said, “So many of us recall the impact of the Lotus Esprit when it hit the big screen in The Spy Who Loved Me, and we wanted to honour that with a special Evora Sport 410. It’s the perfect tribute to such an influential Lotus, but a world away in terms of its abilities and performance. Supremely fast and agile, rivals’ cars look overweight and underpowered in comparison. Lotus was founded on the principle of lightweight engineering and, even today, nobody does it better.”

The work of the in-house personalisation department, Lotus Exclusive, this one-off Evora Sport 410 features many unique design touches. A special, colour-coded bumper modifies the car’s front end, while the one-piece carbon-fibre tailgate is part keyed white to give the illusion of a traditional liftback. In addition to a black coach line, delineating the car’s waist, it sports a bespoke badge script on the B pillar – in the style of the original Esprit’s graphics.

Nods to the Lotus Esprit S1 from The Spy Who Loved Me continue inside, with the insert panels of the carbon-fibre sports seats and door cards trimmed in the popular heritage Tartan, while red contrast stitching complements the Alcantara dashboard and console finish.

Beneath the personalisation, this unique car retains all the engineering elements that make the Evora Sport 410 so formidable. From the supercharged, 3.5L 6-cylinder engine, producing 410hp at 7000 rpm and 420Nm of torque at 3500 rpm, to the highly advanced aerodynamics, which deliver up to 64kg of downforce, it’s designed to deliver both on road and track.

The Evora Sport 410 remains refined on B-roads, but blisteringly fast when needed. The use of hand-made carbon-fibre components has been key in keeping mass to a minimum, with each specifically designed to enhance the car’s performance. Covering the car from nose to tail, they include front splitter, revised front access panel, roof section, tailgate, rear quarter panels, as well as the rear diffuser. These lightweight carbon components not only reduce the kerb weight of the Evora Sport 410 but also help lower the centre of gravity, allowing for the recalibration of the suspension, which, along with re-valved dampers and a reduced ride height, provide better body and roll control – but not at the expense of comfort and composure.