These days owning a limited run supercar just isn’t exclusive enough for some people and as a result manufacturers have their very own team of personalisation specialists to create the perfect unique cars for their customers. Many car makers have historically offered a bespoke service to their most financially willing clients, but now the trend is for manufacturers to offer the personalisation service to a wider audience creating custom creations for their buyer’s vivid imaginations and tastes. Besides, why spend your hard earned money on an expensive supercar then find out your neighbours have bought the exact same specification. With personalisation services you get the chance for highly skilled craftsmen to provide their expertise in order to create something truly unique and bespoke to you. McLaren have their MSO division, Jaguar Land Rover has their SVO arm and now Lotus offer their Lotus Exclusive service. Using their army of master craftsmen and craftswomen and team of highly skilled race engineers, the service gives their clients the chance to put their own stamp on their hand-crafted lightweight track weapons.
Fresh from the non-rolling hills and very flat valleys of Norfolk, their latest creation from their Lotus Exclusive service is this stunning tribute to the famous James Bond featured supercar, the Lotus Esprit S1. In one of the film franchises most famous couple of car scenes, the iconic car chase and underwater capability of the original Esprit S1 is a thing of film legend. Despite Mr Bond’s allegiance to Aston Martin, it is often the Esprit that is among fans most memorable motoring moments. The 1977 Bond film ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’ ensured that the Esprit S1 was guaranteed legendary supercar status and became a futuristic icon of the era. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the film’s release, a one-off S1 inspired Lotus Evora has been commissioned through Lotus Exclusive as a tribute to the iconic movie supercar.
Based on the limited run Evora Sport 410, the bespoke creation takes its styling cues and design details from Mr Bond’s Esprit, bringing the S1 essence to the 21st century. Presented in the same bright white bodywork with gloss black detailing, the customisation process has created a modern hi-tech supercar fit for JB’s modern day shenanigans. Parked side-by-side it’s easy to see where the new S1 tribute takes inspirational design accents form the original classic. Included in the monochrome detailing is the thin black coach line running down each side of the car, delineating the car’s waist and linking the gloss black accents from front to back. The black infill of the custom front bumper mirrors the black grille of the Esprit, with a bespoke one piece carbon-fibre engine cover finished half in white to appear like a traditional lift-back tailgate. Even the Evora badging to the B pillar has been given a retro makeover, appearing in the original lower case outline font of the original Esprit graphics.
Inside, the retro styling has continued as any spy with a licence to kill would have specified it pre-1980’s. With the lightweight carbon fibre racing seats as well as the minimal door infill panels getting a thoroughly Scottish makeover and being finished in only the finest heritage tartan. The tartan red highlights continue to the contrasting seat stitching continuing to the minimalist Alcantara dashboard, door linings and central console. The interior features give the car just enough of nostalgic hints without looking out of place with the modern technology and lashings of exposed aluminium. The only thing that seems to be missing to complete the package are a bank of Q installed switches and a pair of pop-up headlights to the front.
Underneath the vintage styling and retro detailing, the Evora Sport 410 retains the very latest in Lotus’ expert engineering knowhow that has justified the huge acclaim already praised upon this car. The featherweight body propelled, or should that be rocketed, by a 3.5l V6 producing 410bhp is enough to give the Evora 410 Sport a 0-60 time of just under 4 seconds. Coupled with the legendary Lotus handling and suspension engineering, its little wonder that many think this car could be the fastest B road pocket rocket in the real world. Lightweight bodywork sections and aero aids such as carbon front splitter, roof, tailgate, rear quarter panels and the rear diffuser create a tarmac scraping centre of gravity and create proper downforce enhancing the cornering ability further. Lotus have managed to design these racing features whilst allowing them to sit subserviently to the nostalgic styling of the S1 tribute model, creating a clean sophisticated exterior instead of boy racer fussy with sprouting spoilers and add ons.
It may be 40 years since the Esprit S1 created a stir in the movie and motoring world but this Evora is more than a match in terms of ice cool looks and futuristic styling to transport Mr Bond in his latest espionage travels. The Evora Sport 410 may be limited to 150 models but now thanks to Lotus Exclusive offering even more customisation and personalisation, your car can be tailor made just the way you want it. With 25% of cars expected to be given the Lotus Exclusive treatment, there’s even more opportunity for the budding James Bond to create the very vehicle for cross-continental trips and outdoing villains in a car chase. I just wonder if they have an in-house Q branch to turn it into a submarine for when things get a little out of hand.
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