How the Lotus Emira brought the British sports car maker back to its roots
For a certain generation growing up in Britain in the 1990s, Lotus occupied a strange place in the automotive imagination. Ferrari and Lamborghini were distant fantasies – all Italian excess, aspirational bedroom posters and impossible price tags. Lotus felt different. It was exotic, certainly, but somehow more eccentric and attainable. These were cars that seemed to have been built in a shed in…
For many British youth in the 1990s, Lotus held a unique place in their automotive imagination. While Ferrari and Lamborghini symbolized distant Italian excess and unattainable price tags, Lotus felt exotic yet eccentric and attainable. Built in a shed in North London, these cars prioritized steering feel and engineering ingenuity over comfort, a characteristic shared with TVR and Caterham.
Lotus also excelled in glamour, as evidenced by Roger Moore's white Lotus Esprit transforming into a submarine in "The Spy Who Loved Me" and its appearances in Bond films. The car became a symbol of discerning cool.
Lotus's pedigree was well-documented, with Team Lotus securing 13 Formula One drivers and constructors world titles. Founder Colin Chapman's focus on lightness and innovation transformed the sport. The Elise, launched in 1996, epitomized this pursuit, being tiny, impractical, and difficult to enter yet brilliant once inside. However, everything changed when Chinese automotive group Geely took control in 2017, aiming to turn Lotus into a global luxury brand.
The Eletre, Emeya, and Evija represented ambitious ventures into electric hyper-SUVs, grand tourers, and hypercars. The Emira, unveiled in 2021, was supposed to be the final petrol-powered production car, marking the end of an era. Yet, as of 2026, the future looked more complex, making driving an Emira an increasingly enjoyable experience.
Visually striking, the Emira evoked a sense of supercar status despite its $100,000 price tag. Its driving experience, characterized by a responsive hydraulic steering, balanced chassis, and a connection with the road, was a departure from the modern trend of removing drivers from the driving process.
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