Yahoo Autos This Lotus Exige Pays Tribute to an F1 Legend
In 1962, legendary F1 designer Colin Chapman unveiled a legend, the Lotus Type 25. The first F1 car with a stressed monocoque chassis, the 25 gave Lotus its first constructor's and driver's championships in 1963 with Jim Clark at the wheel. Its monocoque chassis also set the template for all F1 cars to come.
Lotus is now paying tribute to the 25 with a limited-run version of the brilliant Exige Cup 430. Only 25 will be built, it costs £110,000 ($154,000), and it can only be brought to the US for track use. We want one badly.
In tribute to the 25, the Exige comes painted in Lotus Racing Green with yellow accents, but you can also order yours in Old English White. We'd get the green because, well, why wouldn't we? The Exige Cup 430 is heavily reworked version of the old Exige with a 430-hp supercharged 3.5-liter V6 paired with a six-speed manual transmission. It weighs 2328 lbs dry, makes 485 lbs of downforce at 180 mph, and it's all reigned in by an excellent race-spec traction control system.
Buyers will have the option of picking up their cars from the Lotus factory in Hethel, and receiving a tour of its facilities and those of Classic Team Lotus. Each car comes with a certificate of authenticity signed by Lotus CEO Jean-Marc Gales and a copy of Jim Clark: Tribute to a Champion signed by Colin Chapman's son, Clive, and Bob Dance, one of Clark's mechanics.
It's a fitting tribute to one of the most important F1 cars of all time, and the legend who drove it to a championship.
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