When Lotus F1 Racing wheelspins away from the grid at the start of the new Formula One season on March 14, spectators’ hopes for the team will not be high. Few onlookers will expect Jarno Trulli or Heikki Kovalainen, the drivers, to take the chequered flag and spray the champagne like their swaggering, sideburn-sporting forebears did in the 1960s and 1970s. Back then, Team Lotus took six drivers’ championships and seven constructors’ championships.
So, in an attempt to remind the world that they were once rather good at winning races, designers at Lotus have released the Exige S Type 72. Supercharged, super-sporty and seriously scary, this little black number is named after the Type 72 F1 racer, which, with 20 victories to its name, is ranked as the most successful grand prix machine.
Its hand-finished paint job is the work of the signwriter who created the original Type 72’s black-and-gold colour scheme, a result of sponsorship by John Player Special cigarettes. Gold-coloured alloy wheels finish off the dashing looks of this limited-edition model — just 20 will be sold in the UK, each with an interior plaque honouring one of those 20 race wins. Another 20 will go to the Continent and a few more elsewhere.
When you find out more about its performance, the Exige S Type 72, at £36,945, could start to seem the bargain buy of the January sales. Weighing 935kg and boasting 218bhp, it is capable of accelerating from standstill to 60mph in 4.5sec. Take that other well-loved British sports-car brand Aston Martin and you’d need a 510bhp V12 Vantage to accelerate faster. And in case you want to go faster still, Lotus offers the option of a Performance Pack, which raises the power to 237bhp. The S Type 72 even does a reasonable job of avoiding petrol stations. Its 1.8-litre, Toyota-sourced VVTL-i engine returns a perfectly palatable 33.2mpg while emitting just 199g/km of CO2.
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Is there any chance of Trulli or Kovalainen ending up with an S Type 72 as their paddock runabout? Lotus F1 Racing is a separate business from Lotus, and relations have been frosty, but Trulli recently paid the Norfolk-based Lotus factory a visit. Perhaps he was trying a gold-stitched sports seat for size.
Lotus Exige S Type 72
Engine: 1796cc, four cylinders, supercharged
Power: 218bhp @ 8000rpm
Torque: 159 lb ft @ 5500rpm
Transmission: Six-speed manual
Acceleration: 0-60mph: 4.5sec
Top speed: 145mph
Fuel/CO2: 33.2mpg (combined) / 199g/km
Price: £36,945
Road tax band: J (£215 a year)
Verdict: Black magic
On sale: Now