SPY PICS: Eagle spreads wings
Lotus will go to Toyota V6 power for its next sports carElise and Exige are about to gain a stablemate. Lotus has been developing a car to move the car into mainstream sports car production. This new car, codenamed 'Eagle', will be larger than the current Elise/Exige and is expected to be powered by a 3.5-litre V6 supplied by Toyota.
The disguised sports car was spotted by our spy photographers at Carparazzi as it circulated at Nurburgring. Tape around the windscreen of the car in these pics mimics the Elise's roofline, but looking closely, the windscreen is larger and more angular than the Elise's.
Word is that the Eagle will be a 2+2 and will be powered by a V6, with Toyota believed to be the preferred supplier. An outside supplying providing the engine will free up Lotus engineers to give their all to the car's platform and body. Carparazzi believes that Lotus will debut a show car concept, previewing the production car at the British Motor Show in July.
Local Proton and Lotus MD, John Startari, told the Carsales Network during the recent launch of the Proton Persona, that the upcoming Eagle will be a vitally important car for the sports car brand Down Under.
According to Startari, the Eagle will deliver to Lotus a car that can be used every day.
"The factory would like us to benchmark Europa against Boxster, for instance," he said. "In reality, with the Europa and existing Elise-based range, we're selling more against Harley-Davidson than Porsche," he quipped.
-- with Carparazzi
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