Autoblog

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No, it's not the official ride of Captain Britain, but it would probably fit the bill nicely. The Lotus Exige S shown was the subject of an episode of Discovery Channel's How Do They Do It? series. The topic was vehicle wraps, and Lotus Design came up with the flag motif to be applied to one of its dynamic sports cars. Four techs took ten hours to complete the job (this was a little more complicated than wrapping a city bus with a pizzeria ad) and the results look pretty stunning. If you're in the UK, you might be able to catch it as it tours Lotus dealers throughout the country. This makes the MINI roof flags look as subtle as lapel pins.

[Source: Lotus via Zer Customs]

On Tuesday, Lotus made the official announcement that the supercharged Exige S is headed stateside with 220 horses under its highly-ventilated engine cover. That's 30 horsepower more than the standard Exige, and is enough to propel the blown version to 60 mph in just 4.1 seconds, 100 mph in 11 seconds, and a top end of 148 mph. Since it's a Lotus, it works real nice when you actually turn the steering wheel, too.

The asking price is reportedly $56,990, a number that Autoblog reader Dave E. confirmed in an email to us after he eyeballed a dealer order sheet. If you'd like to be jealous, head on over to this thread at EliseTalk.com, where you'll find customers talking about the cars they've already got on order. Based on the chatter there, it sounds like dealers will have some cars in showrooms next month, and that customer orders will start arriving in December.

As for the car's official US debut, we'll go out on a limb and guess that it'll happen at Lotus Ltd's 26th Annual Lotus Owners Gathering, which will take place in Fort Worth on October 13-17. The club's website says that the Texas event will provide the backdrop for the unveiling of Lotus' newest US model.

[Sources: Jalopnik, EliseTalk, Lotus Ltd.]