Click for updated gallery of the Lotus Clark Type-25 Elise SC
Lotus has a dedicated following around the world, and many of them were undoubtedly disappointed that the first special edition of the new supercharged Elise was limited to just 25 examples, all of which were sold within the UK and Ireland. Although Lotus enthusiasts in the U.S. will surely remain disappointed, a handful of those in Europe will get another lucky chance at limited edition Elise ownership with Lotus' announcement that it will produce an additional run of 25 examples of the Clark Type-25 Elise SC for sale on the continent.
The special edition is named for legendary Scottish racing driver Jim Clark and features an array of special retro touches, including a British racing green paint job with a broad yellow stripe and white circle on the door. It's based on the 218 hp blown Elise SC, which remains mechanically unchanged. An additional 25 examples of the special Lotus are available now in Europe for €44,100 before local taxes, which translates to about €54k in Germany, France and Italy.
Follow the jump for the full press release, and click on the thumbnails to view our updated gallery of images of the special edition Elise.
[Source: Lotus]
PRESS RELEASE
Clark Type 25 Elise SC Limited Edition
Now available for the mainland European Market
Jim Clark is considered by many as the finest and most naturally gifted racing driver of all time. He won the F1 World Championship twice for Team Lotus in 1963 and in 1965. In total, he won 25 Grand Prix races and was the first Briton to win the Indianapolis 500. Clark won a third of all the F1 races he entered, as well as racing in other formulae such as F2, F3 and Touring Cars. Typically he would race in as many as three different categories per race meeting! How many of the current crop of F1 drivers would do that?
In tribute to Jim Clark's achievements, Lotus, in association with Classic Team Lotus, is producing the Clark Type 25 Elise SC, with a donation for each of these special cars sold going to the Jim Clark memorial fund. This Elise, initially limited to just 25 cars in the UK is now also available for a further 25 cars in the mainland European market. The decision to produce another 25 cars for the mainland European Market was driven by the high demand from dealers and customers from all over Europe.
The 25 has been the Type number of his 1963 Lotus F1 car and his number of F1 wins and has been authorised by the Clark family and coincides with the 40th anniversary of Jim Clark's death at Hockenheim in 1968.
Mike Kimberley, CEO of Group Lotus Plc comments, "It is fitting that the latest version of our award winning Elise, the Clark Type 25 Elise SC, should celebrate the life of Jim Clark. Each owner of the Clark Type 25 Elise SC will be joining an unrivalled heritage that recognises motorsport's greatest partnership, that of Lotus and Jim Clark."
The Clark Type 25 Elise SC draws upon many styling cues from the Type 25 Formula 1 car that Jim Clark raced to win the World Championship in 1963. The car, with a removable hard top as standard, is finished in British Racing Green with a yellow stripe along the centre and features high performance Lotus Sport wheels, finished in an historic black and silver design. The interior is inspired by the Team Lotus Formula 1 cars of the era, with black leather sports seats, trimmed with red leather and all finished off with a retro wooden gear knob.
The Elise SC is the most powerful production Elise ever produced and offers stunning performance. Power comes from a 1.8 litre non-intercooled, supercharged engine and uses intelligent cam switching technology, enabling the engine to switch to the high performance cam anywhere between 4000 and 6200 rpm. This clever feature gives the engine two characters, allowing the car to be driven economically or giving maximum performance for spirited driving.
The Elise's light weight gives low CO2 emissions (202 g/km), great handling and affords phenomenal braking. Another benefit of the low weight is incredible acceleration, with the sprint to 100 km/h in only 4.6 seconds. The Elise SC accelerates on to a top speed of 238 km/h. Combined fuel consumption is 8.5 l/100 km.
All Lotus cars offer exceptional handling and the Elise is no exception. The chassis has a seriously light, stiff structure. Combining this technology with the fantastic Lotus ride and handling gives an inspiring driving experience and the mid-engined layout of the Lotus Elise offers fantastic balance and agility.
The Elise SC offers a few technological advances that Jim Clark may have found helpful in his Type 25. Coming as standard on the Elise is traction control, ABS and sequential shift lights, however all the driver aids are included to improve the driving experience and do not intervene unless really called upon.
The Clark Type 25 Elise SC is available for all countries in Europe and is on sale now. The car is priced very competitively at € 44.100,-- (+ local taxes). This price is representing a customer saving of € 3.596,-- (before tax). Please note: prices include transport, delivery, local taxes, and first service.
Pricing for some mainland European Markets:
Ø Germany € 53.375,--
Ø France € 53.650,--
Ø Italy € 54.300,--
Ø Belgium € 54.175,--
Ø Holland € 72.210,--
Ø Switzerland CHF 78.950,--
Specification Summary:
Ø Elise SC
Ø Sports Pack
Ø Hard Top
Ø Unique Leather Interior
Ø Unique exterior in British Racing Green, with Painted Yellow Stripe.
Ø Unique Lotus Sport Forged Wheels 6 J x 16 Front, 7½ J x 17 Rear with YokohamaAO48 tyres
Ø Build Plate numbered 1 – 25 for Europe
Optional Equipment: (Pricing as per standard MY08 Elise options)
Ø Limited Slip Differential
Ø Air Conditioning
Lotus Clark Type 25 Elise SC
CO2 emissions – 202 g/km. Combined fuel consumption - 33.23 mpg (8.5 l/100 km)
About Lotus
The main operating subsidiary of Group Lotus plc is Lotus Cars Ltd, which has two operating divisions - Lotus Engineering and Lotus Cars. Lotus Engineering is an internationally recognised automotive engineering consultancy based in Norfolk, UK. Global facilities include those in Michigan (USA), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), China and offices in Germany and Japan, with rapid expansion in new territories such as South East Asia and the Gulf States.
Lotus Engineering provides comprehensive and versatile consultancy services to many of the world's OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers, offering a full engineering service from initial concept and project design through development and integration of the complete vehicle to meet all worldwide markets and customers to full production. This includes third party 'niche vehicle' engineering and manufacture worldwide.
Lotus Cars builds world class, prestige, high performance sports cars for sale in 37 countries. These include the iconic Lotus Elise, and the Exige and Europa. The all new Lotus Evora was unveiled at the British International Motorshow in July 2008 and will enter the market place in the second quarter of 2009. Lotus is a global high-tech company, expanding rapidly and committed to driving forward technology for both Lotus Cars and its Engineering clients, spearheading research into such areas as hybrids, electric vehicles and renewable fuels.
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