Lotus Exos Type 125 revealed as quasi-F1 car

When Lotus hinted that its Exos Type 125 track-day car would deliver the ultimate customer track experience, we had no idea they meant this ultimate. The 125 was revealed to a few of Lotus' friends at the Monterey Motorsports Pre-Reunion, and it's about as close as many of its buyers will get to a Formula 1 car.

Powered by a 650-horsepower Cosworth V8 that runs up to 10,300 rpm, the 650-kilogram open-wheeler is no doubt awesome fast. With a starter motor and a tear-down interval of 4,000 kilometers, it should go relatively easy on budgets as well. Lotus says it will be offering 25 of them for one million dollars each, and will develop a training and racing program around them.

At least one Autoblogger has wondered if there isn't more to this car than merely promoting Lotus cars and owner experiences. Ferrari was viewed askance earlier this year when it put Alonso in an F10 for some "promotional" work at Fiorano, since it looked a lot like contravening Formula 1's testing ban. The Type 125 is so close to this year's T127 – it's even named as if it were last year's F1 car, although Lotus wasn't in F1 last year – that you should win a prize for spotting the minor differences. Or that could be just some silly tinfoil hat talk right there...

[Source: GGLotus | Images: Rahul Nair]