Now it’s clear why Lotus is expanding its relationship with Toyota, becasue they are working on ambitious projects such as this, the new Lotus Elite for 2014. By any means, it is a full-on supercar with magnificent styling and a superb engine capable of developing up to 620 PS and superb performance which puts it in the same league as the Ferrari 458 Italia. Lotus says this modern-classic is the dawn of Lotus’ new era.

Since as it is a Lotus you can tell it will be also very brilliant in terms of handling. It features a front-mid positioned 5.0l V8 engine, a compact body which apart from everything looks astonishing, unlike most of the other Lotus cars built to date, which are kinda geeky! Let’s just hope the production version will be just as good.

Lotus also says that the Elite comes with options like retractable hard top version and the optional use of hybrid technology with KERS.

Dany Bahar, CEO of Group Lotus said: “There’s no denying that the Elite is breathtakingly beautiful to look at but it’s so much more than that, it’s a car that over delivers in all other aspects as well. One could say it’s a car of perfect contradictions, it’s compact yet spacious, high performing yet low emitting, lightweight yet still reassuringly solid. It’s a car that we are exceptionally proud of at Lotus and we truly believe that there is nothing else like it out there both in terms of styling and performance.

“Make no mistake, there’s a definite market requirement for the Elite – it’s the ultimate sports car feel with comfort and space. There will always be those who believe that Lotus should stick to small sports cars but we didn’t take the decision to design something like the Elite lightly, it’s based on months of careful research and planning. It’s worth noting this sector has been very successful for us in the past and now the Elite raises the benchmark higher still.”