81 cars for 81 Formula One victories: is this Lotus’s way of saying they won’t win again?
And the ‘limited' aspect isn't because Maldonado has stacked the others, but because just 81 cars in this special livery are being built - one for every victory (up to the end of 2013) using the Lotus F1 name. Which surely begs the question: has Lotus given up on 2014?
We'll park that one for now. The car? As you can see it's decked out in black and gold inside and out, with red accents, an ‘LF1' logo and exclusive Lotus badging about the nose and wheels, as well as the seat headrests and backs.
Each one will also feature a plaque numbering a specific race from Lotus' history, from the first ever victory at the Monaco GP in 1960 (#1), right through to Kimi Raikkonen's win in Australia last year (#81). There's also new leather and something called 'technical' trim. Yeah, us neither.
You also get Pirelli P-Zero Trofeo tyres wrapping matt gold 18-inch rear alloys and 17s at the front, two-piece high performance brake discs, red brake calipers, and a carbon fibre engine plate.
Oh yes, the engine. Nothing's been tweaked, sadly, but then it's still a riot: a supercharged 3.5-litre V6 producing 345bhp and 295lb ft of torque, propelling a lissom 1176kg. The Exige S will hit 0-62mph in four seconds flat, and run on to a top speed of 170mph. Which is possibly quick enough to outpace Pastor and Romain's F1 car this year.
The Exige LF1 will cost you $105 711 USD.
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