Nearer £50k I think you'll find.

Lotus and McLaren should just merge. They would then have top end supercars + light weight sports cars, a winning Formula 1 team and all the tech and engineering they would ever need. How could this not work?

Nope.

£38K for the standard model

£45k for the S.

Top Gear 2012 Boxster

However, Sir, there are certain options we would strongly recommend that you invest in to help retain the value of your new car...

He did say basic, and if you add options to any car it bumps the price up extraordinarily And that includs the Exige/Elise and Evora.

As for why Lotus didn't sell many cars. They have an ancient and very niche entry level car and then a massive gap to two over priced and under quality products that appeal to driving purists but few others. Which puts them in the problem they are in now.
What Porsche nails and what so few people posting on the various forums about Lotus' woes is that their cars have a decent image, are practical, well built and also for those who want it which actually isn't many, drive well. And that the order of priorities that the average car buyer really cares about. Don't get that right and why would you sell any cars?

I recall when Lotus used to sell kit cars in the early 70s. It's an image I don't think they have ever really shaken off.

I think that to gain any credibility, they need to ditch the GRP and switch to aluminium and concentrate oon more Porsche/Audi attributes which translate into sales.

I would guess that there is now a huge stock of used Lotus cars to cater to the track types and I regret to say that scameras and modern traffic conditions have largely put paid to zestful enthusiasts.

Much though I like the Elise and even the Evora, I think cars like the Elan, Elan +2S/130 and Europa had more glamour and appeal. No wonder the MX5 ripped off the Elan.

I take it you have another car as well?

I don't think that's true - if anything, a car which disguises speed better is harder to enjoy on our roads. There are loads of roads round here where you can enjoy driving a small, raw sportscar without worrying about scameras or traffic or having a 170+mph top speed.

When I was a lad there were precious few affordable, quick cars you could buy that were a little different from the mainstream. Some of them were the original Lotus 7, frog eye Sprite etc. The youngsters today want to drive Clios and Corsas or whatever.
It's the slightly older buyer who now has money for a "sports car" and the manufactureres know exactly how to pitch their wares and what to charge for extras. I speak as a past owner of a Caterham, Elise and then a couple of TVR's.
A previous comment was absolutely on the button when he said, these cars will be driven at 5/10ths. You can't drive on the road as fast as the car will go so why not have the ace interior, Carlos Fandango wheels etc?
I expect I could drive from A to B as fast as most people in apparently much faster cars in my company sponsored Passat diesel auto.
This is a kind of a track v road era at the moment imo and Lotus and others need to find their niche and quickly. Saab, Artega and dear old TVR. Smollensky was on the right track when he improved quality, warranty etc but the cost to do that in small quantities is not possible without a sales price to match.

Are they even selling any cars??