Friday 14th October 2022

Lotus announces Evija Fittipaldi

50 years since the Brazilian's first F1 title marked with limited edition - in iconic colours, naturally

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In among a lot of significant anniversaries for Lotus in 2022, one stands proud: it’s 50 years since Emmerson Fittipaldi won his first of two F1 titles, with Lotus securing the teams’ championship alongside. And it was all done in perhaps the most famous Lotus race car of them all, the JPS-liveried Type 72.

An occasion like that couldn’t go unnoticed, and so we have this: the Lotus Evija Fittipaldi. There will be eight because that’s how many surviving 72s there are (plus it was Fittipaldi’s number for that championship-winning year), and they’re all spoken for, with deliveries scheduled for the start of next year. Obviously, every single one is hand-painted black and gold, but there are additional distinguishing features including the rotary dash dial made from recycled Type 72 aluminium. The great man’s signature also makes it to the interior, and an outline of the old F1 car is etched into the carbon roof.

Then it’s a case of black and gold wherever it can go, including black leather with gold stitching, black and gold wheels with black and gold calipers, a carbon and gold Lotus badge, gold air vent surrounds, gold pedals, gold start button… It’s never going to be mistaken for anything but an Evija Fittipaldi, put it that way.

Performance is identical to the regular Evija - though with more than 2,000hp from four electric motors, there won’t have been many prospective customers clamouring for more. As a reminder, Lotus claims an Evija will each 186mph in less than nine seconds ahead of its 217mph limited top speed, with a ‘target’ WLTP range figure of 250 miles.

The Fittipaldi is the creation of Lotus Advanced Performance, the bespoking division announced earlier this year. Presumably Lotus AP won’t just be applying old liveries to new cars, but you’ve gotta say this Evija does look sensational, charging around Hethel with Jenson Button at the wheel. With production underway now, presumably we aren’t too far from a 2,039hp Lotus EV that looks like this being seen on the road, which ought to be a moment to savour.

The former F1 world champion himself was in attendance for the Fittipaldi reveal, which featured all eight of those surviving 72s. He added: “It’s fantastic to be back at Hethel for such a special occasion. I’ve really enjoyed being a part of this project and it’s been a wonderful experience revealing the car to some of the new owners. Having the opportunity to drive both the Evija Fittipaldi and my championship-winning Type 72 Formula 1 car on the test track at Hethel has been an incredible experience.”

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• 2022 Lotus Evija prototype | PH Review
• All-new Lotus Eletre officially unveiled

 

[mersontheperson]

Not sure about that to be honest

[loudlashadjuster]

They're doing special editions before the thing is even properly launched?

Never stop Lotusing, Lotus.

Does look good, mind.

[V1nce Fox]

JPS?

[ChrisCh86]

That does look nice.

Have they actually delivered any customer Evijas yet?

[otolith]

Have any been delivered yet? Seems a bit premature to announce a special edition.

[Frimley111R]

loudlashadjuster said:

They're doing special editions before the thing is even properly launched?

Never stop Lotusing, Lotus.

Does look good, mind.

I guess they have to keep up interest while the car is being finalised. TBH it is good marketing strategy rather than things going quiet.

[mersontheperson]

I don’t really like retro styling on a modern canvas. A restomod can look good with period styling/decals to me, but when I see a modern silhouette, I prefer a more modern styling aesthetic

[ch37]

loudlashadjuster said:

They're doing special editions before the thing is even properly launched?

They've sold them all, so...

[E30KB]

Just needs a proper exhaust.

[T1berious]

ch37 said:

loudlashadjuster said:

They're doing special editions before the thing is even properly launched?

They've sold them all, so...

I also thought they were all sold?

[otolith]

I expect it's being offered as an upgrade to cars they've already sold but not yet built.

[LotusOmega375D]

So these 8 are “spoken for”, which may (or may not) mean Lotus receiving the full £2 million per unit. What about the other 122 promised? I haven’t seen anything official to claim they are all sold: only the 2022 allocation, which is negligible.

[ate one too]

Obviously they've got several litres of black and a couple of litres of gold paint left over from all the JPS Elise, Exige and Evora special editions ...

"Waste not - want not"

[SteveStrange]

I do think the emblems/logos on the back and the "Emerson Fittipaldi" name sticker are a bit cringe.

[SpeckledJim]

I think it looks bloody superb in black and gold, but the various signatures and decals are too much. That it exists at all doesn't say great things about the state of the Evija order book.

I think Evija is comfortably the best looking and most exciting of the current unobtanium hypercars. £2m though...

[PistonTim]

SteveStrange said:

I do think the emblems/logos on the back and the "Emerson Fittipaldi" name sticker are a bit cringe.

Agree, the rear looks absolutely awful!

[pycraft]

SpeckledJim said:

I think it looks bloody superb in black and gold, but the various signatures and decals are too much. That it exists at all doesn't say great things about the state of the Evija order book.

I think Evija is comfortably the best looking and most exciting of the current unobtanium hypercars. £2m though...

The way inflation is going, give it a couple of years and that'll be enough for a Friday night out and a bag of chips.

[Ahonen]

ate one too said:

Obviously they've got several litres of black and a couple of litres of gold paint left over from all the JPS Elise, Exige and Evora special editions ...

"Waste not - want not"

It's also 10 years since the 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix so they could do a run of Kimi Raikkonen specials too, with 'Leave me alone, I know what I'm doing' embroidered into the dash. Maybe they could make 10 of them in honour of Kimi saying 'You don't have to remind me every 10 seconds'.

[86wasagoodyear]

V1nce Fox said:

JPS?

John Player Special. Cigarette brand, black & gold packs, sponsor of Lotus F1 for many years back in the days. Hence black & gold being used by Lotus to this day for retro appeal, without being able to mention tabs any more.

[M1C]

That looks absolutely gorgeous in my eyes.