Lotus Evora | PH Private Area
The Evora wasn't short of a special edition in its lifetime - might original flavour still be best?
Buyers of the Lotus Evora certainly had plenty of options during its time on sale. There was everything you could think of on the special edition spectrum, from those that focused on looks - think Hethel Edition cars - to the dedicated road racers like the GTE, with almost anything else you could wish for in between. There was the Sports Racer, the GT430, Sport 410, Stratton GT, Final Edition, the Sport 410 GP Edition… and don’t forget the one-off Freddie Mercury, sold to Chris Evans as a charity fund raiser. All of them were great in their own way, of course, because the Evora was a glorious little sports car - but it did start to feel a bit OTT towards the end.
It also meant that the original model tended to get overlooked somewhat, out of production once the 400 came on stream in 2015 and without the supercharged punch that characterised all those later editions. Furthermore, as 2009 faded further into memories and the Evora soldiered on, the impact it had back at launch inevitably lessened. Especially once the Exige went to Toyota V6 power. Prior to the Evora’s introduction, there wasn’t a Lotus with more than four cylinders on sale, and hadn’t been since the Esprit’s demise. The move to a more luxurious, better-appointed sports car was huge, and it can be easy to forget that as 2009 now feels like 20 years ago and the Emira is the Lotus hogging the headlines.
At the time, it helped that the 280hp Lotus Evora was pretty magnificent. It garnered praise from everybody who had a go, particularly for its steering, ride and poise. It won Autocar’s handling day in 2009, as well as evo’s car of the year, beating out opposition like the 997 GT3, Murcielago SV, Noble M600 and Aston V12 Vantage in the process. All without a supercharger…
So the standard Evora was brilliant already, even if the majority of Evoras sold must've come with forced induction. This one looks tremendous, a 2010 Liquid Blue example with all three important option packs - Sport, Tech, Premium - added from new. It also benefits from an upgraded screen that now incorporates DAB and CarPlay, which will be handy given the infotainment wasn’t brilliant by the standards of the late 2000s, let alone what we expect now.
The car has covered just 44,000 miles in 13 years, and comes with a full Lotus service history as well as lots of the common maladies rectified, including a new clutch and master cylinder, relaminated windows and door regulators. That’s in addition to lots of other replacement parts that point to careful and considerate ownership. The Lotus also passes that most important test for anyone scouring used car ads: it’s got four good tyres, in this case matching Pirelli P Zeros.
Gets better, too; as one of the early Evoras, this is actually the most affordable one currently in the classifieds, priced at £28,200. Given that Evoras never seemed to go any lower than £20k (save for a Brave Pill-spec car in 2020), that seems an appealing asking price. We live in a world of Honda S2000s at £30,000 and above, so £28k for a proper Lotus icon seems about right. As a plain old 3.5 V6, moreover, and not a special of any description, this Evora might actually be one of the rarest of all…
SPECIFICATION | LOTUS EVORA
Engine: 3,456cc, V6
Transmission: 6-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 280@6,400rpm
Torque (lb ft): 258@4,700rpm
MPG: 32
CO2: 205g/km
Recorded mileage: 44,000
First registered: 2010
Price new: £58,460
Yours for: £28,200
The Emira was supposed to be the fix for all of this but has been badly managed as a launch car and there are build quality issues and faults surfacing which lotus need to sort. Geely appear to be happy to rush out the last petrol engined lotus while having their eyes elsewhere on electric cars perhaps.
The Emira was supposed to be the fix for all of this but has been badly managed as a launch car and there are build quality issues and faults surfacing which lotus need to sort. Geely appear to be happy to rush out the last petrol engined lotus while having their eyes elsewhere on electric cars perhaps.
What lay under the skin was excellent but they opted to package it incorrectly and persist with their militant, extremist and utterly wrong opinion that looks didn't matter, people would buy it because it went round corners. Despite this being the company that the only time they got close to selling in any kind of volume was when the Esprit existed.
It was never that there was anything particularly wrong with the Evora, it just looked much cheaper than the number they wanted people to exchange it for.
£30k today seems a reasonable sum for a usable car that can be a fun was to see out the final few decades of petrol?
The Emira was supposed to be the fix for all of this but has been badly managed as a launch car and there are build quality issues and faults surfacing which lotus need to sort. Geely appear to be happy to rush out the last petrol engined lotus while having their eyes elsewhere on electric cars perhaps.
I’m really enjoying my Emira but the biggest improvements are to the styling and the interior, if you’re not fussed about those then the Evoras are great value
The Emira was supposed to be the fix for all of this but has been badly managed as a launch car and there are build quality issues and faults surfacing which lotus need to sort. Geely appear to be happy to rush out the last petrol engined lotus while having their eyes elsewhere on electric cars perhaps.
The 1st was low mileage , but the second was nearly 90K and did have a few issues, like the drivers window not working, and couldn't get the parts! although the interior wore the miles very well..The rear seats were useful as extra storage, and I did get a Recaro front facing child seat back there!
I would love to have another one day as a second car, maybe to replace the GTV.
This was the S, looked great in Red, and alot if road presence.
king chance. Wouldn't consider an Evora for that which does make it more a GT car for 2 people for me.
If you want fun, get an Elise/Exige. If you want a do-it-all car get a 911.
The Evora falls between 2 stools for me.
Even colour coded!
Typhon as well, that's a rare beasty!
Edit, seats look great in there too!
My lad is 14 with spiders legs so it's a no-no for me then!
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