Lotus Europa Revived As Proton Lekir

Malaysian maker reveals sports car concept as Lotus signs more new names

By Riggers / Monday, 6 December 2010 / Loading comments

The Lotus Europa has (sort of) been revised by parent company Proton to create this, the Lekir concept, which the Malaysian manufacturer has revealed at the Kuala Lumpur motor show.

Now, if you were to pick a Lotus to revive, the Europa - which emerged in 2006 to distinctly lukewarm reception - wouldn't exactly be your first choice.

Curiously, however, it's not the first time the Europa's been re-used - Dodge slapped its own badges on the car for an electric concept at the 2009 Detroit motor show.

For its reincarnation as the Lekir concept, the Europa returns to the internal combustion engine, with around 220bhp from - depending on which part of Proton's literature you take as true - either a 1.6-litre or 2.0-litre turbocharged four.

You could actually say it's a case of the Europa coming home, too: the car actually started life as a Proton sports car called 'Sepang' before morphing into a full-on Lotus model.

Back at Lotus HQ in Norfolk, the roll-call of big-name signings for Lotus's ambitious future product plans grows ever larger. Latest to join the Lotus reinvention party are Karl-Heinz Kalbfell (former CEO of both Rolls-Royce and Maserati) and former Ferrari general manager Guillaume Chablin.

Lotus might have brave ambitions to challenge Aston Martin, Ferrari and Porsche but, as PH editor Chris-R says, we wonder how long it will be before the gravy train gets too long to fit onto the Hethel station platform...