By now, you’ve probably seen the new Lotus Emira special edition inspired by Jim Clark. A very nice thing it is, too, with green paint and a red seat, but it isn’t hard when presented with a mild Lotus limited-run sports car to wonder what a spicier one might be like. Just imagine a GT4 tribute Emira, with a racy bodykit, loud exhaust, light wheels, and bucket seats. It feels like an open goal for a Lotus sports car that drives as well as it does - doubly so with the 718 GT4 no longer in production.
Hopefully, that’s a story for another day. For now, it’s time to remember the 2-Eleven, the most extreme Lotus limited edition of the past 20 years. Perhaps of this century. This is what happens when you take the idea of a stripped-out special edition and really, really run with it. As far back as 2005, there was a Lotus Circuit Car concept; by 2007, the 2-Eleven was a real thing at the Geneva show, and it didn’t look very much different: as little Elise architecture as could be got away with, ample supercharged power, and unashamed track focus.
Officially, the 2-Eleven picked up, many decades later, where the original Eleven had left off, another little Lotus celebrated for huge achievements with very little weight. It also looked like something of a spiritual successor to the 340R, a proper little cage fighter of an Elise. The press reviews were predictably rave for the new £40k Lotus, and seemingly enough went right with the project as it was followed up a few years later by the V6-engined 3-Eleven.
The cheapest way into a 2-Eleven was to buy the standard Track Pack, complete with one seat, no front lights, a fire extinguisher, and a very serious aerokit. It isn’t clear how many of the 356 examples of 2-Eleven Lotus made were dedicated circuit cars, but this one - build number 071, from 2008 - isn’t one. Those who wanted to could pay another £1,100 back then for a UK SVA kit, which homologated the 2-Eleven for road use with less aggressive aero, a catalytic converter, and just four points for the harnesses rather than six. Plus a passenger seat, for those mad enough to come with you.
Lavish, it was not. The SVA upgrade really only fitted the very bare minimum of parts to qualify for number plates. It may have added a few kilos to the 670kg claimed for the track car, but a 2-Eleven like this is still going to be unforgettably exhilarating to drive. Perhaps even better than it once would have been, too, thanks to the fitment of three-way adjustable Ohlins dampers.
This one has covered just 4,000 miles in 18 years, which must make it one of the lowest mileage examples out there. If ever there was a car for just one more lap or booking some time off for a mid-week track day, the 2-Eleven is it. But usage has been sparing and seemingly considerate: there aren’t the blemishes you might expect from something so unashamedly focused on hard driving. The PPF, including up where driver and passenger clamber in, has been doing its work there.
For £45k, it’s hard to think of much else that’s going to thrill to the level of a 2-Eleven. Maybe wearing a helmet for every single drive might get tiresome, but it certainly feels like the highs of the driving experience are going to massively outweigh any pitfalls. After all, this is the ultimate evolution of the car voted by PHers as the best sports car since 1998 - it’s going to be awesome. And not likely to be worth any less in the near future, either. Because, as you may have noticed, this isn’t the kind of sports car Lotus makes right now.
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