2012 Lotus Esprit rendered

The upcoming Lotus Evora will surely be one of the English automaker’s greatest products of the company’s recent history. The Evora better enjoy the limelight while it lasts, because in 2012 the legendary light weight sports car builder will be bringing back a legend: the Esprit. The mid engine sports car was a huge success from 1976 thru 2004; and the next generation model should not be any different, competing head to head with models like the future Ferrari F450, Lamborghini Gallardo and the Audi R8 V10.

The new Lotus Esprit will get be powered by a range of engines: the entry level version will get the same 3.5 Liter V6 making 300 HP from the Evora, the next rung on the ladder will be a 414 HP 5.0 Liter V8 from the factory hot rod Lexus IS-F, but the big news surrounds the top of the line Esprit, powered by the same engine as the Lexus LF-A super car, a 4.8 Liter V10 making 550 HP. No matter which power plant you choose, they will all be mated to six-speed semi-automatic paddle shift transmissions.

The lightweight nature of any Lotus, combined with the awesome power of an endurance racing super car will ensure that when it finally does arrive, that the next generation Esprit will be a world class sports car. Only fitting of such a high performance machine is that it will sprint from 0 to 60 MPH in than 4 seconds, while hitting a top speed of around 200 MPH should not be difficult.