What, you thought Lotus wasn’t going to cash in on - sorry, celebrate - what many consider to be the greatest F1 car of the lot with its 2,000bhp+ Evija electric hypercar? Wrong.
Taking the lead of Jenson Button and Radford’s Type 62-2 late last year Lotus has revealed this (admittedly very handsome) Evija Fittipaldi, inspired by the Brazilian F1 champ and the Lotus 72 that took him to the first of his two titles in, yep, 1972.
Half a century has passed since then and apparently only eight examples of Colin Chapman’s groundbreaking machine survive to this day, hence why Lotus is only building eight of these Fittipaldi versions. And they’ve all sold out. Sorry.
Still, worth an ogle isn’t it? Virtually everything has been black-n-goldified, including the exterior decals, the pedals, the upholstery and Emerson’s hand-stitched signature on the dashboard. Who knew he was such a whizz with a needle?
Meanwhile the rotary dial on the centre console is made from recycled aluminium sourced from one of the surviving 72s. Nice touch.
“It’s fantastic to be back at Hethel for such a special occasion,” said Fittipaldi himself at the launch. “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.”
You won’t need reminding of the Evija’s incredible performance figures, of course: four electric motors deliver 1,500kW (more than 2,000bhp) and 1,700Nm, making this the most powerful production car on the planet. 0-62mph takes under three seconds; 0-186mph less than nine, with the top speed limited to 217mph.
Meanwhile a 93kWh battery gives 250 miles of range, although you’d expect that to plummet every time the throttle gets a thorough mashing into the floor.
2009 F1 champion Button was also present to put the Evija Fittipaldi through its paces: “It sounds like a jet engine!” he said afterwards. “You think of an EV as quiet but it’s not. The torque is astronomical. It’s amazing, it puts a big smile on your face.
“It feels like a spaceship, the drivability and direction in the steering certainly lets you know you are driving a Lotus; I am amazed by the agility of it. It is a Lotus of the future and I can’t wait to drive my own Evija.”
Worth keeping an eye out for one in the classifieds one day? You'll recall how mind-boggling it was when TG had a go in the prototype last year... when it was still missing 400bhp. Yikes.
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