This past Wednesday, Lotus sent us an invitation to take part in the world premiere of a "special edition of a special edition" Evora at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show. The company's invitation noted that the car would be an F1-inspired version of the limited-edition Lotus Evora GTE first shown at the Frankfurt auto show last year. This
"We're launching a special edition of a special edition, and to make things extra special our Lotus F1 Team driver Kimi Raikkonen will be there to field questions. Now, it doesn’t get more special than that…," read the British automaker's invitation.
Lotus did not release any photos of the car leaving us more or less in the dark, but today, Patrick Garcia from French auto site Caradisiac, sent us these photos of an F1-themed Evora that he discovered at a parking lot during a trip to Jerez to cover the F1 pre-season testing earlier this month. Garcia was right to assume that what we're looking at is most likely the F1-themed version of the Evora GTE Lotus has been talking about.
We don't know if there are any mechanical improvements over the regular Evora GTE that is lighter and more powerful than the Evora S, but on the outside, it does get the Lotus F1 team's colors and graphics including a large Lotus insignia on the rear wing and gold finish alloy wheels, plus the number "10", which is used by Kimi Räikkönen's team mate, Romain Grosjean this season.
A similar treatment was given to the F1-inspired Evora S, of which only three examples were built.
We'll remind you that the Evora GTE gets a tuned 3.5-liter supercharged V6 delivering 444-horses, up from the 350HP, channeled to the rear wheels via a new sequential AMT (Automated Manual Transmission) racing gearbox, while Lotus engineers also shaved 105kg or 232 pounds over the base model by eliminating certain parts and using carbonfibre throughout the exterior and interior.
The…two times special edition Evora should not be confused with the company's second world debut at the Swiss show, which Lotus said would "blow our top off" hinting at the Evora Convertible.
Merci Beaucoup to Patrick Garcia!
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