Lotus Elise Classic Heritage Editions with liveries from Lotus racing history

Lotus is back with another limited edition run of cars, this time the Lotus Elise Classic Heritage Editions with liveries from Lotus racing history.

Lotus has managed to scrape a living in the past few years by repackaging their rather ancient line-up, delivering incrementally tweaked versions of their range and regular ‘limited edition’ specials to tempt buyers to shop at Hethel.

Things are changing though, and there’s the new electric Lotus Evija on the horizon to act as a halo for the brand, a China-built SUV and a ‘practical’ sports car aimed somewhere at Porsche, thanks to the new money from Geely.

But, in the meantime, new takes and special editions of the current range continue as Lotus keeps the wheels turning, and now we get a limited run – 100 cars – of the Lotus Elise with the Lotus Elise Classic Heritage Editions.

The Elise Heritage Editions pay tribute to Lotus racing history by decking them out in a choice of four liveries, each representing a significant place in the Lotus history book.

Perhaps the most famous is the Black and Gold JPS livery of the Lotus Type 72D which Emerson Fittipaldi raced in the 1972 F1 season to five wins, but there’s also the red, white and gold used on Graham Hill’s Type 49B from 1968, the blue, red and silver from the Type 81 driven by Nigel Mansell and the blue and white from the Type 18, the first Lotus to take an F1 pole in 1960.

Based on the Elise Sport 220, the Heritage Editions get an inproved spec including DAB, Air Con, Cruise, forged alloys with racing livery and two-piece discs, with the Elise interior colour pack to match your exterior choice of livery.

Lotus say they’re not splitting the run in to 25 of each livery, but will build what’s ordered up to a maximum of 100 cars. Each costs from £46,250, £6,350 more than the Elise Sport 220 but, say Lotus, the extras included amount to £11,735.