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Lotus Cars USA Announces North American Debut of Lotus Sport
Source: Lotus
April 18, 2006

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Duluth, GA (April 18, 2006) – Lotus Cars USA, the importer and distributor of Lotus cars in North America, has introduced the exclusive Lotus Sport brand to North American enthusiasts with the world debut of the ultra high-performance Lotus Sport Exige Cup and Lotus Sport Elise. Lotus Sport, the British automaker’s exclusive competition subsidiary develops, designs and engineers limited-edition production and purpose-built race cars as well as individual parts and accessories developed specifically to excel in a motorsports environment.

Unveiled at the New York International Auto Show, the first U.S. products to feature the distinctive Lotus Sport badge are the supercharged 243-hp Lotus Sport Exige Cup, a pure track-only competition car, and the street-legal 2006 Lotus Sport Elise, equipped with track-ready performance and safety upgrades that fully prepare it for serious competition. The first in a new line of Lotus Sport competition parts also debuted at the show: enthusiasts who are well versed in the nuances of advanced chassis set up will appreciate factory-tuned Lotus Sport Ohlins shocks, featuring the flexibility of extensive rebound and compression adjustments.

“The Lotus Sport brand is the ultimate expression of Lotus founder Colin Chapman’s vision of optimizing performance through light weight,” says Mark O’Shaughnessy, director, sales and marketing, Lotus Cars USA. “Every product in the Lotus Sport portfolio is created with aggressive, factory-proven racing DNA – and the result is a collection of unique products for only the most competition-minded customers and Lotus purists.” The introduction of Lotus Sport in the U.S. market is also welcome by current Lotus owners, says O’Shaughnessy. “There are thousands of Elise owners in this market who are serious about increasing the performance of their Lotus in a motorsports environment and the debut of Lotus Sport products will give them access to the most sophisticated and factory-proven performance products and parts.”

Established in 1999, the Lotus Sport division is located at the Lotus world headquarters in Norfolk, UK, adjacent to the automakers own Hethel test track. In addition to engineering special edition road cars, race-ready variants of Lotus production cars and individual performance parts, the Lotus Sport team is also frequently retained to upgrade or build individual competition cars, such as a recent commission to craft a Lotus Exige specifically for GT2 competition in the Asian market. Lotus Sport also created and supports the European Lotus Cup spec series and is preparing to support a Lotus Exige GT3 team in the 2006 British GT Championship series. The subsidiary’s race workshops can also be commissioned to service, repair, restore or upgrade standard road cars or competition Lotus. In addition, Lotus Sport develops and conducts track-based driving experiences for groups and individuals as well as guided tours of the Lotus factory.