Lotus Exige S Type 72 celebrates 2010 F1 return

The 2010 Lotus Exige S Type 72, yet another one of countless Elise variants, now celebrates the return of Lotus in the 2010 F1 season. It is named after the Lotus Type 72 Formula One racecar which achieved 20 Grand Prix victories between 1970 and 1975.

The Lotus Type 72 was driven by Jochen Rindt, Emerson Fittipaldi, Ronnie Peterson and Jacky Ickx at various times, and won three Formula One Constructors’ Championships in 1970, 1972 and 1973, and two Drivers’ World Championships, the first being won by Jochen Rindt in 1970 and the second by Emerson Fittipaldi in 1972.

The colour scheme of the Exige S Type 72 commemorates the black-and-gold Team Lotus F1 livery.

The 935 kg Exige S Type 72 does the 0-100 kph sprint in 4.7 seconds, before reaching a top speed of 233 kph. The Exige S Type 72 also offers class leading fuel economy of 6.5 litres/100 km, which is obvious considering how bare the car is.

The mid-engined Exige S is powered by a supercharged and intercooled Toyota 1.8-litre 4-cylinder motor with VVTL-i technology and a rev-limiter at 8500 rpm.

Standard on the Exige S Type 72 are a “bespoke high quality” interior, including black micro fibre ProBax sports seats with gold stitching. Each car comes with a special build plate commemorating one of the F1 car’s 20 Grand Prix victories. The exterior of the Exige S Type 72 features unique black and gold light weight wheels and is finished with hand-painted gold Type 72 and Exige S logos. The Sport Pack also includes a T45 steel main roll hoop, traction control, twin oil coolers and an adjustable front anti-roll bar.

The Exige S Type 72 options include air-conditioning, limited-slip differential and a performance pack which includes a power increase to 238 hp, larger AP Racing brakes, enlarged roof scoop, variable traction control and launch control.

To commemorate the number of Grand Prix wins the Type 72 F1 racer achieved, Lotus will be producing 20 of this special edition for the UK, a further 20 cars for mainland Europe and there will be a limited run of cars in Japan and selected markets around the world, at the equivalent of Dhs 220,000 each. Currently, Lotus is available only in Saudi Arabia officially, among the GCC countries.

Incidentally, Lotus is re-entering the tough F1 arena just as Toyota and BMW are exiting, and while Mercedes-Benz is in the news for buying out Brawn GP and signing up Michael Schumacher as their star driver for 2010.