Say hello – kind of – to the Encor Series 1: a remastered Lotus Esprit brought to life on the anniversary of the first car’s debut at the Paris Motor Show 50 years ago.
The ‘restomod’ model teased in the images seen here is the brainchild of several former Lotus staffers, including Simon Lane of Lotus Advanced Performance and Daniel Durrant, the Emira’s lead designer, plus others with long-term knowledge of the hypercar market. The wider team also contains names that have worked at Pagani, Koenigsegg, Aston Martin, Porsche and Lotus.
The donor car for the Encor Series 1 is an Esprit V8, but the original fibreglass bodyshell has been replaced with carbonfibre, bringing lightness and rigidity to the car. The surfaces have been CAD-refined, while the original car’s pop-up headlamps have been reinterpreted as low-profile LED projectors.
The Encor Series 1 uses the Lotus Esprit V8 engine; each one will be fully rebuilt and refined, with higher performance, improved drivability and greater everyday usability promised. Given that, when new, the V8 was detuned to 349bhp from around 500bhp on the bench to avoid grenading the gearbox, it’ll be fascinating to see just what the V8 can achieve with modern know-how, especially as the press briefing says the “engine and gearbox identities are retained”.
The Encor Series 1 has also been updated inside; it’s said to retain the wraparound dashboard but be remixed with leather, Alcantara and machined aluminium, plus Apple CarPlay, 360º cameras and modern air-conditioning. The taller people on the Magneto team are desperate to known if there’s now more room in the cabin…
The car will cost in the region of £430,000 (not including the donor vehicle) before options and taxes, and 50 will be built. The big reveal will come in November 2025 with more technical detail, with a production-ready version rather than a mock-up.
“In every detail, we act as conservators of Chapman’s ideals,” says Simon Lane, Encor co-founder. “Our mission is to elevate the Esprit for a new era without sacrificing its soul. Anyone can modify a car, but what sets us apart is the way we treat the Esprit – not as a project, but as a responsibility. Progress should enhance, not replace.”
More details can be found here.
