Lotus celebrates the First Esprit by emulating the Bond Esprit onto an Evora Supercar.

• Unique, one-off Evora Sport 410 created by Lotus Exclusive
• Tribute to one of Lotus’ most famous liveries
• Lotus Sport 410 sales success continues

Representing the state of the supercar art, a one-off Evora Sport 410 has been commissioned through Lotus Exclusive as a tribute to one of its most famous ancestors, the Lotus Esprit S1.

Launched in October 2016, the Evora Sport 410 has wowed motoring press and customers with its combination of effortless pace and intuitive handling. With production limited to just 150 examples a year worldwide, the build schedule is filling up fast.

The benchmark was set by the original Lotus Esprit S1 as seen in the Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me, which celebrates its 40^th anniversary this year, and Lotus’ in-house personalisation department has crafted a special, one-off Evora Sport 410 in commemoration.

Combining the latest in Lotus engineering with period details, the new pure-bred supercar takes design cues from the iconic Esprit and integrates them into a car with class-leading performance. Packing 410 hp into a car that weighs just 1,280 kg, it sprints from 0-60 mph in just 3.9 secs.

Jean-Marc Gales, CEO, Group Lotus plc said, “So many of us recall the impact of the Lotus Esprit when it hit the big screen in The Spy Who Loved Me, and we wanted to honour that with a special Evora Sport 410. It’s the perfect tribute to such an influential Lotus, but a world away in terms of its abilities and performance. 

Supremely fast and agile, rivals’ cars look overweight and underpowered in comparison. Lotus was founded on the principle of lightweight engineering and, even today, nobody does it better.”

Lotus Exclusive

The work of the in-house personalisation department, Lotus Exclusive, this one-off Evora Sport 410 features many unique design touches. A special, colour-coded bumper modifies the car’s front end, while the one-piece carbon-fibre tailgate is part keyed white to give the illusion of a traditional liftback. In addition to a black coach line, delineating the car’s waist, it sports a bespoke badge script on the B pillar - in the style of the original Esprit’s graphics.

Nods to the Lotus Esprit S1 from The Spy Who Loved Me continue inside, with the insert panels of the carbon-fibre sports seats and door cards trimmed in the popular heritage Tartan, while red contrast stitching complements the Alcantara® dashboard and console finish.

Beneath the personalisation, this unique car retains all the engineering elements that make the Evora Sport 410 so formidable. From the supercharged, 3.5-litre 6-cylinder engine, producing 410 hp at 7000 rpm and 420 Nm of torque at 3500 rpm, to the highly advanced aerodynamics, which deliver up to 64 kg of downforce, it’s designed to deliver both on road and track.

The Evora Sport 410 remains refined on B-roads, but blisteringly fast when needed. The use of hand-made carbon-fibre components has been key in keeping mass to a minimum, with each specifically designed to enhance the car’s performance. Covering the car from nose to tail, they include front splitter, revised front access panel, roof section, tailgate, rear quarter panels, as well as the rear diffuser.

These lightweight carbon components not only reduce the kerb weight of the Evora Sport 410 but also help lower the centre of gravity, allowing for the recalibration of the suspension which, along with re-valved dampers and a reduced ride height, provide better body and roll control - but not at the expense of comfort and composure.

This one-off Evora underlines the work of the increasingly popular Lotus Exclusive service. Combining traditional British craftsmanship with modern design, it inspires buyers to spend time tailoring the character of their Lotus with a comprehensive array of options. Jean-Marc Gales, CEO, Group Lotus plc continued, “Our customers have really embraced the Lotus Exclusive service, with 25% of new cars undergoing some form of personalisation. It is well established that Lotus cars come with benchmark performance as standard.  Now, thanks to the skilled team at Hethel, responsible for hand building all Lotus cars since 1966, you can specify a Lotus that perfectly reflects your personal tastes.”

The Lotus Evora Sport 410 is limited to a global production run of one-hundred and fifty vehicles per year, and is on sale in Europe and rest of world markets now. A Federal version of the Evora Sport 410 for the North American market will arrive this spring.

Barons is joining owners of Rolls & Bentley cars this weekend to stage a prestige classic car automobilia sale. (PIC HEAVY)

Barons is joining vast numbers of Rolls-Royce and Bentley owners this weekend at palatial Burghley House, Stamford, Lincolnshire. 

The auction house is staging a Rolls-Royce, Bentley and prestige classic car and automobilia sale on Saturday, June 25^th, at the Rolls-Royce Enthusiasts’ Club three-day international Annual Rally and Concours d’Elegance, which attracts thousands of cherished motor cars and their owners from all over the world.

The sale starts at 10am with over 200 items of automobilia. A tremendously diverse range of items is on offer, making it the perfect ‘hunting ground’ for those after a special item for their collection or as a unique gift. 

One particularly interesting lot is the ‘Winged Icarus’ factory mascot designed by Frederick Gordon Crosby when commissioned by W O Bentley to find an alternative to the winged B mascot for the Cricklewood-built factory cars of the 1920s (£900-£1,000). 

Another fascinating lot is the ‘mystery mascot’, a Rolls-Royce prototype created around 1911 which has baffled historians and enthusiasts for years. Reputedly the ‘missing link’ between the Whisper and Spirit of Ecstasy mascots that were fitted to the 40/50HP Silver Ghosts of 1911, it carries an estimate of £600-£1,000.

Budding chauffeurs can acquire a smart silver Rolls-Royce chauffeur’s lapel badge, complete with a copy of the booklet ‘What a Good Chauffeur Should Know’ (£150-£250), while Art Deco fans could well be tempted by the delightful 1920s showroom deskpiece featuring a clock and a miniature Spirit of Ecstasy (£200-£400).

The motor car sale begins at 2pm on Saturday, and Barons is presenting a splendid selection, with Rolls-Royces and Bentleys spanning eight decades from the 1920s to the 1990s and including some very rare machines indeed.

The magnificent 1961 Bentley S2 Chinese Eye Continental Drophead Coupé (£195,000-£225,000) was bought new by John Bloom, whose business empire included the Rolls Razor and Electromatic Washing Machine Companies. 

He actually had the car converted to a Rolls-Royce Chinese Eye, but it was later restored to its Bentley identity by Wren Renovations. Other owners have included the famous pianist Russ Conway and the Managing Director of Bristol Motor Cars.

Another stunning Bentley Continental comes in the form of the 1965 S3 Continental Flying Spur, (£115,000-£135,000), while earlier Bentley design is showcased by the glamorous 1936 Vanvooren Pillarless Saloon (£80,000-£100,000).

The sale also features a most appropriate registration number – BNT 5 – which is being sold in aid of St Margaret’s Hospice in Yeovil (£2,000-£3,000).

Rolls-Royce produced a glorious range of individual machines in the 1920s and 30s. These are well represented at Barons at Burghley House, with entries including the head-turning 1926 Phantom 1 Open Tourer LWB Pullman de Ville by Barker (£90,000-£110,000).

Among the non-Rolls-Royce and Bentley element of the motor car sale is a very fine 1971 Mercedes-Benz 280SL Pagoda which has covered less than 20 miles in the last ten years and a very pretty, and rare, 1967 Triumph TR4 1RS Surrey Top which has had just one owner. Estimates are £30,000-£50,000 and £21,000-£25,000 respectively.

Luxury motoring needn’t come at a luxury price. The 1977 Silver Shadow II in the sale was in daily use until dry-stored. It comes with a wealth of history and its original build plan and car assembly summary, handbooks etc. and requires a little TLC to make it a lovely car – and has an estimate of just £1,720-£3,000.

The Bentley Drivers Club annual race day at Silverstone promises to be the best yet.

The Bentley Drivers Club traditional annual Silverstone Race Day will take place on Saturday August 1st, with this year’s meeting being the Club’s 66^th consecutive event at the famous Northamptonshire circuit.

Known for its friendly and informal atmosphere, and a great favourite of competitors, marshals and spectators alike, ‘Bentley Silverstone’ has become a celebration of Club racing at its best, where all makes and models compete against each other in a fiercely amicable way.

On-track action for 2015 includes a Bentley Scratch race for pre-1966 cars, the pre-War Team Challenge and the Bentley Handicap race. Other marques will compete in the Aero Morgan Challenge Series, the MG ‘T’ Register, AC & Morgan Race and the Bic Healey Trophy & AC Team Challenge.

FISCAR will be keeping the spirit of Fifties sports car racing alive with a 30-minute pit stop race for one or two drivers, and two All comers races (Fast and Slow) and an Allcomers Scratch race including post-1966 Bentleys complete the programme.

It’s not just all the on-track on track action that makes BDC Silverstone a ‘must-do’ event for any Bentley enthusiast. Hundreds of non-racing Bentleys will also be on display and participating in the always-popular Club parade. This year the parade will mark special Bentley anniversaries for the S1, 60 years and Azure 20 years, and Continental GTs, fresh from their recent Continental Breakfast, will further swell the numbers.

2015 Audi A1 Sportback facelift footage, now with improved emissions and MPG

New three-cylinder petrol engine joins updated A1 range polished by styling revisions, equipment upgrades and efficiency gains.

• New A1 and A1 Sportback ranges priced from £15,390 OTR to £21,640 OTR available to order from late November – first deliveries in spring 2015
• S1 and S1 Sportback with equipment enhancements also available priced from £25,380 OTR to £26,110 OTR
• Styling revisions inside and out, more equipment, new or improved engines including 1.6 TDI now offering up to 80.7mpg with 92g/km output (manual) and new 1.0 TFSI three-cylinder emitting 99g/km
• A1 1.0 TFSI available to order in spring 2015 priced from £14,315 – first deliveries in summer
• 7-speed S tronic now for all variants, including 1.6 TDI
• More equipment across SE, Sport and S line specification levels, improved option packs

The new Audi A1 and A1 Sportback which open for UK ordering later this month have an impressive pedigree. In 2010 their predecessors were born of a refusal to compromise in the translation of everything that defines the largest Audi models into the premium brand’s smallest and most accessible car, helping to make them the choice of over 500,000 customers worldwide since that point. 

The latest range, the first examples of which will reach the UK next spring, features exterior and interior styling enhancements, specification upgrades and new or improved engines, including in the longer term the first ever three-cylinder petrol unit in the Audi range. These improve fuel economy by up to eight per cent and trim CO₂ output to as little as 92g/km.

With its sharp yet clean lines, balanced proportions and distinctive detailing the A1 already cuts an imposing figure on the road which belies its size. The latest versions of the three-door and five-door Sportback build on this with the help of a new flatter and wider singleframe grille, new bumpers, new standard alloy wheel designs and a choice of new colours.

Powering the first UK-bound versions of these new models will be a choice of two TFSI petrol engines or a TDI diesel which are now compliant with the latest EU6 emissions regulations and which offer more power, improved economy and in the majority of cases lower emissions than their predecessors. 

The petrol duo comprises two versions of the turbocharged 1.4-litre TFSI – the ‘standard’ unit with power up from 122PS to 125PS and CO₂ down from 124g/km to 115g and the ‘Cylinder-on-Demand’ alternative now offering 150PS with CO₂ output of 112g/km.

The 1.6 TDI retains its place as the efficiency trailblazer in the range, with CO₂ output in this latest version reduced from 99g/km to 92g/km in both body styles and economy potential increased from 74.3mpg to up to 80.7mpg according to the combined cycle test.

99g/km from new 1.0-litre three-cylinder TFSI

In the spring of 2015 a new turbocharged and directly injected petrol engine - the first with a three-cylinder configuration ever to feature in the Audi range – will become available in the UK, and will come closer than ever to achieving TDI-style frugality. Provisional data for the A1 1.0 TFSI indicates that it will be capable of returning at least 60mpg with CO₂ emissions of 99g/km, yet with 95PS – a 6PS increase over the 1.2 TFSI that it replaces – will also deliver suitably peppy performance.

Depending on version, all engines will be linked to either a five-speed or six-speed manual transmission as standard, and for the first time all, including the 1.6 TDI, will also be available with the option of a seven-speed S tronic twin-clutch automatic transmission.

As before, the SE, Sport and S line specification levels that make up the latest UK range feature specific suspension set-ups – SE versions run on more comfort-oriented dynamic suspension, Sport models have a firmer sports configuration which has been revised to increase its absorbency and S line versions ride even lower on S line sports suspension. 

Customers choosing the Sport option can dial back to the even more supple dynamic suspension at no cost if preferred, and the set-up in S line versions can also be taken back one or two steps to either the ‘standard’ sports suspension or the dynamic suspension, also at no cost.

Alternatively, to extract every last ounce of agility, control and composure available from this accomplished chassis a new suspension option including adjustable dampers is also now available for Sport models and above.

The steering has also received an upgrade as part of the package of improvements for the latest range. The new electromechanical system provides the driver with optimal assistance in all driving situations, reducing its assistance as vehicle speed increases.

Audi drive select now standard from Sport upwards

Both the steering and the optional suspension with adjustable damping are controllable via the Audi drive select adaptive dynamics system, which is a new standard feature for A1 Sport models upwards. It allows the driver to vary the weighting or the damping characteristics across three modes – auto, dynamic and efficiency – and it can also adjust the operating parameters of the engine and the S tronic transmission, where this is fitted.

In the spacious and sophisticated interior the ambiance has also been lifted even further by additional chrome and high gloss black detailing, new upholstery choices including an Alcantara and leather blend and new upholstery colours, such as Laser blue for Sport models and Rotor grey for S line models, which until now have had an exclusively black finish.

Features common to all versions include alloy wheels, remote central locking, air conditioning, electric front windows and mirrors and a six-speaker single CD audio system with auxiliary iPod connection linked to a 6.5-inch retractable display. A secondary collision brake assist system also now joins this list for the latest range, which can initiate automatic braking to reduce the risks of skidding and additional collisions during an accident.

The latest Sport models now include Audi drive select plus the Audi Music Interface and preparation for SD card-based navigation, and already featured upgrades such as larger 16-inch wheels, sports suspension, sports seats, Bluetooth mobile phone preparation and a Driver’s Information System

On top of this, S line versions now benefit from standard xenon headlamps with LED daytime running lights and LED rear lights, further enhancing an additional specification which already included 17-inch alloy wheels, exclusive S line exterior styling and interior detailing, S line sports suspension and leather and cloth combination upholstery.

To these already extensive equipment lists customers can add an array of high-end options, including three cost effective packages which are either newly created for the latest range or further enhanced by additional items.

The Tech pack now includes Audi connect to bring numerous internet-based services to the car, and already offered the Audi Music Interface and MMI navigation plus combining a 40GB hard drive for upgraded navigation and music storage with a higher resolution colour monitor.

The Comfort pack adds a Driver’s Information System and a high beam assistant for automatic activation and deactivation of main beam headlights when sensors detect leading or oncoming traffic. It already included cruise control, an auto-dimming rear view mirror and sensors for parking (at the rear), headlights and wipers.

The Audi S1 and S1 Sportback

The Audi S1 and S1 Sportback with 231PS and quattro permanent all‑wheel drive remain as the performance flagships of the new range. Their 2.0 TFSI engine produces 231PS and 370 Nm (272.9 lbft) of torque, enabling the three-door version to sprint from rest to 62mph in 5.8 seconds (Sportback 5.9) and to reach a top speed of 155mph.

The quattro permanent all-wheel drive system transfers engine power to all four wheels, and the S specific sports suspension with its specially developed pivot bearings at the front and a sophisticated four‑link rear set-up deliver outstanding dynamic performance. Audi drive select and adjustable shock absorbers are standard.

Exterior and interior details emphasise the position which the S1 and S1 Sportback hold in their segment, as does their extensive specification, which now also includes the Audi Music Interface and navigation preparation in line with Sport and S line versions.

Small wonder from Audi –   Updated by styling and equipment enhancements, the new Audi A1 range becomes available in the UK later this month, including a revised TDI version offering up to 80.7mpg with 92g/km of CO₂ and a new three-cylinder, 99g/km TFSI petrol model.

The new Audi A1 – UK OTR pricing – three-door models

1.0 TFSI
SE	£14,315
Sport	£16,290
S line	n/a
1.6 TDI 115PS
SE	£15,390
Sport	£17,365
S line	£19,360
1.4 TFSI 125PS
SE	n/a
Sport	£16,690
S line	£18,685
1.4 TFSI 150PS COD
SE	n/a
Sport	n/a
S line	£19,480

Premium for Sportback £620

Premium for S tronic transmission £1,540