New Top Car 2010

Keeping things tight in the corners is a combination of Eibach springs and Bilstein dampers controlling the motions of a forged-aluminum double-wishbone suspension. Slowing down comes courtesy of a set of ABS-enhanced vented and cross-drilled rotors, 13.8" up front, 13" in the back. With 18" wheels up front and 19" at the back, those brakes will probably do a respectable job.

And yet, surprisingly, in that tiny package, there's room for two seats up front and seats/shelves in the back (allegedly ? we still haven't gotten a good look at them), a whopping 5.6 cubic feet of storage behind the engine (shaped to take golf clubs - natch) and many of the amenities we've come to expect in non-Lotus cars. Take, for instance, the Alpine multimedia system with 7-inch touch screen, sat-nav, DVD capability, and iPod connectivity. Heck, you can even do Bluetooth phone calls. And let's talk a minute about that gauge cluster. Awfully red isn't it? With red back-lighting on the buttons and red information screens, it makes quite a statement.

Lotus's Evora production line is now in place and busy building the 43 'verification prototypes' required before proper production can begin.It runs parallel with the firm's line for Elise,Exige and 2-Eleven, and includes all of the tooling and equipment necessary for making the new car. All they're waiting on, at the moment,is parts.

It will take about four days for a car to go from one end of the line - where its engine, chassis and three major aluminium extrusions are bolted together - to the other,where it's trimmed finished,poloshed and tested. Almost all operation are performed by hand;Hethel is one of a dwindling number of the world's factories where men and women still make cars,and it's heartening to see.