Over 80% of you selected the Ferrari as the winner, and I wholeheartedly agree. Sadly, I feel the 911 epidemic is going to get worse before it gets better. But there’s a ton of other options for sports cars, especially once you become willing to spend six figures. When’s the last time you thought about the Lotus Emira?
Have you ever thought about the Lotus Emira?
The 2025 Lotus Emira vs itself
The impetus for this article is entirely by chance – I got an ad delivered to me that said the following: 1.99% financing for 36 months.
What….would cause such a prestigious and historic sports car brand to resort to Altima selling tactics? Oh I know – Lotus is in trouble. They sold just 12,000 car in 2024, and that was a record year for them. They operate with a net loss of over $200 million dollars each quarter. More people have owned them than that corner bodega you swear has “delicious subs bro”.
There are a lot of reasons why the company isn’t working, but let’s focus on the question of do you want one if I handed it to you? Right now, they make four models: the Emeya, Eletre, Emira, and Evija. Those are stupid names that mean nothing and cause consumer confusion, but I digress. Two of those are SUVs, and the Evija is an all-electric hypercar asjgnjfvzdcsdcs! Sorry, fell asleep while typing that last sentence.
That means the only interesting one is the Emira.
What’s the Emira, anyway?
It’s a mid-engine sports car that has a base price of $99,000. Under the boot (so British) lies a supercharged V-6 engine good for 400 horsepower and 310 lb-ft of torque.
It’s bolted to a six-speed manual, already giving you something Porsche doesn’t at this price point. Does look cool, no? Maybe a bit generic, but exotic nonetheless. Generoxic. Whatever.
There’s also amazing steering feedback and all the other superlatives that you’d expect of a car like this. But there’s also terrible build quality and dynamics that might be good, but are by no means world-beating. I have to reference this Car & Driver article – you’ll understand.
But for all its flaws, C&D does raise a good point. If you don’t want your sports car to have any Volkswagen part numbers, maybe this isn’t such a bad idea.
Lotus Emira values
This is Talk Me Out Of It, so I love bringing you silly cars with silly prices. First, let’s build one:
- Six-speed manual please (the auto is a $2,250 option, no thanks)
- Most of the colors are $1,250, but this is me, so we’ll pick Seneca Blue for $1,950
- Tan Nappa leather is $1,950 as well
- Let’s have floor mats please, $250
- Premium audio for $950, and privacy glass for $550
The result is a car that costs $107,650, and you’re paying just $3,334.53 in interest. Not terrible.
The problem is the second-hand market. Here’s one that sold for $84,000, and it wasn’t even a year old. What will happen in three years? Let’s also face that fact that hey, the brand might not even be sold in this country by the time your offer is up.
I know that sometimes, we look at cars like the 911, or an Aventador, and we question why anyone might spend the money on that car when there’s a pretty Audi that does the same thing for half the price. It’s nice knowing that the Lotus Emira doesn’t have that problem.
You just need to be okay with the idea that lighting $107,650 on fire makes total sense.
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