Autocar - First for car news and reviews

You’re looking at the first pictures of Lotus’ new £45,000 GT model. Codenamed ‘Eagle’, the four-seat mid-sized coupe is the company’s most important model since the original Elise, and our spies caught it out in the open for the first time earlier this week.
Don’t be deceived by the familiar styling. This Eagle test mule is wearing old Esprit body panels to disguise its origin. Powered by a mid-mounted Toyota V6 thought to be developing around 300bhp, the car’s body structure is based on a s...Read the full article

The registry check out as a 2004 Lotus Esprit, with a 4.4L displacement. The Esprit never had anything that big, and there is no Toyota V6 that is that big. There is a GM unit which matches those numbers, as well as a BMW V8, which was the rumored powerplant for the Esprit successor before Mike Kimberly called it a tractor engine.

 The registry numbers don't coincide with any other Lotus test car seen yet. Other than the info gotten at the Hethel anniversary weekend, there isn't much to show this as the Project Eagle at all.