Lotus has ended production of their Exige, Elise and Evora sports cars, celebrating the trio with a special photoshoot outside of their Norfolk, UK, assembly plant.

Over the last 26 years, Lotus built 51,738 cars across these three models. Combined, this represents almost half of the manufacturer's total production in it's entire 73 years of operation.

After a quarter of a century of service, the assembly lines will be dismantled for the upcoming Lotus Emira; the final petrol-powered sports car planned by the manufacturer. These same assembly lines were previously outsourced to other clients, including GM and Tesla. Together, they produced nearly 10,000 vehicles for third-party clients.

The last vehicles to come off the lines will be reserved for Lotus’ heritage collection. These include the last Elise, a yellow Sport 240 Final Edition; the last Exige, a Cup 430 FFinal Edition finished in Heritage Racing Green; and the last Evore, a GT430 Sport in Dark Metallic Grey.

Lotus Emira

Full production of the Emira is slated for the spring. Alongside it, the Lotus lineup will be expanded to include the Evija hypercar, the first electric Lotus, and the electric Type 132, their first SUV. The Type 132 is expected to be unveiled Spring 2022.