Lotus Elise 20th Anniversary special launched

Lotus is marking 20 years of Elise production with a new £39,900 20th Anniversary special edition. 

Boasting a set of focused extras over the regular supercharged Elise, Lotus says it adds £5,150 of value for a price increase of £2,700; even better, the extras take 10kg off the kerbweight, now down to 914kg.

Added features include lightweight sports seats in leather and Alcantara, lightweight body-colour centre console and forged matt black alloys.

Lotus has also fitted a sport mode engine profile, for added throttle response and reduced traction control interaction, plus Elise 20th Anniversary branding for the seats, dashboard and front wing.

It’s only offered in four ‘classic’ colours – yellow, blue, green and silver (c’mon, where’s the red and orange, Lotus?) – and can be differentiated on the road by its matt door mirrors, roll hoops and rear diffuser.

On sale now, the Lotus Elise 20th Anniversary replaces the Elise S Club Racer, and will further swell Elise production that already stands at an impressive 32,000 cars.

Question is, will we hear about an all-new one at the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show, to help mark 20 years of Elise production in style? Even by your standards, Lotus, two decades is a long time to be making the same car…