A Dutch specialist in prestige vehicles offers for sale the Lotus Etna and M200 concept cars, dating respectively from 1984 and 1991. These two cars have passed through the hands of the same owners.
A concept car for sale is already rare. Two concept cars of the same brand offered simultaneously by the same classic car specialist, it happens much less often. And when it comes to two somewhat forgotten but still functional Lotus prototypes more than thirty years after their presentation, it deserves our attention.
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Lotus Etna, aborted supercar
Metropole Classics in the Netherlands offers for sale the Lotus Etna and M200. The first dates from 1984. This mid-rear engine supercar study was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro on the basis of the first generation of Esprit whose angular lines had already been signed by the Italian. Its fully glazed upper part was made of Perspex acrylic and its bonnet housed an unpublished 4 L V8 of 340 hp. What correct the lack of nobility often criticized for the four-cylinder Spirit.
The car was distinguished by technological innovations such as a controlled suspension or an active noise reduction system in the cabin. But when General Motors took control of Lotus in 1986, the Etna project was abandoned. In 2001, the concept coupe was sold at auction. Then it was restored following the breakage of its glazing during transport on a trailer. In a way, this prototype had anticipated the future of the Spirit which will end up adopting a V8 in 1996, with a displacement of 3.5 l.
Lotus M200, the traction speedster
The Lotus Elan M100 launched in 1989, the same year as a certain Mazda MX-5, made purists scream when it came out for its front-wheel-drive architecture. So the builder of Hethel hastily set about designing a concept car aimed at making its little roadster more desirable. Thus was born, in 1991, the Lotus M200. This M100-based speedster was meant to be radical. It had two wraparound windscreens as a windshield and did without windows like any form of roof.
To meet the deadlines, Lotus even started from an Elan returned by a customer to build the M200, which earned the firm some hassle and negotiations with the legitimate owner of the vehicle thereafter. The car was then loaned to the Automobile Association for promotional purposes, but a lack of maintenance led to its deterioration. Some time later, it was acquired at auction by a Lotus distributor named Paul Matty who had it restored.
Etna and M200, a hitherto inseparable duo
It was this same Paul Matty who got his hands on the Lotus Etna, and he then sold these two vehicles to the Dutch collector Olav Glasius who took care of them for several years. In 2012, Glasius commissioned Bonhams to auction its car collection. But neither the Etna nor the M200 found a buyer that day. Always together therefore, these two cars are today displayed one like the other at the price of 125,000 €. Who knows, maybe you can try to negotiate a discount if you buy them both at the same time…
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