The 1st Edition isn't exclusive

[scc.131.fe]

Never say never but I "intend" to keep my Emira for many years and drive the crap out of it.

exactly, and the more Lotus builds, the easier it should be to get spare oem parts and increased support from aftermarket. granted, Emira aftermarket is already doing well in my opinion!

 

[Sandalwood]

exactly, and the more Lotus builds, the easier it should be to get spare oem parts and increased support from aftermarket. granted, Emira aftermarket is already doing well in my opinion!

Lotus owners tend not to treat their vehicles as holy objects destined for the sacred bubble-wrapped existence, like Ferrari owners often do. We tend to slap different wheels and tires and exhaust and whatnot onto them and use them. Therefore the Lotus aftermarket has always been pretty robust relative to the output of the factory.

I credit Lotus as well for not sending cease-and-desist letters to everyone in the aftermarket like certain prancing horse brands have been known to do.

 

[meenboli]

Never say never but I "intend" to keep my Emira for many years and drive the crap out of it.

I don't think I'll ever sell. I bought an Audi S5 Cabriolet in 2011 with the intention of never selling it.

It's in my garage right now - waiting for its new friend to turn up...

Can't see myself selling the Emira - I can (unfortunately) see myself pottering about in it in my 80's

 

[Pegasi]

Rarity is cool don't get me wrong. I was really wanting to get the C8 until I saw it. I also wanted a GT4. But the Emira checked my box. If it was mass produced I would still buy it. But I always notice sports cars like I presume most of us do on this forum. A Lotus is still a rare site for me. At Caffeine and Octane a few Lotuses are always cool to see. It's just because of what these cars represent for enthusiasts.

 

[Genosite]

Oddly, part of the mystique to me is the idea that Lotus is still somewhat of a cottage car maker that’s gotten by on wits and outside the box thinking despite limited resources.

I know this isn’t exactly the case, as Geely owns them and I have seen the videos of the new factory. It ain’t like Morgan, where someone is steaming ash frames over the same kettle that they’ll be serving Earl Grey from between 3:30-5:00. But this pretend image I’ve created helps me feel better when my Emira won’t start until I’ve locked and unlocked the doors 5 times.

I’m sure you’re joking about the unlock issue to allow it to start, but there is a fix for that and it’s 100% eliminated. It’s a steering wheel lock sensor that cannot communicate with the software. They replace the sensor and it’s fixed.

 

[Wiz33]

Total number of V6 FE for the US is probably around 2000 to 2500. there were 700 FE 1.0 and then when the 1st production was delayed, they releases another 900 FE 2.0 with additional colors. The when there was a further delay last Dec, an additional number of FE 2.0 allocation were released to US dealer but probably well under 1000.

 

[cyanmauve]

I’m sure you’re joking about the unlock issue to allow it to start, but there is a fix for that and it’s 100% eliminated. It’s a steering wheel lock sensor that cannot communicate with the software. They replace the sensor and it’s fixed.

Yeah….joking. I wish!

Nope, my car won’t start sometimes. Then it does. I need to get it back to the dealer to have them sort it out.

 

[Genosite]

Yeah….joking. I wish!

Nope, my car won’t start sometimes. Then it does. I need to get it back to the dealer to have them sort it out.

That is exactly what mine did. It turns out when they did the last minute update for epa so they could finally sell the cars some of the steering wheel lock sensors were not compatible with the software update. It took a while to figure out the culprit because it doesn’t consistently fail. Our Dallas Lotus dealer really spent time to figure it out and it was fixed first time and has been flawless since. I’m around 4000 miles since it’s my daily and I couldn’t put up with the sometimes starting issue. Hopefully they can get yours sorted.

 

[Bulls-Vivid-Red]

I don't think I'll ever sell. I bought an Audi S5 Cabriolet in 2011 with the intention of never selling it.

It's in my garage right now - waiting for its new friend to turn up...

Can't see myself selling the Emira - I can (unfortunately) see myself pottering about in it in my 80's

I'm planning on keeping my v6 manual for as long as I'm able to actually get in and out of the thing under my own power!

 

[benjh1028]

Yes a bit off topic but I’ve been dying to ask this for a while.

@brainf18 - I assume you fly or did fly F-18’s. Is there ANY car made that could remotely give you the same adrenaline rush?

 

[brainf18]

Yes a bit off topic but I’ve been dying to ask this for a while.

@brainf18 - I assume you fly or did fly F-18’s. Is there ANY car made that could remotely give you the same adrenaline rush?

retired fighter pilot. racing wheel to wheel comes close.

But the reality of being a navy fighter pilot is NOT top gun or anything like that. Over a 20 year career, it consisted of 11 deployments totaling years and years at sea away from friends and family. The flying consists mostly of training sorties. And when we do fly real world missions, its over places where everyone on the ground wants to kill you. So the brief moments of "adrenaline" are offset by months and months of monotonous routine and endless administrative tasks associated with ever increasing responsibilities that come with positions of leadership. Serving my country for over 20 years was an honor and a privilege for sure! And I wouldn't trade those experiences and the friendships I made for anything. That said, after I reached the last chapter in that 20 year book, I was happy to put it down and pursue other adventures that place the focus on family, fun and finances.

 

[benjh1028]

retired fighter pilot. racing wheel to wheel comes close.

View attachment 49800


But the reality of being a navy fighter pilot is NOT top gun or anything like that. Over a 20 year career, it consisted of 11 deployments totaling years and years at sea away from friends and family. The flying consists mostly of training sorties. And when we do fly real world missions, its over places where everyone on the ground wants to kill you. So the brief moments of "adrenaline" are offset by months and months of monotonous routine and endless administrative tasks associated with ever increasing responsibilities that come with positions of leadership. Serving my country for over 20 years was an honor and a privilege for sure! And I wouldn't trade those experiences and the friendships I made for anything. That said, after I reached the last chapter in that 20 year book, I was happy to put it down and pursue other adventures that place the focus on family, fun and finances.

Sounds like an amazing career and I certainly appreciate your service and the sacrifices you made! My dad was Air Force F-100 pilot and always said his dream was to have a T-38 for a play toy.

 

[EspritGuy]

retired fighter pilot. racing wheel to wheel comes close.

View attachment 49800


But the reality of being a navy fighter pilot is NOT top gun or anything like that. Over a 20 year career, it consisted of 11 deployments totaling years and years at sea away from friends and family. The flying consists mostly of training sorties. And when we do fly real world missions, its over places where everyone on the ground wants to kill you. So the brief moments of "adrenaline" are offset by months and months of monotonous routine and endless administrative tasks associated with ever increasing responsibilities that come with positions of leadership. Serving my country for over 20 years was an honor and a privilege for sure! And I wouldn't trade those experiences and the friendships I made for anything. That said, after I reached the last chapter in that 20 year book, I was happy to put it down and pursue other adventures that place the focus on family, fun and finances.

So, 'pushing the envelope' was both administrative and beyond.
(my dad was navigator on a WWII bomber).
Lotus at Hethel is a former WWII airfield, I believe.

 

[FrankAV]

I also feel a little disappointed about the first edition thing. In italy Emira's are pretty rare as well and mine is even more rare cause it's a v6 automatic. Almost no one bought an auto v6 and they go for sale on the used market (something like 34 emira on sale on autoscout 24 in italy and just 1 or 2 auto) way more than the manual. At least 10k more. For me it's the perfect compromise. Very usable as a daily (during weekends) and perfect for spirited driving in the alps. (ah, I'm also thinking of the next car, and I don't think it will be so usable, but I just can't afford to keep the emira - if I find the money for the next car of course - and the other one. ). It will probably be a mclaren artura.

 

[hagen111]

When Lotus announced the Emira 1st Edition there was an implied level of exclusivity for early adopters. While Lotus never really committed to firm limited production #'s for the 1st Edition, their marketing materials implied that it would be a limited run and guarantee rarity. That certainly has not proven true.

Not sure where you got this from. First Edition was never limited to numbers and Lotus has been very open about it! So don't blame them. The first edition was time-bonded, so only for a certain amount of time it could be ordered to when they would switch to Base models. But even then they were very open about the high numbers they would plan to produce. The main reason to get a first-edition is you get a lot of the options at much lower price point included. I ordered mine, and are actually very happy owning it as it turns out Lotus quite screwed up on getting the production going, so still not many Emira's around...for about every 60-70 Porsches I may spot one Emira....

 

[@Life411]

To me, the edition probably doesn't matter as much as the overall rarity of the model, which is going to remain quite rare. IMO, the FE cars were never going to be that special. It's whatever hot "S" version that they end the production with, that is the most appealing to future buyers.

curious if you have a running count from your VIN trackers...

 

[Motosera]

At least on the UK configurator you can no longer configure a First Edition V6, only i4.

You can still configure a V6, but no longer the FE. But even then I couldn't get a date on a new build V6, so bought a used one.

Only 2.5k Emira built in the first 6 months of 2024. And about half of those to the US.

Pretty exclusive compared to all the competitors.