Lotus Willing To Sell Elise Platform To Other Companies

Lotus has given a final hurrah for its long-running nameplate, the Elise sports car. The Elise Final Edition model was launched in February, side-by-side with the Exige Final Edition – all in the name of change and development within the Geely-owned company.

Of note, the Elise and Exige will go out of production this year, which will pave the way for the last gasoline-powered Lotus sports car, the Emira.

But if you think the Elise won't live to see another year, you might be wrong. In fact, Lotus is willing to sell the two-seater's platform to other companies.

This is according to Lotus' managing director, Matt Windle, and reported by Automotive News Europe.

"If the right project and the right partner came along, I do not see why not. It's a wonderful car," Windle said talking to Automotive News Europe.

This isn't the first time that the British automaker has sold the tooling for its sports car. In 1973, Lotus sold the platform for its first sports car, the Seven, to Caterham. Caterham still builds the said lightweight sports car to this day but renamed as the Caterham 7.

At this point, Windle didn't disclose if there's any company that's interested with the Elise's tooling. Caterham, now owned by Japanese importer and distributor VT Holdings, can be one, while Radford, which announced the arrival of its first Lotus-based sports car recently, can be another.

Whichever the case, we all know that the Elise sports car and all the lightweight fun it represents deserves to move forward despite being in existence for 25 years. It's a wonderful track toy through and through, and we'd be delighted to see it with a new life even with a different name.