Event coverage: Mad Dogs and Englishmen at the Gilmore - Lotus

One of the most track-oriented car brands out of England is Lotus. Since the early 1990's, they've made the Elise, the benchmark of how a small mid engine sportscar should handle. Not only does the car have Exotic car good looks, it's also got commuter car reliability, thanks to the Toyota-sourced 2ZZ 1.8L Inline 4 engine.

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Seen in nearly every racing video game featuring largely street cars, this is not only the most accessible "exotic" car, but it's also perhaps one of the best handling 4-cylinder cars ever.

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The Elise looks like a $100,000 car to most non-gearheads. But, it's possible to find older, clean examples starting at $26,000 on Hemmings.

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The one problem I have with the Elise is that it's not an easy car to get into if you're tall.

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Here are two of the less common modern Lotus models: The Evora, a Camry 3.5L V-6-powered MR sports car that is aimed at people who want more sensibility than an Elise offers. The blue car in the background is an Exige S, a supercharged, track-focused version of the Elise. Sorry there isn't another photo of it...

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Before the Elise came this, the Europa. An odd-shaped fiberglass-bodied sports car.

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I'll end this post with this Evora. This one is a bit newer than the red one earlier in the post. This also had much nicer-sounding exhausts.

Thanks for reading, and, like always, be sure to check often for more content.

-Phil