Personally I wouldn't put too much faith in what a sales rep at a dealership told me. The light at the end of the tunnel though, is that with the majority interest of Lotus soon to be held by Geely, the injection of money into the brand will revitalize several projects that were mothballed by Proton. So, yes, the future looks bright.

 

The same optimism was forecast for Lotus when DRB Hicom purchased controlling iterest in Proton.
They were supposed to bring the capital to get things upright and moving, but here we are again now hoping that Geely can do it.

 

Even disregarding all the uncertainty (both good and bad) surrounding the Geely purchase, look at what dealers were saying when the 400 was "on its way". I heard a dealer say that it'd be here nearly a year before it actually got here, and then said dealer is now shuttered. Granted, Lotus stated that the delays came from the US dragging their feet with getting it certified, there's no telling.

 

It's certainly typical for a company to release the hardtop version before the convertible version of pretty much every car, and Lotus, being far from typical, and given their somewhat lackadaisical approach to model years, US regulations, etc. it's certainly not surprising that there would be a more than average delay. What I think is frustrating is there were repeated statements concerning the roadster and how easy it was going to be to produce it, the design having been engineered in from the beginning. The original Evora has been around since 2010. The roadster has been just around the corner for 3 years?. One of the things I saw in a Geely article was that the engineering for the top had been changed, and that was adding to the delay. Did they spend 3 years on panels and then decide it wasn't workable? Maybe a few less special editions (and I realize it's not very expensive to "engineer" new paint colors and wheel designs), and some of the funding could have been diverted to solving the top issues. Heck, even an Elise-type top might have worked (and yes, I know it's a wider car). A quick look at dealer inventory seems to suggest there are more than a few 400's for sale, and that's a shame, but many have posted they are waiting for the roadster version. If Geely is developing a new priority list, I hope they put a soft top for the Evora at the front. (Bucket list for today: Lotustalk rant - check!)

 

Delaying the roadster is likely delaying sales, many of us here have said we are waiting for it.

But maybe it can be worth it if they develop a nicer version. An Elige type soft top is a roadster I guess but something nicer would be great. I'd love to see something more like McLaren's.

 

I know all about delays and what it means when Lotus states "soon". Hell, I'm the guy that had an Evora S on special order and eventually cancelled the order because of delays in production. So believe me that I take any timeline from them with huge grain of salt. That's why I wrote this as more of a FWIW.

It's not coming from a salesman's mouth per se, but from a Lotus rep's in England. Let's hope it's true. The damn thing was supposed to be here by now.

 

while searching for something else, i found this thread.. made me laugh since the topic came back up..
http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f170/evora-convertible-73785/

 

Oh boy.......that is depressing, isn't it?

 

Lotus said earlier that the top would be removable panels that fit in the back seat. When I test drove the 400, I thought the interior of the roof showed the places where T-top cutouts would be. I hope Lotus has committed to something that can be stored in the car for those of us who live in areas where we get actual rain. It's difficult to justify a $100K car that can only be used on the 6 days per year with a zero chance of rain in the forecast.

Here's a rendering I came across on some blog post last year. I could live with a car that looks like this, with the roof panels in the back seat.

 

When I spoke with the Lotus North American rep taking the prototype 400s around he confirmed that it will be a (or 2) removable panels. Didn't sound like "T" configuration. I pleaded the case for keeping the 2+2 back seats but he said the panels must be onboard stowable. So, no more 2+2.

 

That looks fantastic!

 

Don't the modern high performance roadsters (McLaren 650, Ferrari 488, etc.) all have automatic folding roofs? I assume these are expensive plus heavy. But will buyers put up with a manual lift off T-top/targa roof in a ~$100k car?

 

If they do it like the Alfa Romeo 4c Spider, it's not bad at all. Rolls up and stows quickly. Not heavy and you won't drop it, break it, or damage the finish or paint.

 

Quite Lotusy to get out and manually work the top.

Sorta like the rolling start. It works. Provides some "sense of occasion"

I can hack it

 

As long as panels are not so heavy or cumbersome that they require 2 people, they will be fine. Therefore, I think/hope it will be two panels and not just one. I'm not sure that a single panel could fit in the back anyway.

Besides the weight and expense, adding an automatic folding roof would likely eliminate all the space in the back entirely. I think panels and a residual storage shelf are a lot more useful for anyone who wants to use this car as a daily driver, which seems to be Lotus's intention after revising the side sills and upgrading the interior.

 

Two other takes

There were a lot of these floating around at one point

 

Everything I've been hearing and reading is to expect two carbon fiber roof panels that the driver manually takes out and stows behind the front seats. No auto fold mechanism fortunately.....add lightness, not weight! This configuration would suggest a T bar/top style as there needs to be some sort of supporting structure for the CF panels.

The pics of the full on Evora convertible rendering don't jive with the information that's floating around out there or with what's come out of Jean Marc Gale's mouth directly. Either way.......just get on with it already!

 

Seriously, when will someone with cajones and a saw just make this happen. Apparently waiting on lotus to do it takes the kind of patience that warrants sainthood.


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Bump. Any updates?

 

Someone on here made their Evora into a targa top, but I can't find the thread/post.

Here is someone else on the other forum.

https://www.thelotusforums.com/forums/topic/93803-at-last-a-targa-evora-is-here/

 

Apparently the Cancer Society has imposed their will on the variant.

 

Bump.
Is this for sure never happening?
Just wanted to double check that this targa top variant will never be made before I pull the trigger on a standard lotus GT.

Also any knowledge of the forthcoming type 131 model in coupe or convertible?

Redirect Notice

 

This is whats also preventing me from pulling the trigger on a GT.....

 

I feel like this has been a topic since I can remember joining the forums and learning about the evora. But no worries.... Lotus has us fans covered by going development into a 2 million dollar electric hypercar. 👍

 

I guess the 50 people that would buy one aren't enough.