20 Years Later - The Lotus Elise S

The Lotus Elise S Cup is the latest addition to the Hethel’s entry-level model range offering all the aero bits of the Cup R racer in a road-legal package. Putting it simply, it’s the most hardcore Elise you can buy today.

It is also the first Elise with a fixed roof that’s not called an Exige; since the latter went for a V6, Lotus felt that it made sense to offer this solution and keep the Elise moniker.

Being propelled by a supercharged 217hp 1.8-litre Toyota engine, the small Elise still uses the same recipe, first introduced almost two decades ago, for providing best-in-class driving thrills.

EVO’s Henry Catchpole takes the fastest Elise for a quick drive on track and on public roads, giving us a taste of what the S Cup really is. 

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Honda S660 Roadster

Honda's journey for a Beat replacement that started with the all-electric 2011 EV-STER Concept and continued with the more realistic 2013 S660 study, is ending with the production S660.

As evidenced by these photos shot at a Japanese port, Honda is ready to ship the production 2015 S660 to dealers across the country. 

The sporty, pint-sized roadster is very close to the 2013 concept of the same name, with only a few modest exterior modifications such as the headlamp and tail light clusters, the grille, the smaller wheels, and if we're not mistaken, the less heavily sculpted door lines. 

Honda also toned down the interior design a few notches removing the futuristic steering wheel, seat designs and the smaller touchscreens. 

The 3.4-meter (134 in.) long S660 revives the spirit of the mid-engine Beat roadster, employing a 660cc (0.66-liter) three-cylinder turbocharged engine with around 63-horses positioned behind the driver, paired to either a CVT, or as you can see in the photos, a six-speed manual turning the rear wheels. 

There have been rumors floating around of an export version named S1000 fitted with a –you guessed it- 1,000cc or 1.0-liter turbocharged engines featuring a slightly wider body and bigger wheels and possibly around 100 or more horses, but we wouldn't get our hopes up for a North American landing any time soon. 

Pictures via Minkara, H/T to Ferd!

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BMW M8 Supercar

In fact the M1, which was produced for BMW by Lamborghini between 1978 and 1981 in just 456 units, is still the only supercar and, at the same time, the sole mid-engined model to sport the blue propeller.

This may change if M division boss Friedrich Nitschke gets his way. According to Car magazine, Nitschke has proposed a new supercar that will be based on the underpinnings of the upcoming i8 hybrid coupe.

The i8, which will go on sale next year, is powered by a mid-mounted 1.5-liter three-cylinder that drives the rear wheels and an electric motor powering the front ones, for a combined output of 349HP and a 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) time of 4.6 seconds.

That’s quick but hardly supercar material. For the proposed M8, the four-cylinder would be replaced by a twin-turbocharged V8 with around 600HP. The M8 would lose the i8’s batteries and electric motor and, with it, 200 kg (441 lbs) from the hybrid’s 1,480 kg (3,263 lbs) weight, and thus it would be significantly lighter than rivals such as the 1,458 kg Ferrari 458 Italia.

Way back in the 1990s, another proposal for M8, based on the 8-Series and powered by the same V12 used in the McLaren F1, never made it past the prototype stage. Four years ago, BMW unveiled the M1 Concept (pictured above) to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the original; despite rumors to the contrary, it remained just a concept. Here’s hoping that the third time will be a charm…

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Exona Supercar by Nikola Novak

Nikola Novak is a young "amateur designer" with a knack for futuriatic sports car and who says he was accepted by the Coventry University in the UK as well the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, but never able to go due to a lack of financial resources.

This did not discourage Novak from continuing his passion for automobile design with one of the many projects he has finished being the Exona supercar study.

Instead of creating a sports model for an existing brand, Novak chose to design the Exona as an independent proposal in the segment.

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Ferrari F70 Supercar

The Ferrari F70 that was penned by industrial designer and current employee of Pininfarina's German subsidiary in Rüsselsheim, Constantin-Gabriel Radu.

The concept borrows elements from both the Ferrari 458 Italia as well as the previous Enzo, combining curves with hard creases and a teardrop glasshouse. If this design were to be produced, we would imagine that the car would obtain more air vents both on the sides and more importantly, on the rear end.

Before we let you flip through the rest of the images, we will remind you that at last week's Beijing Motor Show, Ferrari previewed its new Hy-Kers hybrid system that's bound for the Enzo's successor and which links a V12 engine to a pair of electric motors, one to power the car's auxiliary systems, and the other to drive the rear wheels.

It is believed that that combined output of the twelve cylinder engine and the electric motor will surpass the 900-horsepower mark.

Photo credits: Constantin-Gabriel Radu

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2011 Evantra Supercar

The difference between Mazzanti and almost every other boy that has the same thoughts is that Luca didn’t grow out of it, but instead focused on making his dream come true.

Since the early 1990's, he has been worked with Mario Faralli, who had a 20 years of experience in restoring rare cars such as the Cisitalia 202, the Ferrari 500 Mondial, and the “Il mostro” Maserati 450 Costin/Zagato that Stirling Moss drove in the 1957 Le Mans endurance race.

In 2001, the design and creation of a “barchetta” for a client led to the creation of F&M (Faralli and Mazzanti) Auto, which undertakes special personal projects, such as the Antas and the Vulca for its customers.


That’s not really building your own supercar though, is it? That’s why three years after collaborating with designer Zsolt Tarnok, Mazzanti is ready to launch the first ever F&M Auto production car: the Evantra.


Actually, it’s the company’s first very limited production car, since only five examples will be built with the lucky owners being able to fully customize their vehicle.


They can choose between a composite or an aluminum body, a naturally aspirated or twin-turbocharged version of a 3.5-liter flat-six delivering 403HP and 603HP respectively – and, in the case of the hand-crafted aluminum body, make changes to the design and create a bespoke, one-off supercar.

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