VIDEO: Lotus Elan Concept’s Digital Instrument Panel in Action

The Lotus Elan was one of five concept sports cars presented by Lotus at last year's Paris Auto Show while it also made a quick stop at the LA motorshow that followed in November. Now that the concept studies have made it back to the England, the folks over at Paultan visited the British firm's headquarters in Hethel and shot this video showing the Elan's digital instruments in action. The panel consists of a large LCD screen flanked on either side by two smaller components. You can watch the video clip after the jump.

By Csaba Daradics

Via: Paultan

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New Photo Gallery of Lotus' Future Sports Car Lineup

You may have to ask a second time for their name and you probably need to take more than a couple of looks to tell them apart, but that doesn't mean we're not impressed by the next generation of Lotus sports cars.

Unveiled for the first time as concept studies at the Paris Motor Show in October, with the North American debut taking place at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November, the new Elise, Esprit, Elite, Elan are a wild bunch. And while we don't have anything new to add about the four sports coupes, Lotus has unleashed a beautiful photo gallery shot in Hollywood, which you can enjoy in high-resolution quality right after the jump.

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Paris: Lotus Shows off New Elan, Begs the Question: What will Happen to the Evora?

Next up on our Lotus debut circus is the Elan, a small 2-seater (with an optional 2+2 layout) sitting somewhere between the Evora and the Esprit. Looking very similar to the Esprit (and in the rest of the new Lotus coupes), the Elan gets its power from a high-output Toyota-sourced V6 and, also like its new big brother, optional KERS and hybrid systems. Scroll on down for all the Lotus-certified facts.

The big question here is what the Elan's task truly is. Could it be here to be a slightly different, higher-end Evora, or is it simply meant to replace it?

With that mid-mounted V6 and optional 2+2 layout it easily could be a replacement, but the 450 horsepower and £75,000 [equal to about US$119,000] starting price indicate the car is more of an addition to the lineup.

Though, by the time it comes out in the Fall of 2012, Lotus may have decided to ace the Evora in favor of attracting wealthier 2+2 buyers. We shall see.

Lotus CEO is extremely proud of the Elan, saying "The Elan will convert people to Lotus. I would challenge people not to become addicted to driving it. It will also go a long way towards dispelling the old misconceptions about this class, that in order to have high performance you must sacrifice usability – those days are gone." Sound like them's fighin' words. Porsche? Response (other than another 911)?

By Phil Alex

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Paris Show: Lotus Unveils New Esprit, Elan, Elise, Eterne Sports Sedan and Concept City Car

Possibly one of the biggest surprises of the 2010 Paris Motor Show, was the unveiling of six new models from Lotus. Aside from the Elite GT (see here) that we've already told you about, the British sports car maker revealed not one, not two but five more new models and concepts!

We'll bring you more details and pictures of each car separately, but here are the key highlights:

2015 Lotus Eterne: Following in the footsteps of other sports car makers, Lotus is getting ready to enter the luxury sports sedan segment with the Eterne. Scheduled for a possible release in 2015, the Eterne will rival the likes of Aston Martin's Rapide. Like all future Lotus models, the four-door sedan will make use of a Toyota/Lexus sourced engine, in this case, a 5.0-liter V8 unit supercharged to deliver around 620-horsepower.

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2013 Lotus Esprit: The firm's flagship sports car will make a return in 213 and will be powered by Lexus-source 5.0-liter V8 producing 620-horsepower. A less powerful base model with 550-ponies is also said to be offered.

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2013 Lotus Elan: A new mid-engined sportscar that will be available as a two-seater or optionally, as a 2+2. Aimed at Audi's R8, it will feature a 4.0-liter version of the Evora's Toyota-sourced V6 with output ranging from 400 to 470 horsepower, depending on the version.

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2015 Lotus Elise: Set to replace the current Elise in 2015, Lotus' new lightweight and compact-sized sports car will benefit from a Toyota-sourced 2.0-liter four banger helped by a turbocharged to deliver somewhere around 320-horsepower.

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Lotus City Car Concept: Alongside its sport coupes and sedan, Lotus also showed a concept for a small city car based on Giugiaro's Proton EMAS study shown in Geneva earlier this year. There are no current plans to introduce a production version of this car - at least not yet...

READ MORE - Paris Show: Lotus Unveils New Esprit, Elan, Elise, Eterne Sports Sedan and Concept City Car