THE LOTUS EMIRA CLARK EDITION - A HANDCRAFTED HOMAGE TO JIM CLARK’S GREATEST SEASON
Lotus has just pulled the covers off something truly special - a modern sports car that channels the soul of one of racing’s all-time greats. Say hello to the Emira Clark Edition, a limited-run celebration of Jim Clark’s unmatched 1965 season, created in collaboration with the Jim Clark Trust. Just 60 units will be built for select markets, each one a rolling tribute to the man who won everything - and made it look effortless. Back in 1965, Jim Clark did what no one’s done since - he won the Formula 1 World Championship and the Indianapolis 500 in the same season. That same year, he also dominated in Formula 2, conquered the Tasman Series across Australia and New Zealand, and took home silverware in a Lotus Cortina in the world of touring cars. It wasn’t just dominance - it was artistry at full tilt. That legacy now lives on in the Emira Clark Edition - a car that fuses Lotus’s modern engineering with old-school motorsport heart. Finished in a deep Clark Racing Green, the Emira Clark Edition’s paintwork echoes the legendary Lotus Type 38 that conquered Indy in ’65. The yellow racing stripe flared around the nose, black roof, silver mirrors, and yellow exhaust tips are all deliberate nods to the golden era of Team Lotus. A hand-painted yellow pinstripe traces the Emira’s sculpted bodywork, while a machined aluminium fuel filler cap with a blue anodised centre finishes things off with a touch of retro cool. As if that’s not enough nostalgia, the doors wear Clark Edition branding inspired by the actual logo seen on Jim’s race cars - proper motorsport DNA, not just stickers. Built on the Emira V6, the Clark Edition is powered by a supercharged 3.5-litre V6 pushing out 295 kW, mated to a proper 6-speed manual gearbox with a limited-slip differential. No fake noise, no trickery, just raw performance and unfiltered hydraulic steering that talks to your fingertips. The Lotus Driver’s Pack is standard, bringing Track Mode, sport-tuned suspension, and a revised exhaust note to match its attitude.
Step inside, and it’s pure racing homage. The driver’s seat is finished in rich red leather and Alcantara, while the passenger seat is done in black - a throwback to the asymmetrical finishes of Lotus race cars from the 1960s. There’s a ’60s-style wooden gear knob, Team Lotus seat embroidery, and Jim Clark’s tartan - specially commissioned from Lochcarron, Scotland - used as a design accent. It’s all topped off with a Jim Clark signature on the dash, special edition badging, and carbon fibre treadplates numbered 1 through 60 to keep track of where in the limited production run one of the cars falls. Every owner also gets a bespoke handcrafted leather holdall with Clark Edition details - because true icons deserve to travel in style. At £115,000 in the UK (or €140,000 in Germany), the Emira Clark Edition is a motorsport time capsule, engineered for the road and built for the faithful. With only 60 units available globally, this isn’t one for the showroom - it’s one for the history books. We’re sure these cars will become sought-after modern classics thanks to the homage they pay to a legendary driver. The only sad part is that these cars will likely stay hidden in a collection instead of being driven as intended. We’re sure to see and hear about it if one pops up at a special event or race meeting though, it’s one of those cars that will have good pics of it disseminated at a rapid pace across various online platforms. Who knows, one may even pop up in SA, we know of a few older gentlemen who are massive fans of the racer thanks to physically watching Clark win the South African Grand Prix at East London in 1965 and at Kyalami in 1968.
Take a look at the YouTube video where you get to see the chaps from Bids & Drive take a deep dive look at the limited edition Lotus creation that looks rather damn good in this special livery that pays homage to a racing legend: Lotus Emira Clark Edition: A Green & Yellow Tribute to Racing Legend Jim Clark | Bids & Drive
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