History of the Lotus Excel

1982 - 1992

In the 1970's Lotus decided to enter the up-scale market with a Gran Turismo car and a series of luxury sedans.  The Elite, Eclat and Excel sedans, as well as the Esprit GT car, were produced for that segment.

The Excel was an update of the Eclat and was originally known as the Eclat-Excel. It was the last and best of the Lotus sedans. It came with the 2.2-litre Lotus type-912 engine in standard tune at 160 hp or the SE at 180 hp. The Excel had a Toyota drive train and running gear. Lotus had begun to engage in a tentative program of cooperation with the Japanese manufacturer, but this abruptly ended when General Motors purchased Lotus.

The backbone-chassis Excel weighed 2500 lb, had a drag coefficient of 0.32 and a top speed of 130 mph.  The interior was all leather and offered a reasonable degree of comfort. Of course, as with most high-performance 2+2 cars, the back seat was extremely small. The SE version's quarter mile acceleration time was 15.4 seconds. The Excel's handling was excellent - one feels as if he/she is driving a sports car.  

A total of 2159 units were manufactured over a period of a decade.  The Excel, although very similar to the Eclat, which was imported here, was itself never exported by Lotus to the United States.  The person in the U.S. who wishes to have an Excel must import the car privately.