Lotus Exos T125 $1,000,000 Track Day Car

[niky]

Out of curiosity, what would be the price to have say, Williams build you a F1 car (I imagine Ferrari & Mclaren would be much more)?

Because $1,000,000 for what is really a F1 car at its prime seems like a good deal considering all the money that is spent on them in development.

F1 cars are rumored to cost around $2m a piece. Lord knows what they'd cost retail.

It's possible the T125 is slightly dumbed down. Parts are built slightly thicker... tolerances are looser, and the car built to last longer than your typical F1.

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Street legality? All they need is some headlights and signals and they're all set.

 

[Peter]

What if this is faster than the Virgin or HRT that's in F1 now?

 

[Eric.]

F1 cars are rumored to cost around $2m a piece. Lord knows what they'd cost retail.

It's possible the T125 is slightly dumbed down. Parts are built slightly thicker... tolerances are looser, and the car built to last longer than your typical F1.

Is it bad that I consider most of those to be good things?

 

[niky]

Is it bad that I consider most of those to be good things?

It ain't F1 if it doesn't leave "shards of carbon fiber" behind when you scrape the curb...

 

[Vince_Fiero]

Street legality? All they need is some headlights and signals and they're all set.

It has been done before in Germany, not the easiest place.

From worldcarfans.com:

 

[eSZee]

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/08/12/monterey-2010-lotus-exos-type-125-debuts-in-front-of-crowd-that/

 

[Jim Prower]

There is a chance it could be made street legal, yes...I mean, there's been guys who've made 410 sprinters street legal. In fact, there was a MT article in the '90s detailing a guy in Cali who'd done just that...

 

[MatskiMonk]

lets not forget that F1 regs slow the cars down this days, making a car like this that doesnt need to conform actually regs, could lead to F1 stlye speeds without the level of development...

 

[exigeracer]

Hellooooooooooooooooooo.

 

[Ardius]

To back up what I was saying earlier (that this car was not a throwaway planned F1 car), it seems this car is in fact based upon the Panoz DP09 Superleague car.

It shares its unusual (for a high powered single seater) 15 inch wheels and Michelin tyres.
It is doubtful that Group Lotus (road car company not F1 team) have the resources to develop it in house.
It was launched in the US when US will not be the major market for the car, suggesting that it was made in the US.
The Panoz DP09 is made in the US by Elan Technologies.

Credit goes to jhmcgregor on the autosport forum for noticing. (though I had already noted the fact Lotus Cars don't have the ability to produce an F1 car and the Michelin tyres ).