The 1984 Lotus V8 Supercar Built To Hunt Ferrari That Only Exists As One Prototype
Think early British supercars, and you’ll probably envisage a McLaren F1. The V12 monster, which was built in Woking, Surrey, was largely seen as both one of the first true British supercars and probably one of the best cars ever built. Period. In case you didn’t know, Woking was the setting for H.G. Wells’ 1898 The War Of The Worlds — a novel where a technologically advanced alien takes over the world — which seems to be a fitting analogy for the McLaren F1’s impact on the world of automobiles. But I digress.
What is often forgotten is that Lotus, the Hethel brand famous for featherweight sports cars, almost got there first, beating the McLaren F1 (and Jaguar XJ220) at its own game in the early ’80s. But what exactly was this mystery supercar?
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Lotus Made Supercars That Weren’t Really Supercars
There is no denying that Lotus is still one of the most illustrious brands on the planet. Despite being borrowed for chassis work on cars as diverse as the Proton Satria GTI and DMC DeLorean, and the badge being glued onto asphalt-crunching SUVs, Lotus is still known as a pioneer of svelte exotics. This is mostly down to a certain J. Bond, who helped make the original Esprit world-famous when he drove it into the sea in 1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me. It was clear to anyone who looked at the Giugiaro-designed Esprit, with its mid-mounted engine and Countach-like wedge-design, that this was every inch a supercar. Except it wasn’t.
Early Esprits were powered by a naturally aspirated 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine making 140 horsepower in North American spec, but a recipe of lightweight and perfect handling meant that this very unsupercar-like power was overlooked. But there was always a nagging feeling that Lotus could make a “real” supercar. One with, say, eight cylinders…
The Esprit Could Never Be A True Ferrari Rival
The problem for the Esprit lay in Italy. To be precise, in places like Maranello and Sant’Agata Bolognese. Ferraris and Lamborghinis were potential rivals for Lotus, but these companies liked to fit V8s and V12s to their supercars. Enzo Ferrari himself is often quoted as saying: “I don’t sell cars. I sell engines. The cars I throw in for free.” To really take the fight to the Italians, Lotus needed a more exciting powerplant.
To be fair to Lotus, it was an ambitious company that had made its name by solving problems. After all, founder Colin Chapman, whose father ran a London hotel, went from building his first car in 1948, a modified Austin 7, to winning the 1961 United States Formula 1 Grand Prix. Making a world-beating V8 supercar should be a piece of cake.
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The Lotus Etna Was About To Erupt
When the Etna arrived at the 1984 Birmingham Motor Show, it promised a courageous new direction for Lotus. But in reality, it hid a turmoil linked to the past. Chapman had died two years prior, and the company was in a state of flux before a GM buyout in 1986. Putting on a brave face, the Etna looked to the future, packing a Tony Rudd-designed 4.0-liter Type 909 V8. The story goes that this powerplant was among the wishes of Chapman before he passed, and, if true, would reflect his vision of Lotus in the late ’80s and beyond. The final design was penned by Giugaro’s Italdesign of Turin, based on an elongated Esprit chassis. It was stylish and unfussy in a very Lotus way, and the visitors in Birmingham loved it.
The Etna Would Be A Rival To The V8 Ferraris
The new Lotus V8, which had been constructed from two slant fours, had more than enough in terms of output, being good for 335 hp and 295 lb-ft of torque. The 1984 Ferrari Testarossa only managed 390 hp from 12 cylinders, and the V8-powered Lamborghini Jalpa of the same year made do with 255 hp. Mated to a five-speed manual, the Etna could theoretically hit 60 mph from a standstill in just 4.3 seconds and top out at an impressive 180 mph. While the Esprit had brought the style of a supercar to the masses, the Etna would provide the speed to show up the more established exotics. But there was more to the Etna than just explosive speed.
The Etna Would Have Been Groundbreaking
Alongside the new V8 engine, the Etna was to be filled with cutting-edge tech that wouldn’t be commonplace for years to come. Lotus considered fitting the car with the active suspension technology developed for its F1 cars, along with ABS and traction control. Perhaps even more interesting was that Lotus was considering using noise-canceling tech, something which you don’t normally need with a V8, but was presumably to make the cabin more refined at speed. All Lotus had to do was build the Etna, and it would have had the first true British supercar on its hands.
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The Etna Was Quickly Canceled and All But Forgotten
Lotus was struggling financially, and after the GM buyout, it was decided that the company’s money would be better spent on small sports cars. That original concept car was not what it seemed either, having been fairly quickly assembled on the longer Esprit chassis using wood, clay, and fiberglass. It was put in a storage facility at Hethel and long forgotten while the company focused on the front-wheel-drive Elan. But then something strange happened.
It Wasn’t The End Of The Story For The Etna
In 2001, that show car was sold off at Coys auction, according to Classicdriver.com, and reportedly ended up in Olav Glasius’s Lotus collection. The car was in a sorry state, and Glasius asked ex-Lotus engineer and restoration specialist Ken Myers to take a look at it. As this was supposed to be nothing more than a show car, there was no engine inside. Or at least that’s how it seemed.
Removing layers of clay and glass fiber, Myers discovered a Type 909 engine hidden within. Lotus had built just two of these engines, keeping one for itself; the other had been sent to Italdesign in the car to help with the design of the packaging. Apparently, the mock-up had just been created around the engine and chassis, sealing it in. Myers then used suspension parts borrowed from an Esprit to create the production Etna that Lotus never made. The car was sold at Broad Arrow auctions in Monterey (2025) for $224,000.
How The Etna Changed Lotus’ Direction
In many ways, the spirit of the Etna has lived on at Lotus since its unveiling in 1984. Lotus officially introduced the Esprit V8, powered by the company’s newly developed Type 918 3.5-liter twin-turbo engine, in 1996. More recently, the Emeya GT arrived as the Etna’s spiritual heir. Yes, this is a four-door sedan, but it shows what the top of Lotus’ range can look like, with very supercar-like performance.
The Emeya 600 has 612 horsepower and reaches 60 mph in 4.1 seconds, whereas the Emeya 900 has 918 hp and reaches the same speed in 2.78 seconds. If you hadn’t guessed by now, the Emeya is an EV with a 2-speed transmission. Just like the Etna, the Emeya is packed full of tech, including F1-derived active aero and active air suspension. Ultimately, for many people, the Emeya has the same problem as the Esprit did in the ’70s. It could possibly do with a V8…
Sources: Classic Driver
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