In a move that is guaranteed to surprise roughly zero people, Lotus Cars has cancelled the final project from fired CEO Dany Bahar's reign of terribleness.
The upcoming Esprit, which had been under development since 2010, has finally been put to death by Lotus. It was expected to be powered by a 5.0 liter V8 from an unspecified manufacturer and it was going to be combined with a hybrid system for more than 600 horsepower.
Bahar wanted to rival Lamborghini and Ferrari and forget Lotus' past. We're glad he's gone.
The Esprit was pre-deceased by Bahar's five other future models, the Elan, Elise, Eterne, Elite, and Ethos city car, all of which eschewed the "simplify and add lightness" mantra that was Lotus' signature.
GREAT NEWS! Lotus isn't going to make bloated heavyweights and will soldier on making lightweight cars like the Exige S, Elise, and Evora.
And all was right with the world.
UPDATE: Seems we spoke too soon, original source Autoguide has been informed by Lotus that the Esprit is indeed still being developed.