The Lotus Espirit V8 is back with a carbon-fiber body and mind-blowing price tag

A company called Encor wants to bring back the iconic Lotus Esprit.

The new supercar will be based on the Esprit but built from scratch using individual specifications.

It will have a V8, which is good news.

But the price is exorbitant.

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A Lotus Esprit for the modern world

This is the Encor Series 1, a restomod inspired by the Lotus Esprit Series 1, but based on the Series 4.

It sounds a bit confusing, but that’s just because Encor wants to combine the charm of the original Esprit Series 1 with the performance of the Series 4, which was the only one with a V8.

Speaking of which, Encor hasn’t provided any details about the engine’s power output, but we know that the 3.5-liter twin-turbo V8 in the Esprit produced 500+hp.

The idea is to take a Lotus Esprit and modify it extensively to make it more modern, with Apple CarPlay, 360-degree cameras, climate control, and so on.

It sounds great, but there are two things to remember.

First, Encor apparently only takes care of the mods, but won’t actually provide a donor car.

Translated, if you don’t have a Lotus Esprit, you’re going to have to buy one to give it to them so they can modify it.

Second, the price is pretty high.

Encor Series 1 starts at £430,000 – equivalent to $578,000 – and that’s before options, taxes, and not including the price of the donor Esprit.

Restomods are in demand

A restomod is essentially a classic car reengineered and modified to fit the modern world, sometimes with an electric engine, in which case some people call it electromod or elektromod.

One of the most famous and perhaps ‘extreme’ elektromod vehicles is Jason Momoa’s 1929 Rolls-Royce.

We’re talking about a car that’s nearly 100 years old, which the Hollywood actor apparently uses quite regularly.

We’ve also seen restomods based on the Porsche 911, the Maserati Shamal, and there’s even one that combines a Jeep Wagoneer and a Ferrari.

Interestingly, these modified vehicles often cost more than the original.

For example, there’s the Eccentrica, a Lamborghini Diablo-based restomod that costs $1.3 million.

For the record, the Diablo has a current average market value of around $350,000.

But there’s clearly an appetite for these vehicles because they generally sell quite well.