Lotus Emira wows the crowds at Goodwood Festival of Speed
The Lotus Emira has made its dynamic public debut at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed.
In front of tens of thousands of passionate motoring fans, the all-new Lotus sports car took part in the Hill Climb, visited the Michelin Supercar Paddock live stage and took part in the spectacular Lotus Moment parade in front of Goodwood House – complete with Lotus-themed yellow and green fireworks.
Huge numbers of visitors came to the Lotus stand to see the Emira up close. Such was its popularity that crowd control measures had to be implemented within minutes of the Goodwood gates opening at 7am, and a queueing system to access the stand was in force all day. Many were keen to discuss details of the car’s spec and place their Emira order.
The Emira was also driven by the Duke of Richmond, the organiser of the Festival, with Matt Windle, managing director, Lotus Cars, in the passenger seat.
All the action came less than 48 hours after the Emira’s world premiere at Hethel, Norfolk, on Tuesday night, live in front of invited guests and to all corners of the globe via a livestream broadcast.
Lotus is the Featured Marque at this year’s Festival of Speed, and the Emira was joined on the stand by an Evija all-electric hypercar, an Elise Sport 240 Final Edition and the track bike developed in part by Lotus Engineering for British Cycling.
This year’s Festival celebrates the peerless sporting and technical achievements of Lotus, and is the theme of the Festival’s Central Feature – the dramatic art installation which is always created directly in front of Goodwood House.
Called the Lotus Aeroad and viewed digitally via a smartphone app, the sculpture uses the latest augmented reality technology to allow users to watch four iconic Lotus cars speed through the air on a virtual racetrack. The app features an at home mode for fans unable to attend in person, giving them the opportunity to launch a virtual version of the sculpture, plus the racetrack and cars. Once launched, users can take a photo or record a short video of their journey round the augmented track and save it to their device to share.
Matt Windle commented: “Our stand staff didn’t stop talking to people about the Emira all day. So many had watched the livestream on Tuesday, love the way the car looks inside and out, and wanted to share how thrilled they are to see the transformation that is taking place at Lotus. We had an amazing day at Goodwood and are looking forward to the rest of the weekend.”