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An updated replica of the classic Lotus 7 has hit the South African market, and may become available for export to Australia, Japan, and the United Kingdom. Inspired by Lotus founder Colin Chapman's original design, twenty units of the Millennium 7 have already been completed, or are in assembly.

The car is the brainchild of aeronautical engineer Chris Carstens, who created the car to fulfill a friend's request for an uncommon sports car. The friend, Kobus van der Walt, has worked with Carstens on the project for the last six years. The duo have been advised by former Honda F1 chief mechanic Alastair Gibson.

Although the standard offering will be a 2.0-liter Ford Duratec engine with Ford Type 9 gearbox, Millennium 7 designers claim that a variety of engines fit without hassle. They claim that Ford and Toyota machines are the most common choices, but they have even kitted the car out with a turbocharged version of the 1.3-liter Renesis rotary engine seen on the Mazda RX-8. They also say that, although the car uses the BMW E30 3-Series rear differential and drive shafts, that many different gearboxes can be used.

With a four-cylinder Toyota engine, the vehicle's weight is estimated at 700kg (1543lbs). Weight is kept low thanks to the space frame, aluminum skin panels, and fiberglass body. Despite the low weight, the engineers were able to design a car with a bigger cockpit than the Lotus 7.

Disc brakes also come from the BMW 3er, but four-piston calipers may also be available. Also available is the unique windscreen, which is installed at a 55-degree rake.

The vehicle itself will be more readily available as a DIY kit, than a complete car. This kit would include "the frame, alloy double skin panelling, bodywork, front and rear suspension, fuel tank, brakes, brake tubing, pedal box and master cylinders, steering system and a basic wiring harness," according to a press release.

Without the differential, drive shafts, engine, gearbox, instruments, radiator, steering wheel, tires, or wheels, the Millennium 7 will cost 150,000 Rand, or about €13,500.

Now that the new Lotus Evora has been successfully launched in Europe, it's time to start delivering the new model to U.S. Lotus dealers. Production of U.S.-spec cars will be starting shortly so Lotus has finally defined a price point for the car beginning at $73,200. For that price you get the 276-hp Toyota-sourced 3.5-liter V6 and a 6-speed gearbox.

Unlike the minimalist Elise and Exige, the Evora is fully trimmed out in a fashion someone might expect of a $73,200 car, including hand-stitched leather from Muirhead and aluminum trim that hints at the structure under the plastic skin. The tiller is adjustable for reach and rake, which, along with the larger size of the car, should make getting in and out much easier than in the Exige. Final EPA numbers haven't been published yet, but the Evora is expected to top 30 mpg on the highway while the 0-60 time will be just 4.9 seconds.

If you haven't yet seen the Evora in person, Lotus has just started a 44-city dealer open house tour around the U.S. The full schedule is in the press release after the jump.

The new CEO of the Lotus Group has revealed greater ambitions in motor racing than only formula one.

Dany Bahar, once Dietrich Mateschitz's right hand man at Red Bull before switching to Ferrari, is now in charge of Lotus, whose name will be used by a new Malaysian-owned formula one team in 2010.

"We will investigate participation in Indycar series, GT and Le Mans racing amongst other series around the globe to demonstrate the shared technology," said Bahar in a media statement.

However, it was clarified that the Lotus F1 team will be separate from Group Lotus, and reports on Tuesday said the Malaysian carmaker Proton - the owner of Lotus - is looking over the team's license agreement for use of the name.

The Litespeed-managed Lotus F1 Racing team has released two photos of a scale model of its first Formula 1 racer that’s currently being used for windtunnel testing. There is no name for the new car yet, but more details about the team were revealed in an interview with technical director Mike Gascoyne provided along with the press release.

According to Gascoyne, development has already been on-going for a few months before the team entry was confirmed in mid-September 2009. Gascoyne is currently in Malaysia interviewing potential employees for technical roles. They are also recruiting various other personnel in the fields of admin, marketing and PR. A full list was published as a full page ad in the papers recently.

The team will be based in the RTN facility in UK initially but as previously mentioned the ultimate goal is to have a full technical facility at the Sepang circuit. However, when that happens a small UK base will still be kept to give the team a logistical advantage when the team is racing in Europe.

Lotus F1 aims to get the car up and running for a roll-out by mid-February 2010 in prepration for the Bahrain race in mid-March. The car is currently being developed with a few technical partners including Fondtech for aerodynamics, Xtrac for transmissions, and Cosworth for engines. Malaysian companies are involved in certain areas including some aspects of engineering as well as composites (very likely to be Composites Technology Research Malaysia).

There are rumours currently afloat about Toyota’s Jarno Trulli joining the new team. Trulli will likely take the senior role and be complemented by a more junior driver, possibly a Malaysian. Everyone seems to be looking at Fairuz Fauzy right now.

Source Carworld