“The most powerful series production road car ever,” says Lotus after confirming that the now-finished Lotus Evija will ship to customers with 2,011hp, rather than the puny 1,972hp that was originally announced.
Surely, a car with that much poke makes a worthy canvas on which to celebrate your greatest achievement, and Jenson Button has done just that.
As you can see in the images here, Button’s Evija pays tribute to his 2009 Formula 1 title-winning Brawn BGP 001, with an Arctic White, Verve Yellow, and Carbon Black livery.
“I’ve obviously been part of the process coming up with the design and what have you, and I saw the photos from a couple of days ago which looked amazing,” Jenson told Top Gear as the car was unveiled at The Quail. “But to actually see it in real life is another step. It’s awesome. Looks amazing.
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“We spec’d it last year at Goodwood,” he went on. “We had a couple of different designs with the stripe and a white rear end, but I’m really happy with where we are. I wouldn’t normally go this loud with a color scheme, but because of the car, it just works.”
We’d be inclined to agree. Other details include the number 22 on the pop-out wing-mirror cameras and all of Jenson’s F1 race wins laser-etched into the aluminum strip on the centre of the seats. Elsewhere inside, the white-and-black theme continues with some excellent limey pops on the pedals and the air-vent surrounds.
“I’ll properly get hold of it later this year,” he said. “It’s going to live here in the US with me. I’ve actually just put a lift in my garage so that it fits. I’ve got my classic cars in there, and this will be the first modern hypercar and the first EV. It’s all ready for it now.”
The F1 champion also let slip that he had a few more things to come from his collaboration with Lotus: “I have everything Lotus ordered currently—the Emira and the Eletre.
“I actually have the four-cylinder Emira on order. My wife wants to be able to drive it as well, and she’s American and she would rather not drive stick—so I’ve gone for that. That’s more sedate though in terms of design. It’s green with a tan interior.
“I haven’t spec’d the Eletre yet, but I’m looking forward to that. That for me is awesome because we can get the kids in. It’s a proper luxury car as well. That will go alongside my wife’s G-Wagen as family cars. The Mercedes is bulletproof, but it doesn’t have the luxury or the power of the Eletre. Of course, I was always going to go with the full 900hp+ Eletre R.”
NOTE: This article first appeared on TopGear.com. Minor edits have been made.
