Geneva preview: Lotus APX

Newswheel staff :: 02 February 2006 :: Filed under Crossover, Lotus, Europe & UK, Trade shows, US

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300bhp family funster is concept-only

Lotus knocks up a crossover vehicle? Yup, but don’t whip out the oriental disembowelling cutlass just yet. The British sportscar maker hasn’t sold out à la Porsche Cayenne. The APX is a client-wooing exercise for Lotus Engineering, designed to show off the merits of its VVA modular platform architecture and a new engine. And very definitely not a vehicle that has any chance of seeing production with a Lotus badge on the front.

VVA – that’s Versatile Vehicle Architecture - was originally shown at Geneva last year and is a modular chassis tech composed of aluminium, steel and composite materials. The idea is a fast-to-market, flexible, lightweight and cheap chassis suitable for a wide variety of form factors and model niches. The APX is powered by Lotus’ new in-house developed 3.0-litre 300bhp V6. The APX will be shown at Geneva on the 28th and we’ll be there to bring you images and further deets.