Absolute Lotus magazine
May/June 2026 – Issue 50

HPE R500 – Honda K20, carbonfibre body… and £375,000
Father and son Esprit resto – Their shared love of Lotus
Elite – Why one owner wanted a wedge since he was eight
Evora Carbon Concept – The show car that never made production
Alan Stacey’s Mark VI – How the Team Lotus driver’s car came home
Great Race – Lotus at the 1957 Le Mans 24-hour
Racing at Lotus 23C – A podium position at the Goodwood Revival 
…and much more!

Incredible ten-year father-and-son Esprit restoration

Dean Wright has been a lifelong Lotus fan, but he didn’t get one into his garage until he was 49. His Esprit S3 needed some light recommissioning to get it through an MoT, but that turned into a ten-year full rolling restoration when his son George got involved in the project.

He soon shared his father’s love for the marque, and now has an Elise as a daily driver. In Issue 50, they tell us how they learnt on the job to complete a very impressive renovation.

Rare Evora Carbon Concept in the wild

The Lotus Evora Carbon Concept never went into production, and only two were ever built. When Allan Stanton craved greater comfort than his Elise offered, his search for a black Evora S led him instead to this super-rare naturally-aspirated car in white.

Despite is scarcity, he’s not afraid to use it and has taken it on numerous continental road trips. We also look at how the Carbon Concept influenced later Lotus models. It’s all in Issue 50.

The £375,000 Elise

Can an Elise really be worth considerably north of a quarter of a million pounds? HPE’s new Special Vehicles department has recently built the R500, a hardcore carbonfibre bodied, Honda K20-powered trackday car.

Chassis aside, virtually everything else has come in for attention on this one-off car. We got up close with it for Issue 50, and saw it blow away in the breeze during the photoshoot (yes, it’s that light).

The Team Lotus works driver’s Mark VI

Alan Stacey didn’t let disability hold him back from his motorsport ambitions. After suffering a motorcycle accident that led to one leg being amputated below the knee, he build a Lotus Mark VI and acquitted himself well in club racing.

That soon gave way to an Eleven, and he caught the attention of Colin Chapman who promoted him to being a Formula One works driver. The car that started it all is back in the family and owned by Stacey’s nephew, also Alan Stacey. We retrace the car’s story in Issue 50.

The wait for a wedge

Rich Nugent decided he would one day own a Lotus Elite when he was just eight years old. At that impressionable age, a neighbour had one and the distinctive Oliver Winterbottom-penned shape left a lasting impression on him. Does the reality live up to the dream? We met him for Issue 50 to find out. Also in Issue 50, we interview artist Conrad Shawcross whose work, The Golden Lotus [Inverted], is an Elite that suspended upside down from the ceiling of the Saatchi Gallery.

Lotus at the 1957 Le Mans 24-hour

Sports car racing was a real focus for Colin Chapman and Lotus in the 1950s, and the Le Mans 24-hour race was the jewel in the calendar’s crown. While Lotus would go on to have a fraught relationship with the organising Automobile Club de l’Ouest, in 1956 and ’57 the lightweight Lotus Elevens put on a great showing.

Even if that meant privateer André Héchard had to push his car for four miles after running out of fuel. In Issue 50’s, Richard Heseltine tells the story of the 1957 round-the-clock race.

Unexpected success at the Goodwood Revival

Wolfgang Henseler had never driven his Lotus 23C before arriving at last year’s Goodwood Revival. Neither has he visited the Sussex circuit. And as he waited in the assembly area for the practice session, rain started to fall.

These were not an ideal set of circumstances, but come the race he was able to capitalise on the drama of the race to claim a podium position. We chat to home for Issue 50 to find out how it felt and what he has in store for the 2026 season.

Click here to order your copy. Worldwide delivery and free shipping to UK addresses