This $79K Lotus 340R Is an Ultra-Rare Roller Skate: A Look at the Wild and Wacky World of Automotive History
The Lotus 340R is a car that defies easy categorization. It's a mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive sports car, but it's also a concept car, a limited-edition model, and a roller skate. Yes, you read that right. This car, which sold for $78,750 this week, is one of the rarest and most unique vehicles ever produced by Lotus.
What makes the 340R so fascinating is its history. It was unveiled as a concept car at the 1998 British International Motor Show, and it quickly became a sensation. But Lotus actually built the car, and sold exactly 340 copies for £35,000 apiece in the year 2000. Buyers got no doors, windows, or anything even resembling a roof. The exhaust is partly exposed. Fenders are an afterthought. Weight, though, was down to about 1500 pounds, almost 200 pounds less than an S1 Elise and about the same as the teeny-tiny Elan from back in the '60s.
Behind the driver, the Elise's 1.8-liter VPHD-tuned Rover K-series four-cylinder came in 177 hp or 187 hp outputs and could push the overgrown go-kart to 60 in 4.4 seconds before hitting a top speed of 133 mph. Suspension is adjustable and easy to get to. All 340 cars left the factory in silver and black, though there are painted examples out there, and there is one 340R out there called the Exposé that has a completely transparent body shell made out of polycarbonate.
Despite its not-so-graceful looks, the 340R sold out soon after it was announced. It remained a single-run model and Lotus hasn't built a car quite like it since, but its bug-like headlights did soon appear on the Series 2 Elise that started production in 2001.
The 340R sold this week is number 131 of 340 produced, according to a nifty plaque on the chassis. A right-hand drive, U.K.-market car, blue and black cover the seats and steering wheel, and a set of metric instruments adorns the dash. Its engine has the 177-hp tune. The odometer shows 24,115 km (14,984 miles), and the car could use a new set of tires, but its condition seems mostly solid.
Only a handful of 340Rs have sold publicly in this country, and most of them have brought prices in the $70K range. Sure, a $78,750 price including buyer’s premium definitely isn’t cheap, especially for a four-cylinder car with under 200hp. But did you buy one of the weirdest and wildest cars of the 2000s, not to mention one of the rarest, and it would be endlessly chuckable for back roads, autocrosses, or track days.
What makes the 340R so fascinating is its unique design and engineering. It's a car that defies easy categorization, and it's a testament to the creativity and innovation that can be found in the automotive world. But it's also a reminder that sometimes, the most interesting and unique cars are the ones that don't quite fit into any category.
