from TWOWHEESBLOG
British automaker Lotus is officially getting into the motorcycle business. The company famous for its racing cars and luxury automobiles has teamed up with former Volkswagen Group designer Daniel Simon, Germany’s Holzer Group and auto racing team Kodewa to form Lotus Motorcycles.
The compay was established to design and build the first motorcycle of the iconic car manufacturer. The bike will be named Lotus C-01 and according to the press release, it will reflect a combination of lifestyle, design and high end technology and manufactured with materials like carbon, titanium and aerospace quality steel (produced by RPC GmbH) and feature a 200 horsepower engine.
The Lotus C-01 will be designed by Daniel Simon. Simon, is a former designer for Bugatti Automobiles, has lately been responsible for some of the most sophisticated concept vehicles in Hollywood film history.
Amongst his most recognizable contributions are the ‘Lightcycle’ in the 2010 Disney motion picture ‘Tron: Legacy’ and the ‘Bubbleship’ used by Tom Cruise in the recent Universal Sci-Fi hit ‘Oblivion’. The German was also designing the famous black and gold livery of the Lotus LMP2 sports cars.
The designer says: “With the Lotus C-01, we have only one ambition: to create a unique state-of-the-art machine that carries its brutal forces with elegance and style, a high-tech monster in a tailored suit. The C-01, with all its top notch components and materials, is first and foremost emotional, heartbreaking, at times playfully retro, and always clearly a Lotus. Lotus is a glamorous name with a rich history, and the C-01 celebrates it proudly: the shapes of the marvelous Lotus 49 were a main inspiration, and all color schemes pay homage to iconic Lotus racing liveries, such as the dashing black and gold. The intersection of past and future never fails to fascinate, and so does the unique idea of the C-01.”
In the next few weeks, images of Lotus Motorcycles will be released and will give a first insight into what to expect from the new Lotus C-01.
And we can expect that the C-01 will be very, very expensive …
