The idea for a pared-down Elise has apparently been knocking around Lotus for a while, before being turned into the sketches you see here by Barney Hatt, a ten-year veteran of Lotus Design who also had a hand in styling the M250 concept. Now that the idea has the green light, the concept has gone back into the main design pool to be developed into a viable production car. Given that the Circuit Car's mechanicals are largely a known commodity, Lotus has been able to start testing chassis and engine while the bodywork is still in the clay model stage, ensuring a quick turn-around of the project.

The Circuit Car will be produced on the main Elise assembly line, initially at a rate of 100 per year starting this December. While Lotus insists it's a track-only machine, keen owners may be tempted to put their cars through the Single Vehicle Approval process to make them road legal.

A prototype should make its public debut at the Shelsley Walsh hill climb's 100th anniversary in August. It will be driven by senior Lotus engineer Tony Shute, who for several years has successfully campaigned a lightweight, polycarbonate-bodied 340R in the British Hill Climb Championship - his car is thought to be the inspiration for the Circuit Car concept; the new car is even a similar weight to Shute's machine and has borrowed lessons learned from its aerodynamic set-up to increase downforce levels.