PEAKY BLINDER?
THE ANTICIPATION HAS BEEN HUGE. That combination of excitement and slight trepidation bringing a tight knot in the stomach as the time approaches and you wonder how good it will be. It has seemed like an age since first reading all the various, mouth-watering options available. And now it’s here and it looks even better than I expected. The crisp edges, the soft interior… it’s a pizza good enough to make a statue salivate.
We’re sitting outside Chalet Reynard, about two-thirds of the way up Mont Ventoux, and parked across the road is something equally anticipated and equally spectacular to behold. As I tuck into the circular cuisine of champions, I glance at the new Lotus Emira for the umpteenth time.
‘It really does look good, doesn’t it?’ I mumble between mouthfuls of mozzarella.
Dean Smith nods absentmindedly in response, concentrating on his own doughy delight. To be fair I’ve probably asked him the question enough times in the last 24 hours that he’s now just weary of replying. But I can’t quite get over how supercar it looks in the real world.
The Lotus marketing motto is ‘For the Drivers’ (‘Nam regentibus traderent’ is apparently hand-painted underneath the Chapman coat of arms in the new factory at Hethel) but almost regardless of what the hydraulically power-assisted steering is like and how the V6 sounds, this is surely going to seduce based on aesthetics alone. Even in shadow grey, the Emira has the ability to trap neck nerves at fifty paces.
The cinched waist, the deep side-scoops, the perfect proportions. Everybody stops and stares. I suspect if you swapped badges, nobody would question that it was a
