2004 Lotus Esprit - Review

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These photos show a first mule in high-speed testing at the Nürburgring. It has wider fenders and a big rear wing than the current car. More important is what will be underneath: the next Esprit gets a 32-valve, 4.8-liter V-8 engine from BMW delivering 367 hp.

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The latest developments in the GM-Renault/Nissan story have Rick Wagoner, GM CEO, meeting with Carlos Ghosn later in the month in Detroit, according to a report from the Financial Times. GM's CFO, Fritz Henderson, will lead a group that will study the proposed alliance in the meantime. And on Friday, GM's board will convene by telephone, likely to discuss the proposal made last week by Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp. although the meeting had been scheduled prior to Tracinda's Renault/Nissan gambit. Last week in a stunning announcement, Tracinda Corp. let loose that it was trying to broker a deal to open the alliance to GM, in which Tracinda and Kerkorian hold a 9.9-percent stake. The boards of Renault and Nissan have okayed talks on bringing GM into the alliance, and separately, Japanese daily Nihon Keizai has reported that the alliance could benefit from adding GM to the mix in areas such as parts procurement, environmental and safety technology.

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