For Sale at Auction: 1984 Lotus Etna in Monterey, California

Chassis No. 909001

Before the mighty McLaren F1 and Jaguar XJ220, the Lotus Etna was meant to lead the way as the first British mid-engined supercar. The Etna concept debuted at the 1984 British International Motor Show, captivating attendees with its wedge-shaped, futuristic styling from Giorgetto Giugiaro at Italdesign and its driver-centric cockpit. Simply put, the Etna, based on the Esprit, was the singular vision of the future for Lotus's production cars. The Etna advertised a new 4.0-liter V8 making 335 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque combined with a five-speed manual transmission, which could theoretically propel the car from zero-to-60 mph in 4.3 seconds and to a top speed of approximately 180 mph. The production Etna was planned to be fitted with traction control, anti-lock braking, active noise-canceling technology, and an active suspension system taken from Lotus's Formula One campaign.

Unfortunately, the Lotus Etna never made it to production, and the one-off concept was stored at the Lotus factory in Hethel for decades. It emerged in 1998 at a public sale and joined longtime Colin Chapman disciple Olav Glasius' esteemed Lotus collection in 2004. At the time, the concept was a rolling shell with no mechanical underpinnings-or so everyone thought. Glasius recruited former Lotus engineer and current Lotus restoration expert Ken Myers to recondition the Etna after its decades of storage. Upon inspection, Myers discovered that hidden beneath the wood and fiberglass body was a transmission, and crucially, an aluminum Type 909 V8-one of just two built. Now charged with getting the Etna in drivable condition, Myers attended to the rest of the car's mechanical components, fitting the Etna with a new Perspex canopy and an Esprit suspension system.

The Etna was born anew and drivable after just a year and was displayed at the 2006 Lotus Festival at Donington Park where it could be staged under its own power for the first time. Glasius displayed the car at the 2008 Goodwood Festival of Speed before selling it alongside the rest of his impressive Lotus collection at Goodwood in 2012. The car sold to its current owner 10 years later, joining a respectable collection in Southern California where such a storied part of Lotus's innovation-rich history could continue to be preserved. The Lotus Etna remains a showcase of the marque's most forward-thinking ideas carefully curated by Colin Chapman and his team of visionary engineers.