Lotus Emira Finally Cleared For Sale In U.S. After Three Years

Photo: Lotus

When we first drove the Lotus Emira, we found it to be an absolute delight to drive. It’s not cheap, but then again, neither is the Porsche Cayman GTS 4.0. It’s also absolutely gorgeous, which never hurts. And with a Toyota-sourced engine and manual transmission, at least mechanically speaking, it should be relatively reliable. One big downside, though, was that Lotus had to wait for approval from the California Air Resources Board before it could sell the Emira here. And after a three-year wait, Motor1 reports it’s finally been approved to go on sale.

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Technically, Lotus could have already been selling the Emira in the 36 states that don’t follow California’s emissions laws, but it chose to wait on CARB approval before it began delivering cars to customers. Motor1 speculates that may have been an intentional move to keep buyers in CARB states from buying Emiras out of state, but it doesn’t appear that Lotus has confirmed that theory anywhere.

Now, buyers, some of whom have been waiting since 2021, will finally be able to get their cars. That’s a long wait, but we get the feeling that 400 horsepower and 310 lb-ft of torque, as well as the Emira’s excellent handling, will go a long way toward making it worth the wait.

The V6-powered Emira starts at $105,400, however, if that is too rich for your blood, you can opt for the less-expensive four-cylinder version that should also go on sale soon. The AMG-sourced four-cylinder makes 360 hp and 317 lb-ft of torque and starts at $99,900. Sadly, if you decide to go for the four-cylinder Emira, you won’t be able to pair it with a manual transmission. Because of that, we say spend the extra couple thousand dollars and get yourself a three-pedal Emira with the supercharged V6.