This 1 of 340 lightweight Lotus track toy could fetch up to RM 250,000… in good nick that is.
There is a saying in the car spotting community to “always check the carpark.” And boy have we got a doozy here, as recently spotted languishing in a forgotten corner of the carpark at Proton’s headquarters is a very exotic Lotus 340R!
Papped by yours truly between a similarly dilapidated first- and second-generation Elise, it is certainly a very heartbreaking sight to see a trio of these Lotus sports cars collecting dust in front of what seems to be Proton’s office furniture dumpster. Though it is nevertheless a rather fitting analogy to how the British sports car marque was too left by its Malaysian parent to just steadily bob along in its life during its custodianship, before it was eventually rejuvenated by Geely in 2017 to what(ever) it is today.
Now, those who know their Lotus will recall that the 340R was originally conceived to showcase what the ultimate Elise might look like. This particular stripped-out sports car was first unveiled to the world in concept form at the 1998 Birmingham Auto Show, before eventually arriving in production form at the start of the new millennium.
Based on the formidable 190 Sport platform, the 340R had no doors, no side windows, and no roof. Whatever little bodywork it had too was made from composite materials, and the mechanical elements at the back of the car were left almost completely exposed for added lightness.
Powering the 340R was a VHPD (Very High Power Derivative) version of the 1.8-litre Rover K-Series naturally-aspirated four-cylinder and 5-speed stick shift, as shared with the regular Elise. This fizzy four-valve-per-cylinder four pot was claimed back then to churn out 179 PS at 7,800 rpm and 172 Nm at 6,750 rpm, which in turn was supposedly good to rocket this 701 kg sports car from 0-100 km/h in just 4.4 seconds.
Rather ironically, however, in spite of the 340R punching well above its weight when it comes to performance, it didn’t exactly live up to its name. Such is because Lotus initially named this stripped out special as such in anticipation of a 340 hp per ton power-to-weight ratio, but all it could muster was just 252.5 hp per ton in standard spec…
In any case though, the 340 in its name could nevertheless also stand for how many of these lightweight Lotus sports cars were made in its sole year of production. In fact, it is probably worth pointing out too that the British sports car marque had managed the rather remarkable feat of selling out the entire allocation before the first unit even left the production line.
A few other notable factoids about the Lotus 340R was that it came from the factory wearing special A038R semi-slick tyres wrapped around its standard magnesium centre-lock alloys, with said rubber developed in collaboration with Yokohama. All 340Rs also only came with a two-tone ice blue (or as Lotus calls it, silver) and black exterior paint scheme, and there is expectedly no luggage space whatsoever within this track weapon.
Bringing the story back to this particular 340R that is left seemingly abandoned at Proton’s headquarters here meanwhile, this very example was apparently a gift from Lotus to Proton founder Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad. A further bit of internet sleuthing reveals that the last documented instance about when this very example was last seen out and about was sometime in 2008.
And while looking around online, it appears that this dilapidated Lotus in Proton’s possession is likely one of 3(?) 340Rs in Malaysia. There is apparently another one in the Sultan of Selangor’s collection, while a third yellow example supposedly resides in Melaka.
These days, mint Lotus 340Rs are trading hands for upwards of £45,000 (RM 255,000). So… given its dilapidated state and the presumably thousands needed to even get it back on the road, here’s to wondering whether Proton would take RM 3,400 for me to help them free up a space from their basement?
Heck, this writer is willing to even go up to RM 34,000. You have my number, Proton!
