Lotus made its name with small, light, agile cars that excelled on road and track alike, and this Exige S perfectly embodies all of those qualities. Presented in Ardent Red with an Ivory White leather interior, it is a very early example of the Series 3 Exige and was first registered on 11 July 2013 to Lotus Cars itself. Not until September 2014 was it sold to its first private owner – a Kidderminster-based enthusiast who must have revelled in his new Lotus because it was showing 14,597 miles by the time it was serviced by marque specialist Paul Matty the following year. It has covered very few miles in recent years, having been acquired by another Lotusenthusiast and been maintained as part of his collection of road and race cars. It is still showing less than 17,000 miles from new, and offers sensational performance from its supercharged, 3456cc V6 engine. It drives through a six-speed gearbox and – being the Roadster model – features a stiffer anti-roll bar than the fixed-head model, plus more negative camber at the rear and slightly less at the front. That fine-tuning of the suspension geometry ensures that it drives just as superblyas its coupé sibling over every type of road. It also benefits from the optional Premium Pack, which means that the door panels and centre console are trimmed in leather, there’s more sound insulation, and the footwells are carpeted. Other factory-fitted extras include air-conditioning and heated seats. This Lotus Exige is now being offered for sale as a low-mileage, well-specified example of this exhilarating driver’s car, which still has few peers when it comes to enjoying a spirited cross-country run. The Lotus Exige was first introduced in 2000 as a coupé version of the Elise and morphed into the Series 2 in 2004. Then, at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show, the new Series 3 was announced. In place of the previous models’ four-cylinder engine was the supercharged 3.5-litre V6 from the Lotus Evora S. This Toyota unit produced 345bhp, which was enough to propel the Exige from 0-60mph in 3.8 seconds and on to a top speed of 172mph. The new engine meant that the Series 3 was longer and wider than the previous Exige, but thanks to its extruded and bonded aluminium structure it still weighed only 1176kg. Beneath the surface was double-wishbone suspension with Bilstein dampers, Eibach springs and AP brakes. A new Dynamic Performance Management system enabled the driver to select different ‘modes’. In ‘Tour’, the engine was limited to 6800rpm and ‘understeer recognition’ was enabled. ‘Sport’ mode raised the rev limit to 7200rpm, switched off ‘understeer recognition’ and increased the throttle response, while ‘Race’ added traction control. There was also the option of turning off all assistance. The Roadster model was added to the range in 2013 and featured cleaner styling thanks to its lack of aerodynamic ‘add-ons’. There was also an array of special editions, including the track-oriented V6 Cup, the LF1 – of which 81 were made, to celebrate each Lotus victory in Formula 1 – and the 360 Cup. The revised Sport 350 model was then introduced in 2015. The Exige S was feted by road-testers around the world for its performance, handling and roadholding. Writing in Autocar magazine in 2013, Matt Prior said that it was ‘an utterly fabulous road car … conceived for the purest of intents: to go fast and to entertain wildly while doing it.’