Craigslist Find- One of Eight Lotus 340R

Are you flexible enough to try the Lotus position? How about the pole position?

Here’s your opportunity to own something more rare than an honest politician. The Lotus 340R was initially a 1999 show car, demonstrating the then-new Elise aluminum platform. Reaction was so strong that the company decided to produce the cars in a very limited number (that number being 340) for sale everywhere but the U.S., as the Elise was not yet on the market here. In proof that the squeaky wheel gets the oil, or that the British just hate whining, Lotus America was granted a grand total of 8 cars for distribution among our 304 million residents. And now, for only $56,950, number two of those eight can be yours.

Neither fish nor fowl, the car lacks windows, heater or top, but is kitted more luxuriously than you would want in a track car. That being said, it tips the scales at less than 1,500-lbs, and the approximately 190-bhp Rover K-series will move the car with alacrity. The straight-cut gears of the close-ratio five speed may take some getting used to, as would all the bugs in your teeth that would be the result of not being able to drive this car without an ear-to-ear grin on your face.