It's Go, Go, Go For Sepang

The 'race' is on to christen the Proton sports car Auto Express exclusively revealed in issue 818 - and it looks as though the Malaysian firm will take its inspiration from the country's Formula One circuit. Our sources say the high-performance newcomer will be called the Sepang, and go on sale early next year.

Auto Express Car Reviews

22nd September 2004

Based almost entirely on the current Lotus Elise, the car will be powered by a 2.0-litre engine tuned by the Norfolk firm, mated to a five-speed manual transmission. Performance is expected to be similar to that of the original Vauxhall VX220.

Meanwhile, part of the mystery surrounding our pictures of the next Esprit (issue 824) has been cleared up. At the time it was uncertain which engine was likely to be used, but it's now been confirmed that the metallic blue prototype was powered by a 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6. Although the supplier's name is a secret, two firms are being linked with the project.

The first is Ford, which already produces a 400bhp-plus unit used in the Noble M400. And the second is Nissan, which together with UK engineering firm Cosworth is building a new blown 3.5-litre V6 to power the forthcoming GT-R. Interestingly, that's a car Lotus is reported to be working on...