The 2022 Lotus Emira hasn’t hit the streets yet — in fact, most drivers haven’t even seen the prototype in person. While the press Emira may begin making its way around the US in the next few months, many Lotus enthusiasts are already putting down deposits and selecting specifications, even though we haven’t been able to take one for a test drive — leaving us wondering how similar, or dissimilar, of a driving experience this new Lotus will offer from previous generations. While that may seem crazy, the 2022 Lotus Emira offers a lot of promise and will undoubtedly garnish the attention of sports car fans and loyal Lotus enthusiasts.

Configure your 2022 Lotus Emira

Lotus is planning on building the 2022 Lotus Emira to spec for customers, rather than flooding their dealership lots — and, in case you haven’t noticed, there aren’t a ton of Lotus dealerships out there, and they usually share the spotlight with Aston Martin. Although the car isn’t set to arrive for customers until late next year, customers can already begin configuring their dream specs from a very small list of options such as color, interior choice, and drivetrains.

Once configured, simply travel to your local Lotus dealership with your spec sheet and they will help you place the order with a small downpayment. From talks within the Lotus owners community, most buyers who have already ordered their 2022 Lotus Emira seemed to have put down between $2,000 and $5,000.

2022 Lotus Emira spec options

As an avid Lotus enthusiast, I was all too excited to start speccing out my dream version of the 2022 Lotus Emira — even though I am waiting to see what electric models they will release before officially ordering. I currently own two of the second generation Lotus Elise and one Lotus Evora, but all of them were purchased, wrecked, and rebuilt by myself and my husband.

With the opportunity to order a brand new Lotus from the factory, I was interested in seeing what options I could choose, rather than being limited to what choices would come available in limited colors and combinations already produced at the dealership. Unfortunately, I was underwhelmed when I made it to the configurator page just to see how limited my options really were.

Like the generations of Lotus Elise and Lotus Evora before them, there is a chance that colors will remain limited for the Lotus Emira until special editions become available. The available colors for each of these older cars is more than the six available for the new Emira, but several of those color options were offered along later generations, meaning there is still hope for a wider variety in the future.

A new Lotus that follows the same traditional naming scheme

If you haven’t noticed, the name of almost every car produced by Lotus starts with an E, and the Emira’s model name follows suit. Along with this, it has followed traditional Lotus color scheme options. In fact, the 2022 Lotus Emira only comes with six color options:

• Seneca Blue
• Nimbus Grey
• Shadow Grey
• Dark Verdent
• Hethel Yellow
• Magma Red

While options are rather limited, these cars will likely be relatively low production as so many Lotus cars before them have been, so owners won’t mind sharing specs all that much — and, if you are desperate for a different color you can invest in a vinyl wrap that will not only allow you to customize your car further but will also protect the factory paint of these brand new cars.