30-Day Limited Powertrain Warranty Included!
There is a unique magic to the landscape just east of Bend out on Highway 20. As you approach the gateway to the Oregon Badlands Wilderness, the pine trees give way to ancient twisted junipers, volcanic vistas, and wide-open high desert skies. It’s a road built for driving, which made it the absolute perfect backdrop to experience a true masterpiece of British engineering.
Parking this exotic machine right beneath the historic BLM sign in The Oregon Badlands provided an incredible visual contrast: pure, cutting-edge performance design framed by the raw, timeless textures of the desert.
Aside from its jaw-dropping lines, what makes this specific Emira so special is its finish—Seneca Blue. Under the intense, clear Central Oregon sun, the metallic paint completely comes alive. It shifts from a bright, electric cerulean in direct light to a deep, moody sapphire in the shadows, perfectly tracing the aggressive aerodynamic channels and functional air intakes carved into the car’s bodywork.
But the real magic of the Emira lies beneath that brilliant paintwork.
As the final internal-combustion hurrah from Lotus, the Emira is built on a specialized bonded aluminum chassis. By placing the engine directly behind the driver’s cockpit rather than under a long front hood, Lotus achieved the holy grail of sports car design: a true mid-engine performance platform.
From a physics standpoint, this layout completely transforms how a car behaves on a winding road. Shifting the heavy mechanical mass to the center of the vehicle drastically lowers the polar moment of inertia. In plain English? The car rotates effortlessly. When you point the nose into a sharp, sweeping bend—like the curves stretching out toward Millican or the winding pavement through the Crooked River Gorge—the Emira doesn’t fight the physics of the turn. It pivots with laser-like precision, keeping the weight perfectly balanced across all four wheels.
Furthermore, placing that engine weight directly over the rear axle acts like a natural launch pad. When you lean into the throttle coming out of a corner, the rear tires are pressed firmly into the asphalt, delivering immediate traction and explosive corner-exit speed without any front-end float. Paired with a traditional hydraulic steering rack that feeds every single ripple of the asphalt directly back to your fingertips, it offers an analog, connected driving experience that modern digital supercars simply can’t replicate.
At Auto Kings, we are incredibly proud to bring these kinds of rare, high-performance icons to the local car community. From precision track toys to rugged, mountain-ready trucks built for the Cascades, our inventory is curated for drivers who appreciate the journey as much as the destination.
Next time you’re cruising through Redmond on the South Hwy 97 corridor or heading through the Eastside of Bend, keep your eyes peeled—and be sure to check our active inventory page to see what unique arrivals are landing on our lots next.
Central Oregon has some of the best driving roads in the Pacific Northwest. What’s your ultimate machine for carving up the high desert backroads?
