Lotus is releasing five special edition Emiras based on vintage Formula One racers

Lotus has launched a series of vintage F1-inspired Emiras, and yes, there's one based on Ayrton Senna.

Two, in fact. The ‘Shadow Grey’ and gold is a nod to the Type 97T in which he won his very first race, while that yellow one mimics the Type 99T the Brazilian maestro drove to eight podiums in 1987.

Want to head even further back in time? There are liveries for the Type 78, the very first car to adopt ground effect, and the Type 86, a one-off prototype used for testing during the 1980 season.

But if even these seem too modern to you, Lotus’ fifth and final offering is based on the Type 25: the green and yellow hero that took Jim Clark to the 1963 title and chalked up 14 wins over a three-year window.

Other than these liveries, each Emira gets bespoke badging along the B pillars and dashboard, and… that’s about it. Well, that and the twin-turbocharged four-pot and eight-speed dual-clutch transmission, getting you from 0-62 in 4.4s and a top speed of 171mph.

Each design will be limited to 12 units, so just 60 of these cars will be made and priced at €98,107 (£81,430) each.