#ExigeV6

Last year at the Frankfurt Auto Show, Lotus showed off its Exige S model featuring a supercharged V6 powerplant with 345-hp and 295 lb-ft of torque. But it’s a new year, which means the British automaker has something else to show off.

Lotus has chosen today, the first official day of summer, to announce (cryptically) the launch of a ‘new era’ for storied British sports car maker. What exactly the ‘new era’ will entail, will become much more clear in exactly 100 days at the Paris Auto Show says Lotus.

Our minds are already racing with the possibilities. For starters it could be a new high-powered exotic, based on the Evora platform and paying homage to the Esprit. Then again, it could be a supercharged Evora, or even a V6-powered Exige (which Lotus is pretty much guaranteed to offer now that the 1.8-liter engine has been cut from the Lotus lineup in Europe).

Either way, we’re betting its something big. Lotus has been making big changes over the past few years as it plans to take on the world’s top-tier exotic and sports car makers.

See the official release, talk of Druids and the Summer Solstice after the jump:

Lotus will launch two special editions models at the end of this year, both to celebrate the dedication of its long-time vehicle engineer Roger Becker, and to mourn the loss of the 1.8-liter engine. That’s right, new Euro 5 emissions regulations are set to mark the end of the 1.8L-powered Lotus Elise and Exige and so the British sports car company will give both the engine and Becker a special send off with the RGB special edition Elise SC and Exige S.