This, sports car fans, is the brand new Lotus Elite. It will grace the stands of the Paris Motor Show and is one of those rare things in the car world - a real shock.

With expectation focused on a Lotus Esprit replacement for Paris, the appearance of Elite renderings on Facebook this morning (20 September 2010) took everyone by surprise. We also believe that a Facebook new car debut is a world first.

Lotus has been surprisingly candid about the newcomer. It will draw power from a front-mid engined 5.0-litre V8 linked to electric motors, in total developing 612bhp.

It's thought that the drivetrain will be a modified version of that in the Lexus LS 600h. Of course, Lotus already uses Toyota engines in the Elise.

The Elite will have KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) and Lotus puts its 0-62mph sprint time at '3.5 to 3.7 seconds'. The company also estimates its CO2 output at an incredible 215g/km. Its top speed will be 196mph.

Lotus says the hybrid drivetrain will be optional, meaning there's likely to be a standard 5.0-litre version that sits below this higher performance variant, with the electric motors boosting acceleration and overall power output.

We even know how much the Elite will cost when it comes to market near the end of 2014: £115,000.

That price pitches it right into Aston Martin DB9 territory, and leaves a nice space above for something like, say, a new Esprit. That will be a proper two-seat wedge of a supercar, of the Ferrari 458 Italia ilk.

This, however, is a 2+2 that Lotus says will be comfy as well as fast; a retractable hard top version is confirmed too. As Dany Bahar, Lotus CEO, puts it: "One could say it's a car of perfect contradictions, it's compact yet spacious, high performing yet low emitting, lightweight yet still reassuringly solid."

No doubt Lotus has held some of its beans back for the Paris show. We'll report back once they're spilled...

Mark Nichol - 20 Sep 2010