THE eagerly awaited all-new sports car from Lotus, previously only known by the codename Type 131, will be badged the Lotus Emira.

It's due to be fully revealed in July, but for now the legendary Norfolk-based sports and racing car maker has only revealed a ghostly, hologram-like teaser image of the car made up of a wire frame, plus a dramatically dark photo of the front end.

What we do know is that the Evira's design is influenced by the Lotus Evija all-electric hypercar. But unlike the Evija, which is due to go into production later this year, the Emira, will not come with electric or, as speculated by some pundits, even a hybrid powertrain.

It will be powered by a choice of mid-mounted, internal combustion engines, likely to be four cylinder and V6 units, and it will be the last car produced by Lotus to burn fossil fuel marking the end of a glorious era of petrol-powered Lotus race and road cars.