Lada Lotus built in the Top Gear show

Back in 2002, one of the episodes (No. 8) of the popular TV show Top Gear showed a story about the miraculous transformation of a modest Lada Riva (export name VAZ-2105 in Britain) into a stunning sports sedan with outstanding technical parameters.

The owner of the Lada, Paul Sherwood, handed over his car to the masters of Lotus Engineering, the engineering department of the legendary Lotus Cars company, famous for its wonderful sports cars. The comprehensive redesign of the budget Russian car took only 15 days and as many as 1000 man-hours of a team of highly qualified Lotus specialists.

The upgrade of the 1996 Lada Riva was approached thoroughly. The stock 1.5-liter VAZ engine was replaced with its distant "relative" - the legendary 2.0-liter Fiat Twin Cam engine, which was once installed on serial Fiat 132, Argenta, Croma, Tipo, Tempra, as well as Lancia Beta, Delta, Prisma, Thema. This unit has proven itself in motorsport, winning 10 championship titles in the world rally, and has excellent potential for tuning.

The tuning of this particular power unit was carried out by a real guru - Guy Croft, who even wrote a special book on the modification and tuning of the Fiat Twin Cam. As a result: 180 hp were removed from the naturally aspirated engine. The gearbox is a 5-speed manual from rear-wheel drive Fiat.

The suspension and braking system were also seriously modified, using individual components from Lotus sports models. The standard wheels were replaced by BBS wheels on racing semi-slicks. After all the changes, the car developed a maximum speed of 237 km/h.

The exterior and interior were not left without attention. The interior was equipped with bucket-shaped front seats with developed lateral support, a Momo sports steering wheel with the Lotus logo on the horn button, as well as a tachometer, which was not on the basic Lada. To top it off, the car was painted black and silver - the signature color of the legendary hot hatchback of the early 80s - Talbot Sunbeam Lotus.

The project budget is impressive: 43,000 euros were spent on parts, but those same 1,000 man-hours of the guys from Lotus cost a fantastic 145 thousand euros! At the same time, the cost of the original "blank" Lada Riva was only 500 euros).

The final result made an indelible impression on the British owner of 2105: he thanked Top Gear and Lotus for this incredible gift for a long time. However, already in 2003, Paul Sherwood, due to family circumstances (the birth of his first child), was forced to sell his super-Lada. The exclusive car was put up for auction on the electronic auction Ebay and eventually went for only 7,000 pounds sterling!

A certain Stefan, a big fan and enthusiast of the Lotus brand from Germany, became the new owner. After the purchase, he invested another 20 thousand euros to bring the car to perfect condition and a number of technical improvements. However, after 3 years, the German decided to get rid of this fast 2105 in order to get money for the development of his own business. He wanted to recoup the invested funds as much as possible, but there were no people willing to pay a tidy sum for a Lada, albeit a rare one. The German passed away in 2011, and the car eventually ended up at a Munich dealer of the Lotus brand, and now this Lada Riva adorns the showroom of the British brand on the outskirts of the Bavarian city.