The 2013 Lotus Elan, revealed at the 2010 Paris Auto Show, won't be seeing production for fear of it stepping on the toes of the all-new Esprit, but there's good news to come from its demise: Lotus will use the funds from that project to build its own engines.

Lotus, in its former pre-Bahar guise, was essentially a chassis builder that bought and tweaked engines from outside suppliers, primarily Toyota. The move to in-house production will be costly, but at the same time, we have high hopes for Lotus' engineering capabilities.

The new engines are already in progress, according to a report from Autocar, with the first prototype engines to hit the bench in July. Target output figures are around 550-570 horsepower, putting the Lotus V-8 near the head of the supercar class. The prototype is intended as the basis for a modular engine family, to include V-6s and possibly an inline four-cylinder.

Of course, getting a working prototype together and gearing up for full-scale production, even on Lotus' rather small scale, are two different things. With the first of Lotus' re-imagined lineup due for sale in the 2013 calendar year, the company has a little less than two years to get everything in order.

[Autocar]