Twelve years ago, a group of unshaven, plaid wearing, ale glugging blokes gave birth to the first Lotus Exige in a garage in Norfolk. Little did these men know that what they had created was a car that would leave some of the most expensive Ferraris and Astons in the dust. Over time, this small, wooden garage in Norfolk became a larger, metal garage in Norfolk and with this came the birth of some of the most exciting variants of the original Exige that left us wondering how on Earth those mentalists at Lotus were going to extract any more power from this machine.

Now in 2012, on the weekend of the Lotus Festival at Brand’s Hatch, it has been announced that a new hardcore version of the Exige is being produced. It’s being called the Exige V6 Cup and is available as a track day car and a competition car. The grunt in this thing comes from the 346 bhp 3.5-litre supercharged V6 that you can also find in the Lotus Exige S. It’s been claimed that this new model is more than capable of reaching 62 mph in 3.5 seconds and has a top speed of 170 mph. This is all capable because the car only weighs 1080kg.

Lotus have thrown everything at this car, giving it the ‘Lotus Dynamic Performance Management’ system, a set of Piralli P-Zero Trofeo tyres, multi-adjustable suspension and an aero-optimised front splitter. Customers are also able to choose to pay extra for a roll cage, FIA-approved fire extinguisher, special sport race seats, and even a detachable steering wheel just in case you want to have a go at being Jensen Button.

Production of the V6 Cup will start in December with 15-20 cars supposedly being produced up until March 2013. If you are in the market for one of these lighting Lotuses then prepare to shell out £62,995 for the Track Day model and £74,995 for the even more terrifying Competition model which has been designed especially to compete in the Lotus Cup championships across Europe, Asia and the Americas.