This rather delightful Lotus C-01 motorbike is coming up for auction

This rather fetching Lotus C-01 is going under the hammer in Canada this weekend. Yes, it is a two-wheeled thing bearing the Lotus name. But no, it was not built by Colin Chapman or anyone at Group Lotus. It’s still very cool though.

Avid bike fans may recall the 2014 launch of the C-01. It was a project which put a 1,195cc four-stroke engine into a super sleek shell designed by Daniel Simon. Yep, that’s the same dude that designed the Tron: Legacy light cycle, Captain America V16 Coupe and bits of the Bugatti Veyron.

The V-twin engine generates 200bhp and is coupled with a six-speed gearbox. It has echoes of the gorgeous Ducati Sport Classic Sport 1000 S (which, fun fact, also featured in Tron: Legacy) but the wheelbase is longer by a whopping 22cm. What’s more, there’s no ABS or traction control… and it only weighs 181kg. Woah.

Only 100 examples were built by German racecar constructor Kodewa in collaboration with motorcycle engineer experts Kalex. And while you might not know either of those brands by name, Kodewa worked on the Lotus T128 LMP2 under the stewardship of one Colin Kolles – former F1 principal at Hispania Racing and Force India.

Auctioneer RM Sotheby’s tells us Kolles licensed the ‘Lotus’ name from the Group for Lotus Motorcycles. The carbon fibre fairings with a black and gold John Player Special-styled livery are especially cool. This particular example has only the delivery miles, after being shipped to North America to be part of an exhibition. That’s as box-fresh as a bike from 2014 gets, right?

The auction takes place on Saturday 1 June 2024 and the bike's expected to go for between £57,000 and £86,000, even though it was bought for £80k (CAN$140,000). Huh.

If your bid isn’t successful, of course, you could always console yourself with the matching limited edition helmet or Rolex. Not that it’s the same.