It's undeniably the end of an era for Lotus as the Geely-owned British automaker is looking to produce electric cars, moving forward. The Evija EV hypercar is at the forefront of the shift while the Emira is the swan-song, the last of the internal combustion engine-powered Lotus sports cars to be fully revealed in July.

Then again, there seems to be a faint light of hope for Lotus Engineering in terms of making non-electric cars. Radford, a coachbuilder founded in 1948 (same time with Lotus), has announced that it's making its first car – and it will be on Lotus technology.

Radford Lotus-Based Car Teaser

The release that came with the teaser atop this page doesn't mention the new car being electric. The first Radford car is already in advanced development, with a full reveal aimed to happen later this year. Could this be the future of ICE-powered Lotus?

Then again, the team behind the first bespoke Radford (see photo above) is adamant in saying that the new car will be a Radford. 

"Our first car will be totally new and something very special, it will be a Radford, through and through. And that means it will be unique – the body will be sleek and elegant, the interior will be cosseting and luxurious, and the drive will be out of this world. Everything about it will be totally bespoke to Radford," said Mark Stubbs, owner of Radford.

With that said, we can expect that the Radford car will be luxurious and totally customisable. Lotus will only be working on the oily bits of the project. Mark Windle, managing director of Lotus Cars, said that the Radford team is a dream to work with.

"A limited run of the most special of coachbuilt vehicles is engineering nirvana as it allows us to break free of the usual parameters of a more conventional project. Lotus Engineering has a long history of such special collaborations and I’m sure this one will be recognised as among the most unique and fantastic," Windle added.

Full details of the first Radford Lotus-based car will be revealed later this year. The company will also soon begin taking deposits for the project.