A group of friends and I did a frame-off rebuild of a pal's Europa JPS (John Player Special) while in High School in the 70's. For all of 98 cu. in. (of Hemi engine power), that thing flew! And it cornered like on a slot car track... but for creature comfort, there was little and it was pretty darn homely. And don't even mention the Lucas and Smith's electronics (aaargh!) plus Whitworth thread fasteners... but at least with a group of us we could pick the thing up clear off the ground, it was so light!
Lotus cars are typically about stretching the performance efficiency envelope (sometimes to the point of exceeding driver capabilities
) and not often about looks. Porsche offers both, but you have to pony up the $$$$.