Deviating from their usual formula of a lightweight car with a high strung small displacement engine, Lotus has announced plans and released a picture for the Lotus Eagle. More information and pictures will be available next week due to its actual unveiling at the London Motor Show on July 23rd.

For now, we know that the motor will be a 3.5 Liter Toyota V6 producing 275 horsepower and 250 lb-ft of torque. While this motor doesn’t seem to be the most high performance mill around today (I mean, the new Honda Accord and Toyota Camry have around the same power output), sufficient lightness should make the car fun to drive.

In addition to the more relaxed powertrain setup, the new Lotus plans to furnish the Eagle with comforts and amenities that Elise owners would not dare dream of. Carbon fiber racing seats will be replaced with a leather covered interior, and the spartan radio will be replaced with an Alpine unit with technologies such as “IMPRINT” and “MultEQ”. A sophisticated air conditioning system from Bergstrom will also be featured in this car.

While this car is quite a bit more sedated than the rest of the Lotus car lineup, car enthusiasts should appreciate the British car manufacturer’s need to fill another niche besides “lightweight track screamer”. Adding a more luxurious model to their lineup will generate sales (that can be funneled right back into R&D for their REALLY fun cars) and is a tactic that has been employed by Porsche with the Cayenne and to a lesser extent, the Cayman and Boxster (settle down fanboys). Even Lamborghini has experimented with a concept SUV.