For years Lotus has been getting rave reviews for their Elise in markets other than the United States and Canada. We've heard so much about how wonderfully it handles, how well it snarls its way through traffic, but alas, no way to experience the thrill of the Elise experience without leaving North America.

Now Lotus is bringing the car to us, with an engine and gearbox borrowed from Toyota, which promises excellent emissions, and rock solid reliability and efficiency, more than we can say about the engine that was offered in the Elise previously.

Spectacularly detailed, elegantly designed, super-lightweight, this is the sports car of the new century, priced at a reasonable US$39,985 to start. Not many options are available, although most Girlfriends will want to opt for the Touring Package at US$1350 to get the full leather trim and the power windows among other niceties.

This is not a car to toodle around town in, although it will be perfectly happy to do that with its new and very civilized Toyota engine, the same one that comes in the top of the line Celica and the Matrix.

The Elise was built to run, the engine rips to its rev limiter in a sinister fashion, way more fun than sitting on your washing machine. Take this vehicle up and down your nearest mountain road, or 5th Ave. if that suits your fancy and experience the razor sharp handling and associated mechanicals.

There is almost no cargo space in this cart, so it is not at all recommended as your only car, unless you have good friends always willing to trade their minivan on occasion.

Place your orders because the 3000 car allotment for the first production year will be sold out quickly if it hasn't already.