Gator Motorsport Takes the Lead on the Lotus EV Track

June/July 2023 Artomobilia announced that Gator Motorsport will be the title sponsor for VELOCE — the all-new hangar party that will be in conjunction with this year’s Artomobilia Weekend and will host more than 500 guests and showcase 50 collector hypercars and supercars, private aircraft, exceptional motorcycles and more at the exclusive First Wing Jet Center. Additionally, the Gator Motorsport team will present the annual LOTUS-PALOOZA at Artomobilia at its brand-new location in Carmel’s Midtown. BUILDING FOR TOMORROW We first sat down with Young Kim, dealer principal at Gator Motorsport/Indy Lotus two years ago when Gator Motorsport pulled an automotive miracle by adding Carmel to the handful of U.S. locations where the Lotus Evija made a showstopping debut at Artomobilia. The Lotus Evija is the world’s first all-electric hypercar, and Gator Motorsport was the first Lotus dealership to have the Evija at an event in the U.S. Gator Motorsport is Indiana’s only authorized Lotus Sales and Service Center and the only Sales and Service Center for Zenos Cars in the U.S. Additionally, an exciting array of preowned vehicles are offered, from daily drivers to Super Cars. Gator Motorsport upholds the standard that every detail matters in all aspects of sales, service and detail from your race car to your daily driver. It’s looking to be another stellar year for Kim and his team as they anticipate the grand re-opening of their dealership. Kim has significantly expanded his facilities, located near Carmel and Zionsville along West 96th Street and Michigan Road, in preparation for Lotus’ current and future EV lineup that will include a sports car, a coupe-sedan and two SUVs, following the Evija EV hypercar. Lotus has confirmed that its future is electric and that the 2022 Emira is the company’s last new model to have a combustion engine. Lotus has been releasing more details about the rapid development of the four fully electric models, which is why Kim and his team went into overdrive to meet Lotus’ newest dealership requirements. Additionally, in true entrepreneurship form, Kim decided to get ahead of the curve and rebuild his facility to meet Lotus’ new digital retail platform in advance of the five-year strategic plan. “By building out that 10,000-square-foot showroom, it enables us to hold more people, hold more cars, have more office space, and with that, we’ll still have our pre-owned inventory of specialty cars,” Kim said. Lotus unveiled details of a new corporate identity for its franchised car retailers alongside details of its new product roadmap as part of a “Driving Tomorrow” virtual conference. “In the U.S. and globally, Lotus is streamlining all of the processes, where in the past there really wasn’t a standard per se on how every dealership should look and feel,” Kim stated. “Now has higher CI and SI package requirements for the interior look and feel and signage requirements. So, we went ahead and did the five-year plan renovations now.” Upon completion of the renovations, Kim’s dealership will be among the most state-of-the-art Lotus dealerships in the U.S. As Lotus evolves and presents its “Lifestyle” lineup, Kim spoke about this particular marque’s transformation and how it is embracing the EV world and evolving to better meet the needs of its customers. “If you look at the history of Lotus, it has always been a boutique dealership, not a lifestyle car,” Kim explained. “Well, now, they’re becoming a ‘lifestyle’ car.” LOTUS-PALOOZA LOTUS-PALOOZA, presented in the exceptional Midtown along Monon Boulevard, is all about simplicity and lightness … and Colin Chapman’s iconic philosophy that continues to redefine the standard for performance on and off the track. Artomobilia Event Director John Leonard first brought Kim into the fold back in 2008 when he was seeking out area car collectors for the first-ever Artomobilia event. The partnership has evolved over the decade-plus, and Leonard credits Kim for contributing to the exponential growth of the event and its satellite events that make up Artomobilia Weekend. Leonard spoke about Kim’s ongoing commitment to Artomobilia as a supporter and sponsor. “I think it’s representative of Young , specifically, and Gator Motorsport, generally, that Young as an individual collector was at the very beginning of Artomobilia and has been a part of every new thing that we have done — whether that was Fuelicious, the road rallies, you name it," Leonard said. "And our first foray into Midtown … Gator Motorsport and Young are part of it as well. It demonstrates their commitment to the automotive community and to expanding and helping us continue to offer more variety and interest in more areas throughout Carmel. This has been a continuing theme over the last 16 years.” VELOCE As title sponsor of Artomobilia’s newest event, Gator Motorsport is excited to share some details about the event and what attendees can anticipate seeing from Lotus at the hangar party. “We will be celebrating automotive history and innovative design,” Kim expressed. “We will showcase a series of Lotus cars that go back to the Esprit, and we’re going to bring in the entire EV line-up, including the Emira, Eletre, and to be confirmed … we are trying to bring the Evija back to Carmel! We handpicked some of the collectors we know to bring some of the classic cars going way back into the past, so it might be one of the few opportunities in the country where you can legitimately see the progression of all the cars from yesteryears to the present and future models.” Leonard added, “It will be a fun and festive experience. We’ll have 50 cars or so, all high performance, and obviously, Lotus will have quite a number of those in the Lotus Pavilion area adjacent to the main hangar. It will be small plates, fast drinks, great food and a lot of fun.” Artomobilia: A Celebration of Automotive Art & Design will be hosted on the streets of the Carmel Arts & Design District and for the first time will be expanding into Midtown. Please note, Artomobilia will take place on its new date, Saturday, September 9 from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.” For more information on Gator Motorsport, visit GatorMotorsport.com. And for a complete listing of Artomobilia Weekend 2023 events, visit artomobilia.org. VELOCE | Sep 08 Welcome to VELOCE on Friday, September 8th @ 7 p.m. from $175.00