Exige

Make
Lotus
Segment
Coupe

We've featured some pretty cool cars on our Supercars On A $50,000 Budget Series. Remember that time we found a mid-engined Lotus Evora for under $50k? The Evora is certainly a cool car, packing a supercharged 3.5-liter V6 with 276 hp. That power is plenty considering that the car only weighs 3,047 pounds. However, what if you wanted something that was way lighter than that? We have managed to find a car that is even better than a supercar for $50,000: It's a full-on race car.

Our race car is a 2000 Lotus Exige Series One. The car is painted orange with black racing seats. The Series One Exige was built in very limited numbers by the Lotus USA Motorsports Division. The power plant is a 1.8-liter Rover Engine with a five-speed transaxle and has been tuned to produce 220 horsepower. The seller, Continental Ferrari and Maserati, has also installed an upgraded transaxle for better reliability. Now 220 hp may not sound like a lot, but the Exige weighs less than 1,800 pounds. The Exige may not be the most practical car to use every day, so it should be relegated to track use only. If you are looking for a relatively affordable car to race, this is probably it. And you can tell people that you own a race car.

Just imagine how cool it will be when the neighbors see a legit race car parked in your driveway! They won't ever guess that you were able to get a fully caged Lotus racer for less than $50,000. The Exige that we found is for sale in Illinois for $46,850 and yes, that price does include the built-in fire extinguisher. In order to keep the weight down, you only get the bare essentials. You won't find luxurious leather seats in this car, or even carpeting for that matter. If you drive this thing, you better be satisfied with enjoying the sounds of the engine because this race car has no radio. Oddly enough, it does appear to have air conditioning. If you are willing to put up with the bare-bones interior, you can fill your passion for racing.

The Exige only has 3,539 miles on it, although they were probably all hard racing miles. This car hasn't been driven much, so someone needs to buy this and start taking it to as many race tracks as they can find. Why buy a supercar for less than $50,000 when this race car will be so much cooler?