This All Black won't play for NZ

The Scura's black-on-black paint and carbon fibre requires special cleaning and maintenance.

The limited-edition Lotus Exige Scura is unlikely to make it to New Zealand - unless Lotus Cars Australia hands over one of the five cars it is trying to get out of the factory in Britain.

Only 35 of the Scuras - Italian for "dark" - will be produced globally, with only five destined for international markets, including Australia and Japan. Lotus Cars Australia has asked Lotus HQ for all five, saying it has had several offers of deposits.

The matt black Exige Scura was unveiled at the Tokyo motor show last week. It is expected to be priced at A$139,990 ($175,604) in Australia.

Jon Stretton, the national sales and marketing manager for Lotus Cars Australia, told website GoAuto that he had been negotiating with Lotus Cars to increase supply for Australia.

"We have had a lot of interest," he said. "We are pushing to take all of the allocation for international markets. We are waiting for confirmation."

The Exige Scura and its black-on-black paint with black carbon-fibre trim requires special cleaning and maintenance requirements laid down by Lotus to prevent fading or discolouration.

Lotus warns that the paint has a limited warranty of 12 months or 20,000km, whichever comes first.

The matt surface has contrast high-gloss stripes running the length of the car, while the front splitter, oil-cooler inlet vanes, side air scoops and rear spoiler are all wrought from carbon-fibre.

The carbon-fibre theme continues inside to complete the dark mood while reducing weight. Seats and centre console are of carbon-fibre, while the handbrake and gearknob are finished in black anodised metal.

The Scura's weight-saving treatments shave 10kg from the Exige S's kerb weight, to 925kg.

The Scura gains standard fitment of the racing Exige GT3's electronic launch control, variable slip traction control and track-style Ohlins two-way adjustable dampers with 60 compression and 22 rebound settings.

Eibach Springs with variable height platforms, black (of course) forged wheels and Yokahama A048 LTS tyres complete the handling package.

Powered by the same Toyota-sourced supercharged 1.8-litre 191kW/236Nm four-cylinder engine as the Exige Cup 260 roadster, the Scura has a top speed of 245km/h and 0-to-100km/h sprint time of 4.1 seconds.

The six-speed manual gearbox has the same ratios as the Exige S. Combined fuel cycle is a commendable 8.5 litres/100km, with a CO2 emissions rating of 199g/km.