The long version

Lotus built this as the bridge before going all-electric, and the buyers so far are mostly veterans of an Elise or Exige trading up to something that can survive a real road trip without punishing them for it — upgrade buyers, not collectors front-running the badge. Values have slid at a normal used-sports-car pace rather than holding, meaning the 'last gas Lotus' premium that eventually attaches to cars like this hasn't shown up yet. Anyone buying now for driving reasons is effectively getting ahead of the moment the manual V6 becomes a hoarding target the way similar cars elsewhere on this list already have.