Lotus
August 14th, 2008 by NZ Classic Car
A new entry to the Haynes Great Marques series, at first glance this book looks rather like a pot-boiler. However, while not exactly definitive, it does provide a very good introduction to the marque.
There’s not much in the way of motor sport coverage, but there is enough to keep most Lotus enthusiasts busily reading.
Panels detailing buying advice (along with a brief but well-informed road-test) are included with each road car covered, and these should be especially welcome to Lotus newbies. The only real disappointment are the colour photographs — mostly standard press shots — all of which look very washed-out.
by Russell Hayes; £80; Review by Allan Walton
July 31st, 2008 by NZCC Editor
The distance from my South Auckland rural back-lot to Parkside Towers is around 60 kilometres — quite a pleasant drive on a fine day but, with the current weather that Auckland has been ‘enjoying’ it hasn’t been a lot of fun getting into town. Driving there this morning I found myself dodging floods, fallen trees and running through streams of slippery mud.
At one point, with visibility severely reduced by horizontal rain, I only spotted one particular section of flooded road ten or twenty metres before my front wheels hit the road-going river — thankfully my BMW 323i has ABS brakes and I was able to slow down sufficiently to negotiate the flood at a relatively sedate speed. Even so, the bow wave sloshed over the top of the Beamer’s bonnet. As you might imagine, I don’t take my Lotus Elise out on days like this — no, it was sitting at home in a nice warm and dry garage, plugged into an auto battery charger.
But then, as I was sailing through that flood in my BMW, I remembered the Rinspeed sQuba. Not heard of that one? I’ll explain …
Remember James Bond’s underwater Lotus Esprit? Well the sQuba is also a submersible vehicle — although the sQuba, unlike 007′s Esprit, is a fully working bit of kit. And, oddly enough, the sQuba is also based on a Lotus — in this case an Elise. Rinspeed claim that their car is the world’s first fully submersible car.
Now that’s a Lotus that looks as if its been purpose-built for Aucklanders. During the summer it could be pressed into service discovering old shipwrecks off the Poor Knights and, during the long winter months, it would be ideal as a commuter car. Flood? What flood?
And, of course, it can also be used on dry days — and perhaps even Auckland will see some of those … sooner rather than later.
The sQuba’s interior looks pretty cool as well — even Q would approve of that funky dashboard display and those motorboat-like controls.
Rinspeed unveiled the sQuba at this year’s Geneva Motor Show but I don’t know if it’ll ever become a production reality — although if it does, like that other Lotus Elise-based wondercar (the electric Tesla) you can bet it’ll cost a ton of money. Pity really, I could have done with one today!
July 30th, 2008 by NZCC Editor
Steve Whitren — veteran classic car trimmer and originator of the Vintrim Rover — has just about fnished a complete, body-off restoration on his Lotus Elan Sprint. Steve, who recently acquired his pilot’s license, now lives in Alexandra and reports that the Elan is currently with Queenstown engine guru, Eric Swinbourne, receiving a final fettle before the twin-cam is cranked back into life.
The last time I visited Steve in Alexandra, his Elan was sitting in his garage on blocks and he couldn’t resist getting a Lotus fix by taking my Elise for a quick blast through the rugged countryside just outside of Alexandra township. He really liked the Elise but, being an old and frail gentleman these days, he found entering and exiting the car to be a bit beyond his abilities. Instead, Steve decided to buy a new MG TF — rather more conventional and easier to get into for geriatrics!
Steve Whitren powers the Editor’s Elise over Shakey Bridge in Alexandra.
I’m only kidding really, Steve isn’t that frail — although living in ‘ ice cold in Alex’ can’t have done him that much good! Either way, judging from the silly grin on his face, perhaps by allowing him to drive my Elise I managed to pump enough Lotus enthusiasm back into Steve for him to get stuck into restoring his Elan Sprint.
Smile for the camera, Steve!
Next time I visit Alexandra in the Elise, I’ll look forward to swapping cars and taking the Elan for a drive — the last time all Steve could offer was a Honda CR-V and a dodgy looking Nissan 300ZX!
July 26th, 2008 by NZCC Editor
Hands up all those who got a distinct feeling of dejà vu when they saw the first images of the new Lotus Evora.
The new Lotus Evora
If that’s what you thought, then you’re right — the Evora looks remarkably like the M250 concept that Lotus displayed at the 2000 Geneva Motor Show but which never made it into production.
The Lotus M250 Concept on display in Geneva
The M250’s mechanical spec was also very similar to the Evora:
* Mid-engined
* 250bhp, 3.0 litre V6
* Six-peed gearbox
* less than 1000kg
* 0-60mph in less than five seconds
* 0-100 in less than 11 seconds
The Evora carries a 280bhp 3.5-litre V6, 0-60mph time is expected to be less than five seconds and top speed around 160mph.
As well, the M250, like the Evora, was based on the extruded aluminium concept of the Elise/Exige chassis.
Lotus M250 Concept
However, styling, scissor-doors and mechanical similarities apart, there’s one big difference between the Evora and the M250 — the Evora is a 2+2, while the M250 was intended to be a pure two-seater.
The M250′s ‘scissor doors’ didn’t make it to the Evora
Interestingly, at the time of the M250’s debut, Andrew Hogg of Lotus Project M250 had this to say when asked by Pistonheads if Lotus had ever considered an M250 2+2 — “Briefly, but a 2+2 doesn’t now fit with Lotus philosophy. Lotus are engineering pure sports cars and a 2+2 would be considered as carrying undesirable ‘extra mass.’”
Hogg’s comments are confirmed when you know that the Evora tips the scales at a rather un-Lotus-like 1350kg — that’s almost twice the weight of my K Series-powered Elise S2!
Putting that into even sharper perspective, the Esprit V8 — which many considered to be a bit of a heavyweight, for a Lotus anyway — weighed in at a comparatively skimpy 1220kg.
I’m not alone in believing that the Evora should have at least 100bhp more than its been given — what about a 400bhp Evora S? Now that would certainly allow Lotus to compete with their Teutonic rivals over at Porsche.
The M250 was a pure two-seater
The final question — what changed minds at Lotus and made them go against their own lightweight philosophy and build the Evora as a 2+2?
July 24th, 2008 by NZ Classic Car
Ross also makes it clear that some of the books which have already covered those days were a bit ‘embroidered’, often with Chapman’s hand in there somewhere.
This one does feel as though it is telling the real story. And it’s a fascinating tale. Ross focuses on those early trials cars, the initial models made for 750 and 1172cc racing classes, the MkVI, the Clairmonte Special, and the first of the streamliners — the VIII (or P3 as the prototype was known).
There is much fascinating technical detail of the cars, engines, suspension, and aerodynamics (including Frank Costin being strapped to the bonnet of the P3 so he could see how the wool tufts under the cutaway front wheel arches were behaving!). But it’s a lot more than the cars, it’s the people too. The author was very much involved himself at the time, and has made contact with many of the band of volunteers which got the marque off the ground, supplementing that with diaries and other recollections. And what an energetic and persevering bunch they were.
What’s hard to realise is that, even when Lotus was taking the MkVIII to races at Zandvoort and Nürburgring, Colin Chapman still had a full-time job. He also lives up to his reputation as a hard task master, and a rather ruthless person who could be reluctant to share credit with others, albeit a man who was able to get the best out of others and to design some pretty good cars.
The anecdotes along the way are just amazing; for example, Ross himself trying to drive off with the front of his car still on its jack after being stopped by police because his front wheels were loose; and Mike Costin crashing the streamliner into a roundabout on the way to Oulton Park while trying to lose a pursuing police car and being blinded by the airflow at 185kph!
All of this is contained in a very high-quality production with large pages, good quality paper, and lots of photos. The photos — all in a sort of sepia tone — are real highlights. A wonderful book.
Available online and from good bookstores.
Review by Mark Holman
July 23rd, 2008 by NZCC Editor
Project Eagle has finally received it’s official name — Lotus Evora. I’m not sure where Lotus got that name from — although Evora is a city in Portugal — but the car will be unveiled today at the press opening of the British Motor Show. If you can’t get to the show, the official unveiling will be shown live at — http://www.facelesspeople.com
July 17th, 2008 by NZCC Editor
The eagerly anticipated, new mid-engined 2+2 Lotus sports car — codenamed Project Eagle — is all set to make its world debut at next week’s British Motorshow in London. Powered by a Lotus-modified version of Toyota’s 3.5-litre VVTi V6 — producing 260PS — the lightweight 2+2 is expected to despatch the regulation 0-60mph dash in less than five seconds before rushing onwards to a top speed of 160mph (257kph). As well as keenly developed handling, Project Eagle will be fitted with many luxury items — including cutting edge Alpine ICE. During tests around the Nurburgring, Lotus ride and handling engineers reported that Project Eagle was quicker around the notorious race track than the Elise and showed increased stability at speed over the Exige. Deliveries of Project Eagle are expected to begin in Spring 2009, with a planned production of only 2000 cars a year. Don’t expect the Project Eagle name to stay in place for the production cars — favourite name currently being Ethos. Lotus Cars NZ Ltd, expect to ship the first of these new sports cars into the country during 2009 — no word on NZ pricing as yet, but it will certainly be priced above current Lotus models.
July 16th, 2008 by NZCC Editor
Looking absolutely more ‘shagadelic’ than Austin’s E-type, Lotus have put together a Union Jack-wrapped version of the Exige S for the Discovery Channel’s TV series How Do They Do It? And how did Lotus do it? Well it took ten hours to apply the vinyl Union Jack to the Exige and, with all those curves and cutaways, it must have been a challenging task. According to Lotus, “The scheme was developed by Lotus Design to move away from the traditional static Union Jack to that of a flying flag to show the essence of movement and speed. The finished car is a real attention seeker and has amazing track presence.” The Union Jack Lotus certainly looks distinctive, but I’m not sure I’d want be seen in it! Perfect for Ponsnobby Road poseurs — especially those who want to show a clean pair of heels to all the ‘soft’ sports cars that litter Auckland’s prime posing street!
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