Is Lotus Dead?

[BDA]

I just saw an interesting video. It is six months old so you may have already seen it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmMymsD9YSM

I thought it was a pretty interesting video of the history or Lotus (realizing that the embedded videos don't always line up with the narrator's story).

I had a similar thought that the narrator did: Are the new Loti (especially the electric SUVs) really of Lotus? Things seem to be getting pretty far from the original "Simplify and add lightness."

[4129R]

IMHO that simplicity went with the end of the Elan and Europa, and the start of the Esprit, Elite, Eclat, and Excel.

I think the safety and emission requirements became so stringent, simplicity and lightness were no longer possible.

[BDA]

I agree that the Esprit/Eclat/Elite/Excel signaled a pretty dramatic change for Lotus - not all for the bad. The narrator claims the Elise was a return to founding principles. I'm not a huge fan of the Elise - it took me a while to warm up to the styling and with a hard top installed, it's a lot harder to get into than even a Europa - but I think he's right. One can argue that the Evora seems to be getting away from the those principles regardless how good the car might be (I hear it's very good) and the new cars are something entirely different from anything that would likely have come from Chunky's mind.

For me, building on the Elise concept would have kept Chunky's simple, light weight principles and they were wildly popular. I would have preferred they continued in that direction.

[4129R]

IMHO the Exige is the closest return to simple and light since 1975.

An Exige with a 3.5 V6 engine sounds like raw fun.

The Emira is more like a Ferrari/Lamborghini type car, a supercar at a very reasonable price.

[BDA]

Yup! I agree!

[dakazman]

 Thanks BDA ,
  Mrs Kaz and I enjoyed the show .
Dakazman