 | Home > Off Topic > Lotus open to selling tooling for Elise sports car |
 
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| Supacat Member Since: 16 Oct 2012 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 11018   
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Remind anyone of another major automotive brand that didn't have the confidence to do likewise with a product it was finishing?
 Click image to enlarge "LONDON -- Lotus is open to selling the tooling for its outgoing Elise sports car, the automaker's managing director Matt Windle said. The two-seat Elise has been sold for 25 years and is regarded as one of Lotus's finest ever sports cars for its light weight, nimble handling and good looks. "If the right project and the right partner came along, I do not see why not. It's a wonderful car," Windle told Automotive News Europe. The Elise goes out of production this year along with the more expensive Exige and Evora sports cars to make way for the new Emira coupe, which debuts in July. Lotus sold the tooling to its first sports car, the Seven, to British company Caterham in 1973. Caterham still builds a version of the car today. Windle worked for Caterham for two years from 2012 as a chief body engineer before moving to another niche sports-car maker, Zenos, and on to Lotus in 2017. He became Lotus Cars managing director in January. Caterham was bought in April by Japanese importer and distributor VT Holdings, which sells Lotus cars. Windle would not say whether Lotus was in talks with Caterham to buy the Elise. "I think they are just trying to sort out what their plans are going forward," he said. Another possible buyer for the Elise is newly revived British coachbuilder Radford, which on Wednesday announced it had agreed a deal with Lotus to help it launch a new retro-inspired sports car. Radford is most famous for modifying Minis in the 1960s. Ex Formula One driver Jenson Button, one of the founders of the revived company, tweeted on Wednesday that the car will be "inspired by a British sports car from the 1960s," without giving more information. Ant Anstead, another founder, tweeted that it would be a tribute to the Lotus Type 62 racing coupe. Windle said Lotus had discussed keeping the Elise before deciding to move on. "We did deliberate around this a long time," he said. "The truth is that the whole of the manufacturing facility at Hethel [Lotus's factory in England] is being transformed into an automated process. We just did not have the room to produce the Elise." The Elise was unveiled at the 1995 Frankfurt auto show and named after the granddaughter of the then Lotus Chairman Romano Artioli. The car's bonded aluminum platform kept weight low, creating a car that was fun to drive, despite being powered by a small 118 hp Rover-sourced four-cylinder engine. Production targets were quickly raised from 800 to 2,500 a year on customer demand and it went on to sell around 12,000 cars in five years, according to Lotus data. The car received a facelift in 2001, but since then, updates have mainly been focused on raising power and improving handling. The final entry-level Elise offers double the original car's power at 240 hp." https://europe.autonews.com/automakers/lot...sports-car [may need to register for free to view] |
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7th May 2021 4:54pm |
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| Bluest Member Since: 23 Apr 2016 Location: Lancashire Posts: 4217 
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It would sit nicely at Caterham alongside the 7 maybe. 2007 110 TDCi Station Wagon XS
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7th May 2021 6:16pm |
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| Rashers Member Since: 21 Jun 2015 Location: Norfolk Posts: 3514 
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The Chinese company which has te rights to the MG name? The MGE perhaps?
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7th May 2021 8:22pm |
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| Procta Member Since: 03 Dec 2016 Location: Sunderland Posts: 5192
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Lotus cars must be very rare sights to see, i have never saw any new ones at all.
One lad at work had a more high powered lotus, with the toyota lump in? anyway one of the lads, who i was giving a lift home to me, asked me what the hell is that? i said it was a lotus, he said fook me, Andy i thought lotus was dead and buried, i said i thought the same. Until i saw that on a 10 plater. I often wonder if lotus still build cars, or just focus on part upgrades. Defender TD5 90 ---/--- Peugeot 306 HDI hatch back Success is 90% Inspiration and 4 minutes Preparation # you can make it! |
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8th May 2021 1:06pm |
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| Rashers Member Since: 21 Jun 2015 Location: Norfolk Posts: 3514
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Lotus are just up the road from me at Hethel in Norfolk.
They have had so many owners I have lost count. Their last MD who had great plans was ousted. They have a new MD who has great plans and they have spent a shed load of money on new buildings. There was a time when Lotus’s were an everyday site on our local roads but I have to say I haven’t seen as many around these parts recently in the last few years, Procta. They are suppose to be manufacturing more cars than ever and there is talk of them ramping up production. I think most people in Norfolk, of any age, and who know that their fortunes have historically been up and down like a fiddlers elbow, are as surprised as me that they are still in business. I know quite a few people who have worked for Lotus and been made redundant over the years. The successive owners have pumped money into them and one by one, they lose interest and someone else buys them. They have made some iconic cars. I do hope they do keep going. I know they are foreign owned, and Colin Chapman started his empire in London, but I am still proud of their Norfolk manufacturing base. |
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8th May 2021 2:15pm |
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| Birdy Member Since: 07 Oct 2011 Location: Côte d'Azur Posts: 868  
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A couple of years ago my car club organised a factory tour and, as the tour guide turned out to be the salesman who’d flogged me a Morgan a long time ago and one of their chief engineers was my Dad’s neighbour, we got more of an in-depth visit than normal.
I was absolutely blown away by the quality of the work and their system of building up a car in “modules” with each stage tested and checked so that if any fault were found it only had to go back to the previous stage to be rectified. And, finally, blasted with water to ensure no leaks (JLR, take note!). If only I could clamber gracefully in and out of one… Peter |
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8th May 2021 5:03pm |
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| Supacat Member Since: 16 Oct 2012 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 11018
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How Matt Windle is putting Lotus back on the map
Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/feature...s-back-map |
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9th May 2021 8:03am |
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| Procta Member Since: 03 Dec 2016 Location: Sunderland Posts: 5192
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There were quite a popular sports car on the roads up here too, Always wanted to race one in the vvc metro, just wind the owner up. Never happened. But the like i mentioned they just vanished off the roads, hence why the lad i was working with at the time thought they were long gone. I am surprised to read that the Elise is still going. That car must be in its 10 generation plus now, The S 1 and S2 were K series based, which were the common ones i used to see. ( my vvc metros engine was out of a elise ( so i was told, but i never believed that one, but that's another story) I know proton owned lotus for a good while, but i think the company was sold on to Chinese car company a couple of years ago, so something like that. Rashers, sadly i have feeling i think lotus will be the next car manufacture to die out, going by its history. Which will be a shame, and another blow for us. Nissan up here always lay off staff. i don't think 50 percent have full contracts, but rolling ones. Where i work have issued the same tactic too. Defender TD5 90 ---/--- Peugeot 306 HDI hatch back Success is 90% Inspiration and 4 minutes Preparation # you can make it! |
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10th May 2021 10:44pm |
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| Procta Member Since: 03 Dec 2016 Location: Sunderland Posts: 5192
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That looks like the same idea that was out many moons ago, but never kicked off. Defender TD5 90 ---/--- Peugeot 306 HDI hatch back Success is 90% Inspiration and 4 minutes Preparation # you can make it! |
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10th May 2021 10:46pm |
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| Supacat Member Since: 16 Oct 2012 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 11018
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Perhaps there are some similarities from afar, but with the backing of Geely and a far less expansive new product plan, this next stage for Lotus looks promising.
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11th May 2021 4:42am |
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| Pickles Member Since: 26 May 2013 Location: Melbourne Posts: 3785  
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I recently read an article that all future lotus vehicles will be designed as EV's.
Pickles. |
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11th May 2021 9:37pm |
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| Rashers Member Since: 21 Jun 2015 Location: Norfolk Posts: 3514
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That’s correct Pickles.
Don’t know what James Bond is going to do now. Don’t fancy trying to drive an electric Esprit into salt water   |
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11th May 2021 9:49pm |
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| Supacat Member Since: 16 Oct 2012 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 11018
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The new, yet to be unveiled Type 131, Emira, is supposed to have a V6 engine, albeit with hybrid elements. I'd not call that an EV, although marketing people might want to disagree; and there's talk of a 4 cylinder variant to follow.
There's a Lotus SUV, internally codenamed the Lambda, that will adopt fully electric power from launch in 2022. Yes to an all electric future, but isn't that just echoing what legislation will make all car makers do? |
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12th May 2021 6:21am |
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