RE: Fortunes of Lotus on the up!

[RobDown]

Plate spinner said:

Agreed.

I'm no historian, but I thought he was the same as the old man Ferrari - the road cars are there to bring in the funds to go racing.

I think the point was more about Colin Chapman's obsession with making cars as light as possible - it was what he was famous for (e.g. Caterham/Lotus Seven), and its a tradition maintained to this day at Lotus

I'm sure he liked to earn a few bob or two. But he wasn't famous for it, indeed I don't think he was particularly good at it

[Cold]

Plate spinner said:

HustleRussell said:

Scoobysaurus said:

Lotus SUV - Colin Chapman will be turning in his grave

Don't think so, not if it turns out to be a good move from a commercial perspective.

Agreed.

I'm no historian, but I thought he was the same as the old man Ferrari - the road cars are there to bring in the funds to go racing.

He may well have liked one to use to trailer his boats, but if the new SUV struggles with something so large it would probably have no issue towing one of Chapman's micro-light planes.

Still, I suspect he wouldn't want to be distracted from making sports cars...

[Olivera]

Plate spinner said:

Agreed.

I'm no historian, but I thought he was the same as the old man Ferrari - the road cars are there to bring in the funds to go racing.

In which case he'd be turning in his grave - lotus' current motorsport efforts are pretty much derisory.

[Oilchange]

If building an suv expands the brand, brings in cash and allows Lotus to develop more sports cars (Esprit pleeease!) then I'm happy. You never know, it might be a little cracker of a car that is as popular as the Evoque etc

[Europa1]

Olivera said:

Plate spinner said:

Agreed.

I'm no historian, but I thought he was the same as the old man Ferrari - the road cars are there to bring in the funds to go racing.

In which case he'd be turning in his grave - lotus' current motorsport efforts are pretty much derisory.

I think you needed to read some of the posts previous to this.

[anonymous-user]

Oilchange said:

If building an suv expands the brand, brings in cash and allows Lotus to develop more sports cars (Esprit pleeease!) then I'm happy. You never know, it might be a little cracker of a car that is as popular as the Evoque etc

This.

A sporty, small SUV on the XC60 platform would be a great ripost to the Macan, Evoque and Velar. Can't think of a cooler badge for one.

Only downside would be the dealer network (or lack of it).

[saaby93]

janesmith1950 said:

Oilchange said:

If building an suv expands the brand, brings in cash and allows Lotus to develop more sports cars (Esprit pleeease!) then I'm happy. You never know, it might be a little cracker of a car that is as popular as the Evoque etc

This.

A sporty, small SUV on the XC60 platform would be a great ripost to the Macan, Evoque and Velar. Can't think of a cooler badge for one.

Only downside would be the dealer network (or lack of it).

Isn't it supposed to be built on the Elise or Evora expandable chassis or whatever its called

[Oilchange]

I expect if the range expands, so will the dealer network and it doesn't matter what platform it's developed on, as long as it sells.
Lotus will, no doubt, put lashings of their dna into it. (Which actually sounds digusting but hey)

[caelite]

CitTone said:

An SUV......gods help us all.

Honestly if it follows the 'Lotus formula' and they build it properly, I could imagine it being quiet good. I'm thinking 1100kg Suzuki Jimny style thing with a BMW X6 styled coupe body, maybe the engine in the back.

[saaby93]

caelite said:

Honestly if it follows the 'Lotus formula' and they build it properly,

when did the 'Lotus formula' involve 'build it properly'

[Jimmy Recard]

I hope this is a good start to a good future for Lotus. I'd have one if I could afford one!

[anonymous-user]

SidewaysSi said:

Another Lotus thread. Same st being said by the same people. May as well just copy and paste from the last one.

My point exactly! This is because they are just continually re-hashing previous stuff. A bit more power, bump up the price by £5k, jobs a good un. Right until it isn't a good un any more, and that day is, imo, approaching faster than you may think.

It's time for Lotus to use it's engineering brilliance and re-invent itself for the 2020 market! A small, light, aerodynamic, but fun to drive EV would be precisely what the doctor ordered, and imo, Lotus have a prime skill set and supplier base to develop exactly that product.

[Tickle]

Max_Torque said:

My point exactly! This is because they are just continually re-hashing previous stuff. A bit more power, bump up the price by £5k, jobs a good un. Right until it isn't a good un any more, and that day is, imo, approaching faster than you may think.

It's time for Lotus to use it's engineering brilliance and re-invent itself for the 2020 market! A small, light, aerodynamic, but fun to drive EV would be precisely what the doctor ordered, and imo, Lotus have a prime skill set and supplier base to develop exactly that product.

Fingers crossed Geely will see that the brand is gaining momentum again and invest in development of something new. By something new I mean new technology, materials manufacturing techniques, drive trains etc. Something outside the box that Lotus seem to do every few decades or so!

[caelite]

saaby93 said:

caelite said:

Honestly if it follows the 'Lotus formula' and they build it properly,

when did the 'Lotus formula' involve 'build it properly'

It is possible I made the wrong choice of words there. If they do build a small SUV in their typical Lotus fashion it may well be interesting, I mean their whole business model is small light sportscars, surely they can't detract too far from that to build a SUV, I'm hoping for a Evora on stilts with live axles, a body on frame & some steel bumpers!

[lord trumpton]

I think a Lotus SUV would be a great financial move for the brand.

[jb111lotus]

ellesmereFNC said:

Great news!

maybe they should produce a special edition to celebrate...its been a week since the last one anyway

[Tom9971]

AlexHat said:

DPSFleet said:

LOTUS will be well place to go electric too, after all that's how Tesla started.

Lotus built the Tesla Roadsters (sans the battery packs) at the factory in Hethel then had them shipped to wherever Tesla had their battery factory to have the batteries fitted. Essentially the Roadster was an Elise/Exige EV.

This statement could not be more wrong....

[Robbyman]

All in time for Alpine to arrive and do what Lotus does but much much better.

[Tickle]

Robbyman said:

All in time for Alpine to arrive and do what Lotus does but much much better.

How was the steering feel in the Alpine compared to and Evora or Exige? Intersted to know as I do like whats produced in Diepe and Hethel.

[98elise]

saaby93 said:

janesmith1950 said:

Oilchange said:

If building an suv expands the brand, brings in cash and allows Lotus to develop more sports cars (Esprit pleeease!) then I'm happy. You never know, it might be a little cracker of a car that is as popular as the Evoque etc

This.

A sporty, small SUV on the XC60 platform would be a great ripost to the Macan, Evoque and Velar. Can't think of a cooler badge for one.

Only downside would be the dealer network (or lack of it).

Isn't it supposed to be built on the Elise or Evora expandable chassis or whatever its called

The lotus VVA can be used to build any configuration of chassis from what I remember. The Elise is not based on the VVA chassis as it came first. Modern Elise's use an evolved Elise chassis, ie still very similar to the original.