Discussion
Its simple what we need is the L7club run as a club by enthusiastic L7 owners for all other L7 lovers, who cares how big or small it is its the quality that counts :-
What we have at the moment is the L7club run as a large business by some caterham owners for all other Caterham owners, us L7 owners have a 1 page 'heritage section' - Humm not good use of the Iconic Lotus 7 brand IMO.
A possible solution would be a new club called :- For example - 'Lotus 7 drivers club' which has a committee of long term enthusiastic L7 owners
What we have at the moment is the L7club run as a large business by some caterham owners for all other Caterham owners, us L7 owners have a 1 page 'heritage section' - Humm not good use of the Iconic Lotus 7 brand IMO.
A possible solution would be a new club called :- For example - 'Lotus 7 drivers club' which has a committee of long term enthusiastic L7 owners
The clubs name is decided by the members. The members in many instances first fell in love with the lotus 7, and would like the club to reflect that. What’s so wrong with that? The club seems to get along fine without manufacturer support. Who loses out? A club run by members for members without a profit motive or the business that shifts cars? Probably both, but the one that has to justify its bottom line perhaps more. Buyers of Caterham understand the lotus link- it is just about every magazine review, and for many, the reason they didn’t buy a Westfield or any other comparable product. If that upsets people it’s first world problems.
Robert Green said:
Also the majority of Caterham 7’s on the road still benefit from a chassis built by Arch motors, maker of the chassis of original lotus 7’s. The link between the cars is pretty fundamental. Right, I’ve had a few drinks and am off to bed! ??
Nice one Robert. I've had a few drinks. Love it rene7 said:
Its simple what we need is the L7club run as a club by enthusiastic L7 owners for all other L7 lovers, who cares how big or small it is its the quality that counts :-
What we have at the moment is the L7club run as a large business by some caterham owners for all other Caterham owners, us L7 owners have a 1 page 'heritage section' - Humm not good use of the Iconic Lotus 7 brand IMO.
A possible solution would be a new club called :- For example - 'Lotus 7 drivers club' which has a committee of long term enthusiastic L7 owners
You could well be right. My understanding is that the main Lotus 7 man, John Watson has nothing to do with the L7C because he sees it as a Caterham Club, surely he is a huge asset and should have a voice.What we have at the moment is the L7club run as a large business by some caterham owners for all other Caterham owners, us L7 owners have a 1 page 'heritage section' - Humm not good use of the Iconic Lotus 7 brand IMO.
A possible solution would be a new club called :- For example - 'Lotus 7 drivers club' which has a committee of long term enthusiastic L7 owners
I joined the L7C in 1998, by then there'd been 25 years of Caterham. Now add another 20 to that and it's not possible for it not to be dominated by Caterhams and Caterham owners. The Lotus models quickly became a minority and realistically, now an irrelevance to the activity of the club. That's life.
mickrick said:
The Caterham 7 is a continuation of the Lotus 7. Simples
Correct, and without doubt a lot of Caterham's sales over the previous years have been fueled by that fact. It seems however that their big push for corporate branding, started by Ansar Alli has probably convinced them that they dont need the Lotus 7 heritage any longer to sell their cars, and probably dont see any value in identifying with a car that hasn't been made for 46 years, I think they're probably right and were probably right to withdraw their support from the L7C. DUCK, in-bound missiles approaching
Edited by Trackdayguy on Wednesday 14th November 17:24
rene7 said:
Its simple what we need is the L7club run as a club by enthusiastic L7 owners for all other L7 lovers, who cares how big or small it is its the quality that counts :-
What we have at the moment is the L7club run as a large business by some caterham owners for all other Caterham owners, us L7 owners have a 1 page 'heritage section' - Humm not good use of the Iconic Lotus 7 brand IMO.
A possible solution would be a new club called :- For example - 'Lotus 7 drivers club' which has a committee of long term enthusiastic L7 owners
With all due respect a lot of that is just garbage. What we have at the moment is the L7club run as a large business by some caterham owners for all other Caterham owners, us L7 owners have a 1 page 'heritage section' - Humm not good use of the Iconic Lotus 7 brand IMO.
A possible solution would be a new club called :- For example - 'Lotus 7 drivers club' which has a committee of long term enthusiastic L7 owners
Anyway, nothing stopping you setting up your club; good luck, let us know how it goes.
REALIST123 said:
rene7 said:
Its simple what we need is the L7club run as a club by enthusiastic L7 owners for all other L7 lovers, who cares how big or small it is its the quality that counts :-
What we have at the moment is the L7club run as a large business by some caterham owners for all other Caterham owners, us L7 owners have a 1 page 'heritage section' - Humm not good use of the Iconic Lotus 7 brand IMO.
A possible solution would be a new club called :- For example - 'Lotus 7 drivers club' which has a committee of long term enthusiastic L7 owners
With all due respect a lot of that is just garbage. What we have at the moment is the L7club run as a large business by some caterham owners for all other Caterham owners, us L7 owners have a 1 page 'heritage section' - Humm not good use of the Iconic Lotus 7 brand IMO.
A possible solution would be a new club called :- For example - 'Lotus 7 drivers club' which has a committee of long term enthusiastic L7 owners
Anyway, nothing stopping you setting up your club; good luck, let us know how it goes.
Edited by Trackdayguy on Wednesday 14th November 19:05
Trackdayguy said:
Correct, and without doubt a lot of Caterham's sales over the previous years have been fueled by that fact. It seems however that their big push for corporate branding, started by Ansar Alli has probably convinced them that they dont need the Lotus 7 heritage any longer to sell their cars, and probably dont see any value in identifying with a car that hasn't been made for 46 years, I think they're probably right and were probably right to withdraw their support from the L7C.
DUCK, in-bound missiles approaching
When Dany Bahar was at lotus he made sure that TF owning caterham had to stop using lotus as a name associated with caterham.DUCK, in-bound missiles approaching
I feel it has little to do with the company or management choosing to avoid the link but rather the court case they have to still abide by.
Simon1796 said:
When Dany Bahar was at lotus he made sure that TF owning caterham had to stop using lotus as a name associated with caterham.
I feel it has little to do with the company or management choosing to avoid the link but rather the court case they have to still abide by.
I didn't know that, I guess that makes a good case why Caterham may have pulled away from the L7CI feel it has little to do with the company or management choosing to avoid the link but rather the court case they have to still abide by.
Amazing what you learn online - now last years 60th at Donnington finally makes sense.
Its good to know Caterham are finally distancing themselves from the Lotus 7 brand [after 45 years!] IMO The C7 they manufacture is plenty good enough to stand alone and on its own merits - all we need now is for the people running the L7 club to acknowledge this fact and change their club name accordingly - Suggest you don't hold your breath on this happening anytime soon though
>
Any L7 owners wanting to form a Friendly, informal and active L7 'Drivers' type club, run by L7 owners for other like minded L7 enthusiasts feel free to mail me through PH, we got all winter to sort out details.
Its good to know Caterham are finally distancing themselves from the Lotus 7 brand [after 45 years!] IMO The C7 they manufacture is plenty good enough to stand alone and on its own merits - all we need now is for the people running the L7 club to acknowledge this fact and change their club name accordingly - Suggest you don't hold your breath on this happening anytime soon though
>
Any L7 owners wanting to form a Friendly, informal and active L7 'Drivers' type club, run by L7 owners for other like minded L7 enthusiasts feel free to mail me through PH, we got all winter to sort out details.
rene7 said:
Amazing what you learn online - now last years 60th at Donnington finally makes sense.
Its good to know Caterham are finally distancing themselves from the Lotus 7 brand [after 45 years!] IMO The C7 they manufacture is plenty good enough to stand alone and on its own merits - all we need now is for the people running the L7 club to acknowledge this fact and change their club name accordingly - Suggest you don't hold your breath on this happening anytime soon though
>
Any L7 owners wanting to form a Friendly, informal and active L7 'Drivers' type club, run by L7 owners for other like minded L7 enthusiasts feel free to mail me through PH, we got all winter to sort out details.
BRILLIANTIts good to know Caterham are finally distancing themselves from the Lotus 7 brand [after 45 years!] IMO The C7 they manufacture is plenty good enough to stand alone and on its own merits - all we need now is for the people running the L7 club to acknowledge this fact and change their club name accordingly - Suggest you don't hold your breath on this happening anytime soon though
>
Any L7 owners wanting to form a Friendly, informal and active L7 'Drivers' type club, run by L7 owners for other like minded L7 enthusiasts feel free to mail me through PH, we got all winter to sort out details.
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