RE: McLaren F1 Designer Joins Group Lotus
Discussion
Gordon Murray's involvement is great news. How many of the new boys are actually Lotus owners? How many get the Lotus thing? Lets see how the interim updates on the current cars work.. they need to sell more but early announcements of new models tend to suppress sales of current models (if you believe that they will be delivered). It will be a rough ride for a few years unless they deliver some dramatic improvements.
Pommygranite said:
Gordon Murray, designer of the F1. Tm.
Certainly preferable to "Gordon Murray, designer of the Mercedes SLR".
Personally I would have thought Murray would have enough name recognition in these parts to warrant a simple "Gordon Murray Joins Lotus". As it is the headline does rather suggest a regurgitated Team Lotus press release.
"What's with this dissing Gordon Murray. The man is a genius. And he has always cited the Lotus Elan as one of his icons "
And indeed he never did get around to building anything of the sort (Elan). He really seems intent on small economical or supercar type meme's. And yes the F1 was and is a landmark for many of its innovations. But time moves on and we can't keep sitting here expecting this man to keep innovating, most inventors have only so much innovation in their tank- at least history has shown this to be the case. Time for fresh talent. j
And indeed he never did get around to building anything of the sort (Elan). He really seems intent on small economical or supercar type meme's. And yes the F1 was and is a landmark for many of its innovations. But time moves on and we can't keep sitting here expecting this man to keep innovating, most inventors have only so much innovation in their tank- at least history has shown this to be the case. Time for fresh talent. j
andyps said:
Lotus seemed to be going away from one of the original core elements of lightness, maybe GM will be able to put them back on course. Let's see how long he stays in post.
"Gordon Murray ... alongside ... Bob Lutz, Tom Purves, Burkhard Göschel and Frank Tuch." I see an Advisory Council led takeover coming along. Especially when Proton realises how much Lotus (still)costs them (with no end in sight)...
Just thinking out loud
ItsaTVR said:
"Gordon Murray ... alongside ... Bob Lutz, Tom Purves, Burkhard Göschel and Frank Tuch."
I see an Advisory Council led takeover coming along. Especially when Proton realises how much Lotus (still)costs them (with no end in sight)...
Just thinking out loud
Or a good management team for Tony Fernades to be able to take on....I see an Advisory Council led takeover coming along. Especially when Proton realises how much Lotus (still)costs them (with no end in sight)...
Just thinking out loud
10 Pence Short said:
I'd argue this is more of a marketing ploy to try and show some gravitas. A couple of meetings a year is going to be an excuse to talk shop and have a few beers rather than a solution to any major ongoing Lotus issues.
Exactly what crossed my mind too. Doesn't really sound like a job, more of an assoication with a brand, in this case Lotus. ''As far as we know, the Lotus Advisory Council meets a couple of times a year, and no money exchanges hands, although its other members have been heard proselytising on the benefits of the Lotus Evora loan car that comes with the gig.''
plenty said:
Certainly preferable to "Gordon Murray, designer of the Mercedes SLR".
Personally I would have thought Murray would have enough name recognition in these parts to warrant a simple "Gordon Murray Joins Lotus". As it is the headline does rather suggest a regurgitated Team Lotus press release.
This is all the press release said about the great man's career:
"During his time in F1, Gordon was responsible for designing many Grand Prix winning cars and was heralded by many as leading the way in terms of innovation and pioneering new technologies.
"More recently Gordon established Gordon Murray Design to develop an innovative and disruptive automotive manufacturing technology trademarked iStream®. The design and prototyping of their T.25 Petrol and T.27 Electric Ultra Compact City Cars has been central to both the development and validation of this process."
Back in Evo magazine issue 1, they asked lots of famous car people to list their three favourite cars, and Murray said "Lotus Elan" first (the RWD 60s one). He's a big fan, and hopefully will provide some gravity for Lotus to stay rooted to their traditional values, which is what makes them unique and popular.
Fire99 said:
Well Lotus have now appointed lots of names and banded out lots of promises.
What we need is cars and customers.. Without those two, the rest is a bit pointless really.
This still rings more in the style of Smolensky and TVR than it does of a credible car manufacturer.
What we need is cars and customers.. Without those two, the rest is a bit pointless really.
This still rings more in the style of Smolensky and TVR than it does of a credible car manufacturer.
Except at least for the time being, their pockets seem to be a fair bit deeper than Nikolai's... and at least Nik had an excuse in being very young and inexperienced. Seems people dont like anybody joining Lotus in any function. You dont like Swizz beatz so lotus answers with the opposite and you dont like that either. Personally i dont think Lotus should sell anybody anything without rigorous personality testing to make sure you're a suitable candidate to be offered the oppertunity, no, the honour of buying a Lotus.
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