Save our Lotus (and other brit cars!)
Discussion
Reading through Car this month and my latest copy of EVO, seems Lotus have pulled off a blinder with the new Exige S. This following the brilliant (if flawed in places) Evora. So, why don't more brits buy their own products? Can you ever imagine Ferrari or Porsche being threatened with going out of business? Lotus is our Ferrari, or our Porsche, with a wonderful GP heritage and a history of building sublime handling and steering cars...Perhaps the quality is not as high as say, Porsche, but Porsche have had their issues, such as the early oil cooled boxer engines going pop and Ferraris certainly used to be fragile until very recently, but it didnt put people off. So why do people still harp on about the Lots of trouble usually serious, but seem more forgiving towards german and italian cars? The french are happy to buy largely boring Renaults and Peugeots, but the brits prefer their upmarket badges. Will this ever change? Do people care if Lotus dies...? We all shrugged and carried on when Rover and TVR went bust....lets hope Lotus can survive if they can build brilliant sports cars like the Exige S.
The UK car industry produces nearly as many vehicles as it did in the 'good old days' of the '60s and '70s but people don't realise it due to:
1) Employing a fraction of the workforce due to automation
2) More exports
3) They are obscure vehicles like the Nissan Qashqai and Toyota Avensis
1) Employing a fraction of the workforce due to automation
2) More exports
3) They are obscure vehicles like the Nissan Qashqai and Toyota Avensis
[OCD Head] Water cooled boxers. [/OCD Head]
Lotus are a great marque, but their cars just don't quite have the multi faceted appeal of their competition.
For the posers: Ferrari and Porsche create more "aspirational" cars - the finish seems more exotic, the feeling of ownership and interior ambiance more special in my opinion. Lotus cars have this motorsport feel that is undeniably cool, but perhaps too niche.
For those who love engineering: Sure, Lotus' chassis engineering is top notch, but again they don't offer the whole package - the engines just aren't right. BMW succeed on a far greater level.
There's a guy who works at Tescos near me who has an S2 Elise and I often see it parked there. He clearly dotes on it, it's in good condition, but it just seems a bit kit car. :/ I really wish it didn't.
I can't help feeling TVR did a better job at creating geniunely exotic motors.
Lotus are a great marque, but their cars just don't quite have the multi faceted appeal of their competition.
For the posers: Ferrari and Porsche create more "aspirational" cars - the finish seems more exotic, the feeling of ownership and interior ambiance more special in my opinion. Lotus cars have this motorsport feel that is undeniably cool, but perhaps too niche.
For those who love engineering: Sure, Lotus' chassis engineering is top notch, but again they don't offer the whole package - the engines just aren't right. BMW succeed on a far greater level.
There's a guy who works at Tescos near me who has an S2 Elise and I often see it parked there. He clearly dotes on it, it's in good condition, but it just seems a bit kit car. :/ I really wish it didn't.
I can't help feeling TVR did a better job at creating geniunely exotic motors.
Edited by fozzymandeus on Saturday 19th May 20:20 Yes: I DID correct my own OCD footnote. 
Edited by fozzymandeus on Saturday 19th May 20:21
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff