Thursday 30th June 2011

Floating Esprit: The Raft Who Loved Me

Say hello to the Flotus. Does that stand for Flippin' Loads Of Trouble, Unusually a Ship, then?

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When car manufacturers talk of bringing a 'raft' of changes to an existing model, we don't think they've ever meant it literally.

But PHer haining does, because he's created this Esprit-raft-replica thingy, which he's (rather brilliantly we think) dubbed the 'Flotus'.

"I've always liked the Lotus Esprit since the first time I saw it in The Spy Who Loved Me," says Andrew. "Like most people though, the nearest I ever got to one was the Corgi toy version I had as a kid. So recently I decided to build a 'replica' of the James Bond Submarine. Sort of."

What Andrew has actually built is, in his own words, a "raft that vaguely resembles the Bond car so I [he] could enter it in loads of silly raft races this summer".

Apparently it isn't quite finished yet, hence the 'rough around the edges' look, but then Lotus itself hardly has a history of immaculately turned-out cars, so perhaps he's being more true to the brand this way...

If you want to have a more in-depth look, you can check out Andrew's blog at Flotus.co.uk or, for those more fond of real-life, Andrew is - er - driving (is that the right verb?) the Flotus at the Paddle Round The Pier this Sunday, 3rd July in Brighton.

We hope it all goes swimmingly, Andrew...

 

 

[TobesH]

Well done that man! If it survives, enter the Rother Raft Race near Midhurst this August Bank Holiday and take down the fish ladder for a final send off! T