Lotus road car names?
Discussion
Because Colin Chapman said so.
When the numbering got to 11, the question was how to say it was it the "Eleven" or the "One one". Or the "Mark eleven" or the "Mark one one"? Colin liked the way "Eleven" rolled off the tongue, and he just decided to name the next (street) car with a name instead of a number - and he decided to make it an "E" word. The tradition followed.
When the numbering got to 11, the question was how to say it was it the "Eleven" or the "One one". Or the "Mark eleven" or the "Mark one one"? Colin liked the way "Eleven" rolled off the tongue, and he just decided to name the next (street) car with a name instead of a number - and he decided to make it an "E" word. The tradition followed.
Major Fallout said:
Showing up an embarrassing hole in my knowledge.
Why do all (that i can think off) lotus road cars have a name starting with "E"?
Elise
Exige
Elan
Europa
Excel
And so on...
They don't - there was the Mk I, Mk II...VI, 7.. Eleven (that sounds & looks nice - lads! It's MY company and we're using names that begin with "E" from now on.) Elite, Elan, Europa/e...Why do all (that i can think off) lotus road cars have a name starting with "E"?
Elise
Exige
Elan
Europa
Excel
And so on...
Robbed from another part of the interweb: (must be true)
Colin "named" his cars with "numbers" - the Mark IV, the Mark V, etc.
When the Eleven was made, it was going to be the "XI", but Roman Numerals were getting confusing, so he went with digits, i.e. the "11". But that led to the "problem" of how to say it was it to be "X, I", "One one", or?. It was pronounced "Eleven" and Colin like the way the "E" rolled off the tongue, so when he made his first street car, the Type 14, it was named the "Elite". The next street car was named the "Elan" and the tradition was born. All Lotus street cars have been named starting with an "E" since then.
The Seven was kind of an exception, but not really. The car was planed in the numeric sequence, but just not built until later. By that time the "E" tradition was already in place, but the plans for the Seven predated that, so it continued to be the "Seven".
All Lotus cars have a numeric type designation, the original Elite is the 14, the original Elan is the 25, etc. The Elise of course is the 111.
The 340R is not really an exception to the rule. It is still an Elise - it's the Elise 340R, just a special designation of the Elise.
The Lotus Cortina and Lotus Carlton was not "exactly" Lotus cars - they were other manufacturer's existing cars that were tweaked by Lotus, so as such, they continued to carry their original manufacturer's name with the "Lotus" added.
As already noted, the Elise was named after Artioli's granddaughter. Artioli was not obligated to follow the "E" tradition, but he did - although it is a girl's name, it does start with the letter "E".
Colin "named" his cars with "numbers" - the Mark IV, the Mark V, etc.
When the Eleven was made, it was going to be the "XI", but Roman Numerals were getting confusing, so he went with digits, i.e. the "11". But that led to the "problem" of how to say it was it to be "X, I", "One one", or?. It was pronounced "Eleven" and Colin like the way the "E" rolled off the tongue, so when he made his first street car, the Type 14, it was named the "Elite". The next street car was named the "Elan" and the tradition was born. All Lotus street cars have been named starting with an "E" since then.
The Seven was kind of an exception, but not really. The car was planed in the numeric sequence, but just not built until later. By that time the "E" tradition was already in place, but the plans for the Seven predated that, so it continued to be the "Seven".
All Lotus cars have a numeric type designation, the original Elite is the 14, the original Elan is the 25, etc. The Elise of course is the 111.
The 340R is not really an exception to the rule. It is still an Elise - it's the Elise 340R, just a special designation of the Elise.
The Lotus Cortina and Lotus Carlton was not "exactly" Lotus cars - they were other manufacturer's existing cars that were tweaked by Lotus, so as such, they continued to carry their original manufacturer's name with the "Lotus" added.
As already noted, the Elise was named after Artioli's granddaughter. Artioli was not obligated to follow the "E" tradition, but he did - although it is a girl's name, it does start with the letter "E".
edo said:
The Lotus Cortina and Lotus Carlton was not "exactly" Lotus cars - they were other manufacturer's existing cars that were tweaked by Lotus, so as such, they continued to carry their original manufacturer's name with the "Lotus" added.
Both have Lotus type numbers (28 and 104 I think) , though, unlike the Cortina Lotusmarshalla said:
Major Fallout said:
Showing up an embarrassing hole in my knowledge.
Why do all (that i can think off) lotus road cars have a name starting with "E"?
Elise
Exige
Elan
Europa
Excel
And so on...
They don't - there was the Mk I, Mk II...VI, 7.. Eleven (that sounds & looks nice - lads! It's MY company and we're using names that begin with "E" from now on.) Elite, Elan, Europa/e...Why do all (that i can think off) lotus road cars have a name starting with "E"?
Elise
Exige
Elan
Europa
Excel
And so on...
thiscocks said:
Because Colin Chapman said so.
When the numbering got to 11, the question was how to say it was it the "Eleven" or the "One one". Or the "Mark eleven" or the "Mark one one"? Colin liked the way "Eleven" rolled off the tongue, and he just decided to name the next (street) car with a name instead of a number - and he decided to make it an "E" word. The tradition followed.
When the numbering got to 11, the question was how to say it was it the "Eleven" or the "One one". Or the "Mark eleven" or the "Mark one one"? Colin liked the way "Eleven" rolled off the tongue, and he just decided to name the next (street) car with a name instead of a number - and he decided to make it an "E" word. The tradition followed.
edo said:
Robbed from another part of the interweb: (must be true)
Colin "named" his cars with "numbers" - the Mark IV, the Mark V, etc.
When the Eleven was made, it was going to be the "XI", but Roman Numerals were getting confusing, so he went with digits, i.e. the "11". But that led to the "problem" of how to say it was it to be "X, I", "One one", or?. It was pronounced "Eleven" and Colin like the way the "E" rolled off the tongue, so when he made his first street car, the Type 14, it was named the "Elite". The next street car was named the "Elan" and the tradition was born. All Lotus street cars have been named starting with an "E" since then.
The Seven was kind of an exception, but not really. The car was planed in the numeric sequence, but just not built until later. By that time the "E" tradition was already in place, but the plans for the Seven predated that, so it continued to be the "Seven".
All Lotus cars have a numeric type designation, the original Elite is the 14, the original Elan is the 25, etc. The Elise of course is the 111.
The 340R is not really an exception to the rule. It is still an Elise - it's the Elise 340R, just a special designation of the Elise.
The Lotus Cortina and Lotus Carlton was not "exactly" Lotus cars - they were other manufacturer's existing cars that were tweaked by Lotus, so as such, they continued to carry their original manufacturer's name with the "Lotus" added.
As already noted, the Elise was named after Artioli's granddaughter. Artioli was not obligated to follow the "E" tradition, but he did - although it is a girl's name, it does start with the letter "E".
Thanks guys! I have been wondering about it for years. Colin "named" his cars with "numbers" - the Mark IV, the Mark V, etc.
When the Eleven was made, it was going to be the "XI", but Roman Numerals were getting confusing, so he went with digits, i.e. the "11". But that led to the "problem" of how to say it was it to be "X, I", "One one", or?. It was pronounced "Eleven" and Colin like the way the "E" rolled off the tongue, so when he made his first street car, the Type 14, it was named the "Elite". The next street car was named the "Elan" and the tradition was born. All Lotus street cars have been named starting with an "E" since then.
The Seven was kind of an exception, but not really. The car was planed in the numeric sequence, but just not built until later. By that time the "E" tradition was already in place, but the plans for the Seven predated that, so it continued to be the "Seven".
All Lotus cars have a numeric type designation, the original Elite is the 14, the original Elan is the 25, etc. The Elise of course is the 111.
The 340R is not really an exception to the rule. It is still an Elise - it's the Elise 340R, just a special designation of the Elise.
The Lotus Cortina and Lotus Carlton was not "exactly" Lotus cars - they were other manufacturer's existing cars that were tweaked by Lotus, so as such, they continued to carry their original manufacturer's name with the "Lotus" added.
As already noted, the Elise was named after Artioli's granddaughter. Artioli was not obligated to follow the "E" tradition, but he did - although it is a girl's name, it does start with the letter "E".
Major Fallout said:
But they were racing cars, like the 23.
7 and Eleven were road cars as well as racers. Types 1 through 6 were specials which could also be used on the road.The full on race cars after the Eleven weren't named, they just had type numbers.
Now, who's going to start the debate about whether or not the E20 is proper Lotus ?
Most of their cars start E, nearly every lotus has a numerical name to eg Elise is named after Elisa Colin Chapman's grand daughter but is also known as the type 111.
Similarly Chevrolet have a awful lot of models that start with the letter C.
This is starting to sound like Sesame Street!!
Similarly Chevrolet have a awful lot of models that start with the letter C.
This is starting to sound like Sesame Street!!
Edited by aka_kerrly on Friday 27th April 14:51
marshalla said:
7 and Eleven were road cars as well as racers. Types 1 through 6 were specials which could also be used on the road.
The full on race cars after the Eleven weren't named, they just had type numbers.
Now, who's going to start the debate about whether or not the E20 is proper Lotus ?
But they were designed as a racing car. The full on race cars after the Eleven weren't named, they just had type numbers.
Now, who's going to start the debate about whether or not the E20 is proper Lotus ?
I understood the number system, with racing cars and development cars, and road cars getting a name. I just didn't understand the "E" thing.
edo said:
The Seven was kind of an exception, but not really. The car was planed in the numeric sequence, but just not built until later. By that time the "E" tradition was already in place, but the plans for the Seven predated that, so it continued to be the "Seven".
In the English Language a word starting with the letter "E" usually flows nicely from any word ending in "S".And if you think about it this way, then the "Seven" is not an exception at all, as the "S" at the start of "Seven" merely merges with the "S" at the end of "Lotus", giving you another "E" to add to your list....
Lotus 'Even
Arun_D said:
aka_kerrly said:
Most of their cars start E, nearly every lotus has a numerical name to eg Elise is named after Elisa Colin Chapman's grand daughter but is also known as the type 111.
I believe it was named after the grand daughter of the then Chairman of the company, Romano Artioli
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