Scottish Elises

http://www.pistonheads.com/news/default ... ryId=24141

nothing to be said!"!

Check out Swizz Beats' wiki page about his link with Lotus...

The new limited edition Elise Type NDubz will be rollin on 22 inch chrome rimz.






Awwwww-Yeah!

From PH

Check him out at 0:49s, "Chillin', chi-cillin' chillin', chi-chillin' chillin'" on his shiney new Lotus.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1agxDKo0NO8

Oh dear, now I worry for the future of Lotus - not because they have employed this geezer but because if they think this is a good business move the rest of their plans might be just as misguided (just not quite so ridiculous).

An open letter to Lotus
Dear Lotus
I have followed your plans for "new Lotus" with some interest and feel you have lost your way. I must admit that as an owner of a 1998 elise that unless my lottery numbers come up this weekend I will not be down the showroom with my chequebook. However I doubt very much that the fan base of Mr Swizz beats will be now or in the future because of his input, this is not a "dis" and I mean to dis-respec to my homie but attempting to look “street” as I have just proved just makes you look a bit desperate and sad.
What you have forgotten is what the core values of Lotus were. Sports cars are toys expensive toys but in essence just big boy toys if it were about transport we would all buy KIAs as they work, are cheap and have an excellent warranty.
What you have to produce is something that will “dick” the competition on track and on the road that looks awesome but is cheaper. You have to go up against the big boys Porsche and the Italians but costs less. Failing that everyone will just go but Ariel Atoms, Nissan GTR’s and Mitsubishi Evo’s rather than the Lamborghini pastiche that is on the horizon.


G. Nisbet

"Yours, p!ssed off from Kilmarnock"

LOL, good effort, Graeme.

FFS, i prefer the bloke in a shed Lotus to this Hipidi Hop / Sunglasses indoors bollocks.

I'll bet he has never stopped to gaffer tape a part that's just fallen off...... or strategically placed a towel to catch water from the roof.

Pfffft

Alan

Gourlay83 wrote:FFS, i prefer the bloke in a shed Lotus to this Hipidi Hop / Sunglasses indoors bollocks.

I'll bet he has never stopped to gaffer tape a part that's just fallen off...... or strategically placed a towel to catch water from the roof.

Pfffft

Alan

He won't be driving an s1.

Gourlay83 wrote:FFS, i prefer the bloke in a shed Lotus to this Hipidi Hop / Sunglasses indoors bollocks.

I'll bet he has never stopped to gaffer tape a part that's just fallen off...... or strategically placed a towel to catch water from the roof.

Pfffft

Alan

Thats the Garagista way

Surely better to spend whatever the salary of this fella is on the design side of things. Surely better to have people that are renowned for having good car taste applaud your achievements and get enthusiastic about it, resulting in what will start as a cult following of the car, leading to more mainstream following, leading to increased revenue.

Lotus, worried where you sit in the marketplace, looking for some insight into that? Work out where you want to place yourselves in that marketplace. You're neither cheap affordable sportscar manufacturer nor supercar big-boy.

[Lotus voice, akin to trigger from Only Fools n' Horses] "We can't be a supercar manufacturer as people don't buy our cars because they say they're too expensive to compete with Porsches and Ferraris"

[Answer from a non-rapper, not being paid a fortune for the priviledge of opining]: Look at the McLaren F1 FFS. People didn't buy it because it was cheap, it was because it was fugging good. People pay for quality, not mediocrity. Macca came from nowhere in the roadcar world and succeeded. Zonda came from nowhere and succeeded. Why? QUALITY. PRODUCT.

[Lotus voice, see above] "not enough people buy our cheap sports cars for us to be a high volume, cheap(ish) manufacturer"
[Answer from me again]: "make them cheaper!! Strip 'em down. Sell them as kits. Don't waste a fortune getting them aproved in the US for f*ck all return, whilst at the same time getting saddled by their emmissions regs and their daft safty 'double-side' orange repeaters etc etc etc

Sheesh - its really not rocket science.

Rolfe for El Presidente.

So what you're saying, then, is that Lotus should buy Caterham?

Nope a 1.4 - 2 seater coupe that costs £15k

Elise and Exige cost reduction so that an elise starts at £17k
Exige £30k
Evora starts at £40k
Then Esprit start it at £60k

In a modern world fit and finish has to be top notch with no rattles. it doesn't have to have lots of stuff and plush plastics etc it just has to feel solid.

That and make your money on the options, just like the Germans.

GregR wrote:Don't waste a fortune getting them aproved in the US for f*ck all return, whilst at the same time getting saddled by their emmissions regs and their daft safty 'double-side' orange repeaters etc etc etc

BiggestNizzy wrote:Nope a 1.4 - 2 seater coupe that costs £15k

They have G now, I hear someone bought a white Evora in Atlanta, only one in North America.

1.4 @ £15k that gets handed its ass by a Zetec Fiesta in a straight line? I get your ethos but the original 20k S1 price point worked back in 96.