Ari Posted October 26, 2005 Report Share Posted October 26, 2005 When the Lotus Esprit was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, he drew the design based on what he felt looked right. It wasn't tested. However in testing it was found that the ducktail rear spoiler upset the handling and dynamics of the car. The engineers needed to lose it as it was spoiling the way the car handled, but Colin Chapman, founder and owner of Lotus was absolutely adamant that it stayed. Which left them with a problem. But British engineers are nothing if not resourceful. Look closely at the slats over the rear window of the Esprit below. See the way the top one kicks up at the trailing edge? Disrupts the airflow over the ducktail spoiler rendering it useless... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewNiceMrMe Posted October 26, 2005 Report Share Posted October 26, 2005 Here's another for you then... The Ford Mustang wouldn't have been named the Mustang if Henry Ford II had his way. He wanted to call it the Thunderbird II! However, the names of Cougar and Torino were put forward next and came close to being chosen. Ultimately, the name was chosen by a small design team tasked to work on the car - and Ford II gave in because of lots of internal fighting getting nowhere. The strange events don't stop there though. So determined were the designers to have the car put into production that they conjured up a completely falsified market research report. There was no actual research done into whether the car would sell or not - they just plucked encouraging looking facts and figures out of thin air and gave them to Ford II - who gave it immediate approval based on the report! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garcon magnifique Posted October 26, 2005 Report Share Posted October 26, 2005 Is that what they did for the Scorpio too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattR32 Posted October 26, 2005 Report Share Posted October 26, 2005 Ari - I know where you got that from... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ari Posted October 26, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2005 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milo Posted October 26, 2005 Report Share Posted October 26, 2005 [ QUOTE ] He wanted to call it the Thunderbird II! [/ QUOTE ] I'm confused now - who built this then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimdiesel Posted October 26, 2005 Report Share Posted October 26, 2005 Now thats the vehicle I lusted after as a child. FAB Virgil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonb Posted October 26, 2005 Report Share Posted October 26, 2005 [ QUOTE ] [/ QUOTE ] Proper British car!! Very late 70's / early 80's retro!! I'd love one of those - just because i'm British!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonb Posted October 26, 2005 Report Share Posted October 26, 2005 Just had a look on Auto Trader. Thought they'd be selling for next to nothing now, but an early 80s one is still going to set you back £6,500. An early 90s Elan is around £5k. An Elite, the crap looking one, only one in UK for sale on Auto Trader, 1982 model, £3.5k. An Eclat - even worse than the Elite - about £2.8k. Aha! An Excel, about £1,500. Wouldn't mind an old Lotus - just because!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonb Posted October 26, 2005 Report Share Posted October 26, 2005 Wow!! Lotus Carltons around the £10k mark!! What a beast of a car!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser647 Posted October 26, 2005 Report Share Posted October 26, 2005 [ QUOTE ] Lotus Carltons around the £10k mark!! What a beast of a car!! [/ QUOTE ] Yep. And a hell of a handful for the unwary........ Followed one down the M25 in the pi55ing rain. Came off the M25 onto the M4, those who know it, know that it is a tight link road going from 2 lanes, to 1 lane and back to 2. With some S curves in for good measure. Very compact junction. Well, his Lotus Carlton was squirming, the tail wanted to wag - he controlled it with no problems. Me? I was in my Audi V8 4.2 Quattro - so no probs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markallain Posted October 26, 2005 Report Share Posted October 26, 2005 Love the avatar si Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonb Posted October 26, 2005 Report Share Posted October 26, 2005 [ QUOTE ] Love the avatar si [/ QUOTE ] Cheers mate!! Top t1ts!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theduisbergkid Posted October 27, 2005 Report Share Posted October 27, 2005 Do you reckon the 'lots of trouble usually serious' acronym still applies ? I love lotus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ari Posted October 27, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2005 Not on the Elise, but definitely on the early stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theduisbergkid Posted October 27, 2005 Report Share Posted October 27, 2005 [ QUOTE ] Not on the Elise, but definitely on the early stuff. [/ QUOTE ] I kne a guy who raced Lotus, his old man was something big in property. anyway, his esprit was in so often that he regularly got a esprit courtesy car from them, he once took it on a track day, someone from lotus spotted him and snatched the keys from the ignition to stop him racing their courtesy car ! he later went on to work for them .. I seriously looked at the elise before I got my golf Gti, but the praticalities put me off (i do lots of miles), love 'em though .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ari Posted October 27, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2005 Agreed, I considered it (breifly), they are amazing cars, but you just couldn't use it day to day or to actually go anywhere unless you were a masochist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P_G Posted October 27, 2005 Report Share Posted October 27, 2005 [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] Lotus Carltons around the £10k mark!! What a beast of a car!! [/ QUOTE ] Yep. And a hell of a handful for the unwary........ Followed one down the M25 in the pi55ing rain. Came off the M25 onto the M4, those who know it, know that it is a tight link road going from 2 lanes, to 1 lane and back to 2. With some S curves in for good measure. Very compact junction. Well, his Lotus Carlton was squirming, the tail wanted to wag - he controlled it with no problems. Me? I was in my Audi V8 4.2 Quattro - so no probs! [/ QUOTE ] Was it a proper Lotus Carlton, very rare to see those on this roads. But not the people with GSi 3000's with Lotus bodykits on. I remember with TG used to used a Lotus Carlton as their film car as it was the only thing that could keep up with the Fezza's at the time they were testing. Wicked car but I'm sorry to say I've grown out of it now, too angular. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ari Posted October 27, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2005 Had a spin in a Lotus Carleton many years ago, hoooooly crap! Bit quick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser647 Posted October 27, 2005 Report Share Posted October 27, 2005 [ QUOTE ] Was it a proper Lotus Carlton, very rare to see those on this roads. But not the people with GSi 3000's with Lotus bodykits on. [/ QUOTE ] Yeah, this was real alright!! The special green, the brakes, exhaust, the sound, the boot spoiler and alll the gubbins. Have seen a few GSi's made to look like LC's but there is always something about them that gives the game away. An interesting fact about them, is that the LC engine produced the same amount of torque as the GSi 3000...............the GSi would be at full chat and the LC at idle! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now