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Lotus has officially announced the end of the Elise, Exige, and Evora. And in its place, electric SUVs and Hypercars.
Does that mean that Lotus as we know it is dead? Let's find out.
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#Lotus #EV #ColinChapman
The real mvp of this story is Hazel, RIP
She was truly a wonderful human being.
What a wonderfully gifted and strong lady, “behind every great man”……🙏 RIP
big respect man
She met Colin Chapman at a dance in 1944 when he was just 16 and she a few months older.
Agree
Lotus had the choice. You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.
If they lowered their prices by £10,000 I would've bought a Lotus instead of a Porsche. They did it to themselves.
@@fredmercury1314 In a way you're not terribly wrong, but due to the way Lotus operates, it was never a possibility. Because lotus has historically always sold low production cas, and always been an understaffed small British company, they have to price their cars the way they do to keep the lights on. They sell their cars priced this way because they're literally almost entirely hand-built and don't have much in the way of infrastructure for mass production. Not so much anymore today, but still so compared to even companies like porsche. historically, Lotus has sold cars at their price tags and still barely come out on top with profits. They broke even on a lot of cars produced. The Elan mentioned here was one of those I can reference from memory, but I believe my statement is the same for the Esprit and Elise. I'm by no means saying the prices or their practices are necessarily justified, but that's why. They've nearly gone under dozens of times because they can't seem to profit off the cars they sell, even at the prices they go for new. They even had to sell their engineering "expertise" to other companies to assist with paying the bills. It used to be a big thing selling your car with a badge on it saying "suspension designed by lotus" or something similar. In a way, Lotus is still one of the better value cars over companies like Maclaren, where they absolutely sell cars that are stupid overpriced and have terrible TERRIBLE quality control with no excuse for it.
yeah its sad. i think they could have gone the electric route and made it cool. like being the first ones to make a fun, simple electric sports car. not a lot of power, but all control by the driver. you know the stuff that they were always good at. they may even have convinced the enthusiasts that fun electric cars are possible.
@@fredmercury1314 exactly
@@Mr.Marbles i saw some articles saying that the new cars, even the SUV are trying to be as light as possible. But with more than 1 engine, lots of power, computer controls, comfort and a huge body (the extra-wide Evija and the extra-high Eletre), this isn't enough to be as good as their lineup that started from the Elise. And i'm saying this as just another car guy, forget the profile image, even my brother, who doesn't understand much about cars, thinks that having expensive and heavy EVs is bad
As a Lotus fan for over 40 years, this video comes across as a bit strange to me. It was Colin Chapman himself who realized that his company could not be sustained by simply making lightweight kit cars, and he sought to create an upscale, head-turning, flagship performance car that could complete with Porsche and Ferrari. When he was approached by Giorgetto Giugiaro at the 1971 Geneva Motor Show to design this new car, that’s when Lotus truly changed. The resulting Esprit is almost entirely (and bafflingly) glossed over in this video, but it is the single most important car that Lotus ever made, and it’s the primary reason Lotus still exists as a brand that has any cache today. The car was a cinematic superstar, making unforgettable impressions in The Spy Who Loved Me, For Your Eyes Only, Pretty Woman, The Rookie, Basic Instinct and many others. It was a halo car in the truest sense with an iconic shape that will be remembered and admired as an all-time great. While I think it’s cool that Lotus had success going back to their early lightweight go-cart roots with the Elise/Exige, let’s not pretend that “simplify and add lightness” was all Colin Chapman ever stood for: His last company car was a 1981 Turbo Esprit that he put 4,500 miles on, and he willingly sacrificed a little lightness for style and brand image. By attempting to create a new halo car in the Evija, Lotus isn’t abandoning Colin Chapman’s playbook, they’re following it.
Right on! Lotus changed the car industry in multiple ways. Racing and manufacturing! First ground effect, still used in 2022 F1 cars and racing. First monocoque, still used in F1 racing today! If it was'nt for the Elise chassis? We couldn't build cars more efficient.... and the chassis of the Elise??? Yess, People!!...it was a Lotus chassis, that made the first Tesla, 😉... Lotus is car history and Lotus will keep on creating history!!...Look at the front of a Tesla model S? And Look at the front of a Lotus Elise??... Look at the front of a model 3 Tesla and a Lotus Elise? Look at the front of a Tesla model X and a Lotus Elise? Look at the design and the headlights? The overal characteristics of the Bonnet??...hahaha😉... Tesla as a super modern Electric car manufacturer, still uses Lotus design.
If the Esprit was, as you claim, the "single most important car that Lotus ever made", then that truly shows just how irrelevant and pointless the company is/was. I would suggest that Lotus' only relevance has been in its racing program.
@@chuckschillingvideos Without the revenue generated by the Cayenne, Macan, and Panamera, would the Cayman and 911 be as well engineered as they are? I doubt it. It's the bread and butter cars, sold in volume, that create the revenue needed to properly engineer and build the cars that enthusiasts want, but otherwise would not get. And it works the other way too, in that it's the halo cars like the Evija, the Enzo, and the Ram TRX that drive the sales of the more mundane variants. Without the Hellcat and Demon variants to keep them relevant, would the Dodge Challenger still be in production, essentially unchanged, for 14 years? Probably not. Remember that the reason Chapman produced road cars in the first place was to bankroll his racing efforts. In short, you do what you must do to enable you to do what you want to do. So yeah, crank out as many Bentaygas, Cayennes, and Cullinans as you have to. I don't care, and don't want any of them. Just don't forget how to make the good stuff.
@@watchman1872 Just don't forget how to make the good stuff, like the way Mitsubishi forgot that they actually made WRC winning cars. They gave up, and Subaru didn't. They have become wholly uninteresting and it is sad to see. I am perfectly fine with Lotus spreading themselves out and (hopefully) becoming much more profitable and make the cars that I am sure many of their engineers and designers really want to make. They know what they are and what they are capable of. Any move that helps them spread their wings is a good move in my eyes so long as they plan to fly afterwards.
Yes to say Lotus is dead is wrong in my opinion. I once owned an Esprit S2 and what a superb car.
In 2009 I was in the process of ordering my dream car, a Lotus Elise SC. All thorough my childhood in the 70s I was in love with Lotus. Finally, an engineer myself, I had the additional income to afford an expensive toy to play with on the weekend. A week before I signed on the line for the special order Elise, I was hit by a truck - no, no while I was in a vehicle, but when I was out for a jog - neck broken, back broken, skull fractured, yep, I was done. Now partially paralyzed, my driving days are over. I kept the order for that Elise SC open for as long as I could, but now unemployed and totally disabled, all I have is the memory of test driving the dealer's sample. My whole life I had wanted that "Simple but add lightness" car... it was in my grasp... and life took a turn for the worse. I almost had my childhood dream in my garage and on the track. Had I taken an extra minute to leave my house that day or a minute sooner, yep, that car and my body would have continued on - dreams fulfilled.
I'm disabled, too. I know what caused it and how to prevent it as it happened on the job and almost killed and maimed a few passengers. United Airlines tried to kill me 3 of the 6 times I beat death on the job. They fired me for being too disabled 4 weeks before retirement. I don't drive anymore, and orthopedic rehab is 24/7. I wrote to OSHA, NTSB, ABA, CBA, UAL's BOD, UALMD, UALSW, UALTK, UALHR, and visited the hospital that saved my life, but United Airlines does not allow medical records to be entered in the work record for crew during termination. So, UAL is happy to kill and maim innocent crew and passengers because their risk management team covers their A.S.S.
Why stop at the question of “was Lotus always destined to become an SUV selling company?” Why not apply it to all car manufacturers? Are all of them destined to eventually become slave to the SUV syndrome? Was this always future of car companies? Interesting video as always, really makes you think!
Very true!!
We're heading towards a future where you go buy "the car", and the badge for the marque of your choice is applied at the point of sale. I'm exaggerating only a little bit
@@RBslowman back to the 90s where almost all the car look almost identical now just apply suv + blind ppl at night
no lotus shouldn't have 4-doors its a smaller size gt/sports car brand and thats part of what makes it unique in the marketplace if it did a suv/crossover i probably wouldn't be interest in it even with cash in hand ev=maybe but it would have to be great and not suck as a model
@@RBslowman lambo/frarri suv's 🤪🤦🏻♂🤮 that's what the G-wagons/ect for 😉
We've already seen an electric Lotus: it's called first generation Tesla Roadster.
It's scary
The car market is unfairly tilted in favor of electric. It's fine that electric cars exist. What is not fair is that they are given unfair advantages in order to get rid of the internal combustion engine.
Hell i dont know how it is in outher countries, but in Latvia atleast electric car owners dont have to pay road taxes.
@@wayland7150 They don't have the choice. Goverments all over the world are setting up regulations to ban internal combustion cars by 2030-2040, and while it is for good reason, it's scary to see how car design is quickly becoming "electric SUV".
@@bruhificationfetish It’s not for good reason. Cars aren’t the major problem for the environment.
Hazel now got her wings with Colin, RIP Hazel Colin couldn't have done it without you ,two love birds destined to fly together, thanks for your mark you left in motor racing forever, one love, one heart, one blood, one race, HUMANITY
"Any car which holds together for a whole race is too heavy." - Colin Chapman
The car falling apart is weight reduction
@@trevoncowen9198 new weight reduction technolongy, while car is getting weaker over long time of use it starts falling apart to decrease weight and increase performance to keep it always feeling like its new 👍
Sadly, (especially for the drivers) they did NOT always hold together for the entire race. Ecclestone was Jochen Rindt's manager (sort of) at the end of the 68 season Rindt was looking at changing teams. The story goes, Ecclestone told David Tremayne. ‘I said to him, “If you want to win the World Championship, you’ve got more chance with Lotus than with Brabham. If you want to stay alive, you’ve got more chance with Brabham than with Lotus.”’ Never a truer or more prophetic sentence. Rindt, ended up F1 World Champion in 1970 - posthumously.
@@robertnicholson7733 wow I know about Jochen Rindt's championship but never saw it like this or knew what Ecclestone said to Rindt. 👍🏼😢
TVR is the king in that game😉
Oh my god! I didn’t know this was over 39 minutes long!! What a story! As a fan of Lotus and Colin Chapman, it’s so fascinating to see his wonderful wife Hazel being a part of the entire process. “Simplify, and add lightness” is becoming rarer and rarer in this world, but there are some manufacturers, including Lotus, that understand the concept of fun!
*only 39 minutes.
As a Malaysian, I am totally proud that Proton saw a big potential of Lotus Elise and pumped money into it. A bit disappointed with Proton management about selling their cars in our local. They cannot compete with another local competitor (Perodua) because they try to sell exaggerating cars but the real problem is the spare part is hard to find and expensive. Average persons just don't care about exaggerate and it is about economical. Accessibility of spare part is most important thing even for car lovers. When Proton owned Lotus, the exterior and interior are just totally impressive and a lot of improvement was made. I pretty confident if Proton did well about their marketing and management, they will keep the philosophy of Colin Chapman. Proton Satria Neo is one of our proud sport car!! It is really demanded among sport car lovers in local.
proton just rebadged a lancer didn't they? quite disappointing
Proton is a scam company that never made anything. Every car was rebadged Mitsubishi..they even had a Citroen. Now all proton cars are rebadged Geely. Geely acquired lotus Yes Lotus is owned by China.
I owned a used Lotus Elan in 1970. I traded in a Fiat 124 coupe. The Elan had been used in hill climbs and had several modifications. I brought it back to somewhat stock specs and used it as primary transportation for a year and a half. I entered a lot of autocross and won so many trophies that I had to give them away because they took up too much room. It was not all roses. I stripped out spark plugs from the aluminum head, broke the differential half shaft, had to replace the clutch, could not keep a speedometer gear in the trans for more than 5 months, leaked oil all over the place, could not keep the electric windows working, had to replace a lot of wiring due to corrosion. My new wife enjoyed riding the elan but could not learn the drive stick. The Elan had so many other "self-disassembly" features that I had to get rid of the car. But, man, was it fun to drive!!! Steering was whiplash quick and the gearbox shifted like a light switch. While owning the Elan I got married which changed my attitude and needs. In 1972 I traded it in on a used Alfa 1750 coupe which I drove for over 80,000 miles. But that is another story.
Most enjoyable detailed history of Lotus, albeit with the slightly odd omission of any mention of the 49. Possibly the purest and most beautiful F1 car ever.
i do see their future as a big departure from heritage. i think i find less of an issue with the electrification than i do with the weight. it seems they always had power train issues and never really developed one on their own, so electrification seems like the “simplest” power train they could use. it’s a shame though that it means heavy heavy batteries. if all goes well, these SUVs will save them like the Cayenne saved Porsche and they will still be able to cater to the true enthusiast, albeit an electric enthusiast.
I think Lotus’s approach to EVs, similar 2 Porsche, Dodge, Hyundai N and most likely Lamborghini, will b 2 convert pre-existing ICE enthusiasts to electric power by engaging the driver through clever tuning and improving the cornering of the cars while still capitalizing on the benefits of electric power. In other words, lotus’s future is still true 2 it’s past, and I’m 99.9% sure that lotus will adopt super capacitor technology in their enthusiast cars shortly after Lamborghini pioneers it in BEVs
NO true car enthusiast would ever own an electric car.
@@paulsellgren9972 you never actually own an electric car huh
True enthusiast. Electric enthusiast. Pick one.
I've been buying Lotus cars new, from dealers, since my first Lotus in 1996. I won't be buying a battery car. If the choice is battery car or gas powered motorcycle, motorcycle wins. If I wanted a battery car I wouldn't have owned all these Lotuses over the years, I would have bought Teslas. The first Tesla was actually Lotus's first battery car - it was based on the Elise. I didn't buy that one. I've never bought a battery car. .
The Lotus Seven was one of the few road based cars that actually raced in an F1 Grand Prix in Kyalami South Africa, it was modified by cutting a chunk out of the width of the car making it a single seater, even though up against dedicated Grand prix cars it didn't come last.
A Lotus 7 racing in F1??? What have you been smoking???
@@Miklos82 Look it up, A Lotus Seven was entered into the 1962 Rand Grand Prix in Kyalami, South Africa driven by Brausche Nieman, it was competing against dedicated Grand prix machinary and qualified well when quite few proper race cars which were entered did not and it not only finished the race in 10th place while some of the dedicated Grand prix's did not, it passed a number of these dedicated more powerful cars. There are even photos of it passing mid engined race machines during the race.
@@Miklos82 It was a Lotus 3.5 since it was cut in half removing the passenger seat.
I had a twin cam Europa back in the day. Best car I ever owned despite all the horrors of owning an English car. But man, the driving experience was like nothing ever I've ever had.
Mine was the earlier Renault engine version, bright yellow. I loved it. Sadly a TV company chopped it up in the '90's and made it into a hovercraft....
When u could get it to drive
Loved my 71 S2. Sublime suspension, raunchy Renault engine. Cockpit fitted like a glove.
I had a '74 Europa, loved the car. The sensations and performance it gave was top notch.
Other than a purpose built race car , no other car gives you the same driving experience and feedback.
I daily drive an Evora GT and it spoils me. Its literally the best drivers car on the planet. I will never get rid of it.
I have an Exige and I would never get rid of it. But I swapped cars with a friend with an Evora on a drive. If you had blindfolded me and put me in the driver's seat, and removed all badging from the interior, about a minute of driving it would have told me it was an Lotus. It's just a more civilized version of my car. It's bigger and heavier, but it's still the same Lotus experience, just less intense. I could use mine as a daily driver, even with the suspension upgrades and the BOE supercharger, but I'm the exception, and realize that most people couldn't live with it on a daily basis. You wouldn't just hop in the Exige and drive it across the country. It's not that kind of car, but being more well rounded, the Evora is. I'd love to own both, as the two cars complement each other.
40 minutes will pass like nothing thx man for your amazing content
Haha I appreciate that!
I had to look twice at that, I was like no way was that 40 minutes but it was.
I kept fast forwarding but the absolutely annoying background music was everywhere. I will never listen to an interesting video with constant crappy music in the background.
I agree. This is my new find this year. AMazing. I never even heard about Mrs. Chapman passing away. And the History of lotus? This may have been the best video on it I have ever seen.
@@MickeyMishra if like this you should watch donut media
I'm very sad to see the "add lightness" mentality die, but it's a simple calculus, the internal combustion engine is being outlawed. If your lightweight sports car won't have the symphony of a gasoline engine and will be REQUIRED to adopt heavy batteries and motors, the sports car experience kinda falls apart. When a car is no longer an experience, it becomes an appliance, and appliances have to have utility. Is it any wonder then that all manufacturers are trending towards CUV and SUV models? Is Lotus dead? The literal answer is no, of course, the changes in the company are for the sake of preserving the brand. The cost for that preservation then is Lotus walking away from everything they've built. Same name, different soul. Rest in peace Lotus, you will be missed.
If anything, like Lancia and Mitsubishi, Lotus is becoming a walking corpse.
The original Tesla Roadster (which was based on an Elise don’t forget) is proof that you can still make a relatively light EV sports car. That came out more than 10 years ago, has about 200 miles of range and weighs less than an Evora. They most certainly can make an EV Elise with very minimal compromise, but maybe they don’t see the profit in it, or are just lazy.
Greta has everybody crapping their pants. In the UK, The ICE is on death row.The frantic rush to the EV is going to be v expensive. The government is all to keen for financial inducements - zero road tax for the EV etc. - but I still haven't worked out how they're going to make up all the lost revenue they get from the massive tax on a gallon of fossil fuel. Still, looking on the positive side, our roads are going to be a lot quieter.
And that is why the new GR copen has power steering as optional To continue such a feel
@@clarksonoceallachain8536 I wasn't familiar with the GR Copen, I live in America, but they are super cool. Thanks for expanding my car knowledge, did not know about these.
in 1975 ( 20 yrs old ) i was a working Cowboy in Wichita Falls TEXAS on my familys Quarter Horse Ranch , went Longboard Surfing on Padre Island all the time , my daily driver was a 1955 chevy pickup that i turned into a Hot Rod , driving thru Dallas i saw a Lotus Europa S2 ( renault power ) at a Ford , Lotus , Pantera dealership , purchased to Europa IMMEDIATELY , was my daily driver for 8 YEARS !!!! a girl ran a red lite hit my Lotus and TOTALED IT , l purchased a 1964 Jag E Type fixed head coupe to replace the Europa and help heal my broken heart , i LOVED that Europa !!! i have Owned and lived aboard 3 Yachts and have owned 15 Euro Sports cars in the last 40+ years , still talk about the Lotus and look at the 35 mm images of her ALL the time
Back in the early 1970s when I was racing at club level, I met two guys at the track who used to work for Lotus. They told me about Colin Chapman who they knew quite well, as he spent a lot of time on the factory floor keeping an eye on things. He was a real hands-on guy they told me, and then mentioned his habit of picking up a component, inspecting it closely, then saying "Take a chunk off here, it does not need to be so heavy". Once that was done and inspected once again, then all those components would be similarly modified. He got the nickname in the factory amongst the guys there, as "Chunky Chapman", not to his face of course! He truly was a fanatic about weight! That particular emphasis has clearly been lost now, along with many other elements of the previous culture!
Glad to see someone talking about the change in lotus, another banger
Thanks Cole!
I love stories like this... big respect to the team who put this together for us all, thankyou.
Great video man! R.I.P Hazel Chapman, everyone needs someone like you in their life!
I owned a Lotus 6 (in England) in the late 60's, with a Triumph 4cyl. 2L engine. It was crazy fun - a rocket roller skate. The clutch was a pedal on a shaft, direct into the bell housing. Then the Lotus 7 came out - advertised as 0 to 60mph in 3 days! You could buy it in kit form & assemble it yourself. (To avoid tax). It had a 2L ford engine with twin overhead cams & twin Webbers, or DelOrtos. My buddy had an Elan & it felt like luxury by comparison. Earlier, I saw Jim Clarke & Dan Gurney race at Silverstone & Graham Hill, but he was in a Mk. 2 Jaguar. I was 10 years old & so lucky to be in Brian Lister's pit. My Dad was working at Lister Jaguar at the time. If I could find an old Lotus for sale - any 1 - I'd love to fix it up... & put an electric motor into it. If anyone's got 1 they don't want - let me know. I'm in Southern California - thanks and thanks for a great video, Albon
One of the best car channels on YT. Keep up the good work
Thank you Mason!
@@albonfilms no problem fam
Excellent channel 👏. Another 🇬🇧 follower 👏
Am I alone in thinking that reports of the death of the internal combustion engine are somewhat premature? After all, many countries are not following Boris and Carrie’s orders, including the US and Germany. Also EVs can only be used where there is suitable urban infrastructure. I can just see an Aussie in the outback 300 miles from civilisation asking where is the nearest charging point.
Exactly! Plus, there is no way current networks will be able to supply the needed energy for Ev's in the form of electricity (seeing as they are currently struggling to meet current demand). It's just not going to happen.
The purpose of EVs is to help give companies and governments complete control over what you "buy". You don't buy an electric car really, you rent it
@@redbullsauberpetronas And a ban on petrol cars is great for encouraging repeat business when the battery dies and ends up costing more than the value of the entire car to replace. Most people when faced with that expense would never buy electric again, but they would have to if there was legally no alternative.
I owned an S3 Esprit Turbo in the mid 80's. I spent every penny I earned to own and keep that car. It was great fun. Wish I had kept it. Thanks for your time and effort into putting this video.
In the early to mid eighties, I worked on the oil rigs in Saudi - 60 days on 30 days off . Instead of doing the sensible thing and hiring a decent car for my days off in England - I pretty much bought a different 2nd hand car everytime I came home. That was a ridiculous thing to do - bearing in mind that for 60 days at a time the car would sit in a garage depreciating in value, eating into road tax and insurance premium. Anyhow, I did lust after an Esprit and came v close to making a purchase. So glad I didn't - it would have been such a waste of money. I'll leave the ownership of supercars to those who get their moneys worth out of the car
I have an 84 turbo esprit and it’s lots of fun. People are very happy to see it! Was the car reliable when you had it in the 80s?
@@chefgromano5025 I owned my Esprit for almost 3 years. In that time it only broke down once, which was the result of a failed fuel pump. I did many repairs including a replacement clutch and a few suspension components as well as general servicei tems. However, I think for a car of its time and performance it was great when you consider the quality of parts used. It was a real head turner, and as a young lad in his 20's it was a real buzz. I'm smiling here just thinking about it.
Lotus Esprit is favorite 80-90’s sports car.
The Cortina was Lotus’s finest hour. It is and will remain, legend. 🇬🇧
My Dad had a MK 2 Cortina Lotus in around 1973, had a little bike trailer on the back & towed my little Hodaka MX bike & surprised a few people with how quick it was, even towing a trailer!. About one of the first Hodaka's in the UK, i was told.
First models of both the Land Rover and Unimog very much embodied "simplify and add lightness" I think, not SUVs of course but 4x4s. Weight is as great an enemy off road as it is on the race track or B road, their use of lightweight materials in a very simple design to make them reliable and easy to maintain made them iconic.
As a little kid our neighbour had a Lotus Cortina breifly and growing up my Father would tell me about the Elans and Europas and Sevens, and I liked the look of MKI with its stripe ect, could never afford a Lotus Cortina so I bought 63 GT two door instead. I still miss that car. But Dad a couple of years ago bought n built a Caterham 7 and dropped it on top of Honda S2000 running gear... man I've had fast cars from Aussie Muscle to German and British fast Saloons.... but FAAAARRRK ME that 7 Scares the absolute Shit Outta me! Even though its technically not a Lotus anymore... but from my understanding the Chassis is pretty much the same as the original chassis in ethos but built a bit stronger due to constant evolution and fixing the weaknesses found over past 6 decades as well as better quality materials in the construction, but they Still have Chapmans spirit in them Lightweight and powerful enough engine... although personally I would rather have my old 1558cc Ford Kent engine that I had in my GT Cortina in dads car. But I'm a bit of a traditionalist there.
I remember seeing a Lotus Carlton on the West Approach Road in Edinburgh, shortly after they were released. It was a very cold morning and it was spewing an inordinate amount of water vapour from its exhaust- you could see how much air the engine was moving. And it looked magnificent.
Great video, very well researched! A very minor correction. Vauxhall was GM's British arm and Opel was GM's European arm. Holden was GM's Australian arm, The "Carlton" wasn't sold in Australia as it would have competed with General Motors Holden various "Commodore" performance models.
You have the most underrated automotive channel on all of KZhead!
that's so true
As a Malaysian, I felt sorry that our government that ruined lotus future, making them to become anything but not lotus. I always love the mk2 elise too bad it was axed rn and replaced by lotus emira. I think at least we malaysian owed every lotus fan a apologise, sorry for ruining everyone's brand that produced most fun and simple car brand by our government.
our government don't want to do their job, they just want $$$
Yes , if our government is like Ukraine, our country will be much more better
That's bollocks, as somebody who lives less than 5 miles from their factory and knows people who either work there, or work for companies that supply Lotus, I've seen them go through far more bad times that good over the last 30 years. Many times it seemed Lotus would close down and without Proton sticking with Lotus despite them constantly losing money and never making more than 2000 cars a year, often less, Lotus cars would have been a name consigned to the automotive history books years ago.
Dont you have ear dont you listen , you have so much hated inside your heart you can say what ever you want to make politic statement in everything but fact is fact proton save lotus they make car with lotus they give profit for the first time for lotus enough with your kiasu racist fucking statement...
@@rdzwancmay1348 yea but proton is now owned by chinese company and many ex lotus employee left lotus to lucid to make better instead stay here at proton
the Europa S was only ever intended to sell a few hundred to shift some left over parts that were sat in a warehouse, mainly around 500 of the GM engines from VX220 production. People always talk about it as if it was a proper attempt to make a big selling car, and go on to call it a failure, when it simply wasn't.
Thanks for reminding me of what made Lotus great. Cars here in the UK seem to be getting larger and larger and heavier too. The Mini is enormous in comparison with the original. The SUV is more normalised as a concept. The utilitarian Land Rover was lightweight and moderately sized, it became the Range Rover which went upmarket and became bigger, heavier and more expensive. Our roads are barely large enough. The SUV is classed as an upmarket Limo/grand tourer. The sports cars became enormous too. So the Lotuses were in sharp relief to that oversizing trend and true to what race inspired British sports cars did best, twisty turny, small roads with grippy handling, quick acceleration and great brakes in a small form factor. Often top speed wasn’t an issue because getting to the peak velocity on normal roads in normal traffic is a rare event. Lotus are trackable and enthusiasts get a car that mixes it up with the big boys. So far, so good, so Lotus. The electric hyper cars move into a different frame. Their cars are now big and heavy like everyone else’s hypercars. They will not be at home on narrow winding roads. Enthusiasts will not be taking them to track days. They will be less attainable. The bread and butter models that will support the high end will not even be sports cars. Lotus has drunk the Koolaid and left the building. Let’s hope they reinvent their core principle and bring out a small fast electric, trackable sports car for European roads with the Chapman DNA.
I absolutely love your videos Albon, truly appreciate the work you put in your videos, the research, the editing, the music, and everything else, all professional level stuff I really hope you get the recognition you DESERVE, sooner than later I'll stick around, for sure 😉 And… One more thing, just a tip Try releasing videos more regularly and with lesser time intervals in between Cause most people tend towards quantity over quality, I'm not saying to skimp on your awesome video standards Just try to be more regular, that's my advice.
I agree! We're trying to put more videos out! It is tough as we are a small team but I think we can start by not doing 40 minute videos haha
@@albonfilms No No Guff! Don't Reduce the time of your videos, as it's lend your future videos lesser informative than before, and since your main focus is stating facts, it'll not benefit. At least make them 30 mins long(saying heavy heatedly 😢). I fully understand it's incredibly hard to make such long and high quality videos all by yourself, so I would recommend to divide your work, hire one or two people who'll edit and research for you, and you'll supervise and manage other things. That way it'll be easier. I know it'll cost a fortune, but you'll need to invest something to gain something. It's upto you, do as per your convenience Best Wishes ☺️
I used to park next to a Lotus Elise in my school parking lot, you don't really know how much you lack racing in your blood until you see a Dodge caravan next to an Elise
I am an Australian who lives in China. Recently I was buying a sports car and had settled on a 718 Cayman GTS. Then I saw the Emira and its quality was a huge leap over old Lotuses (Loti I suppose) it looked gorgeous, the V6 went well enough and the quality was now up there with the best of them. The engineering team here told me that the AMG motor coming to China was more powerful than the one overseas and that I should buy that even though it was cheaper so I purchased one. Yesterday I was one of the first in the world to drive the Chinese AMG which produces 400hp and 480nm torque with 8 gears and it weighs the same as the Cayman. It was wild and much faster than the 6 plus the gear changes on that double clutch were fast and sorted - track mode the gears are smart up and down plus it now has launch control. The other thing is that Geely has set up professional large-scale support and beautiful infrastructure here and in England. Lotus now has everything to make it the Porsche competitor we all knew it should be. Cayman you have a crocodile on your hands. Then there is the EV SUVs which are pretty serious and remember SUVs saved Porsche. By the way 4.3 seconds to 100kph for the 6 but the Chinese i4 is way faster.
I'd still take an Exige over pretty much any other sports car around these days. Bar the mega expensive brands of course.
As much as the electrification of Lotus is sad, I’m still optimistic 4 their future. From the looks of it, it seems that Lotus is applying the Chapman ideology to EVs. They’re not electric cars. They’re electric *Lotuses.* The SUVs worry me a bit, but the sedan shouldn’t b 2 bad if designed properly. Also, I believe Lotus is developing an all-electric successor 2 the Elise and Exige (the prototype has been rather appropriately named the Type 135 back in Hethel, England). So yes, while these cars are going electric, Lotus is still staying as true 2 their heritage as they can. Even in the electric age, Lotus is still a company for the drivers, and they’ve proven that with the release of the Emira, and even the Evija. They’re handling the EV similar 2 how Porsche is, and how I think Lamborghini will handle theirs as well: engage the driver as much as possible. Speaking of Porsche tho, I think Lotus is taking a pretty good aim at them. Think abt it: Porsches and Lotuses r both drivers cars, both have/will have 2 SUVs in their lineup, both have at least one engaging EV, both have one semi-affordable mid-engine sports car, both have a rich racing history, and both intend 2 make EVs actually fun. When u think abt it, Lotus and Porsche have so many similarities that it makes sense that they’re going in the direction they r: they’re competing with Porsche
That's a great perspective! I really do hope that it plays out that way!
@@albonfilms thx m8. Quite honestly, it’s the route that makes the most sense for the Lotus brand: evolve it into something more. And with the FIA having recently sanctioned the FIA Electric GT racing series (basically GT3 racing, but with electric cars), I’d fully expect Lotus 2 b a major competitor as well as in Formula E along with Maserati
Ev's = massive curb weight (those batteries). Kind of the opposite of Chapman's approach.
@@cvanscho I said they were taking the most lotus approach to EVs. Like I said, they’re electric Lotuses. They come with all of the pros and cons of any EV, but at the end of the day, they’re still Lotuses
EVs are still horrific for the environment, they're killing the brand for a trend. You people need to stop giving these companies any benefit of the doubt they don't care about you
Going forward, those who enjoy performance figures above all else will likely still have much to celebrate. On the other hand, those who prefer maximum interaction with their cars as well as the road itself will not (along with the analog goes the visceral). It's only a matter of time until classic/enthusiast cars as we've known them become obsolete. At some point the only "driving experience" may be via simulators. After all, change is the only constant.
Change isn't always linear. Pissing off automotive enthusiasts (who inclide some of the wealthiest people on the planet) is a great way to get voted out of office. I see it as more of a problem for the working man or woman to be able to afford an enthusiast vehicle of their own.
@@flyingphoenix113 Pissing off automotive enthusiasts has nothing to do with it. But I do agree that change as it relates to technology in general and computing power in particular has been much more exponential than linear. That is one of the main reasons the lifespan of the internal combustion engine is likely to be far shorter than most car enthusiasts today can imagine. There will also come a point where prices of EV's will drop significantly. This in turn will actually offer the working person levels of performance never before imaginable. Thus a new generation of enthusiasts will come to exist. They'll just be more tech savvy than car enthusiasts as we've known them to date. This isn't all that much different than the other forms of technological change taking place in our world.
This sounds orwellian. Not to mention EVs are an insider trading scheme at best. The amount of Lithium on earth makes oil seem infinite AND mining Lithiumis AWFUL for the environment. AND our power grids can not support mass EV adoption. A much more honest approach would've been a global push towards E95-E100 engines.
@@AnthonyTrifoglio I wouldn't argue such points. I'm only noting how I see things playing out based on the research I've been doing on Net Zero adaptation across the globe. Many countries are adapting to EV's and outlawing the ICE on shorter timelines than I've presented for the US. China is looking to be the biggest supplier of batteries. Meanwhile, here in the US, automakers have "somehow" already managed to find money to start dumping into grid improvements. All of the major automakers clearly know that EV's are the way forward. They know this will be be a huge money making change for their businesses. As to whether or not they truly believe this is the "best" path forward for the planet is a different matter.
@@AnthonyTrifoglio the real approach is better public transport options and more accessibly designed infrastructure for citizens.
Amazingly done! Wow. The research you did into Lotus is inspiring. Sadly as others mentioned, SUVs are just where manufacturers are going especially when you look at Jaguar and the Mustang but those are much better than the new Mitsubishi Eclipse : ( With that said, I am really liking what I am seeing with the upcoming Lotus Emira. In many ways, I feel this is what the new C8 Corvette should have been and unlike the Vette, I love that Lotus is making it in a manual. Again, job well done, and thank you. BTW good luck on that project build.
Wow. When I saw how long this was going to be, I asked myself if I wanted to spend another 40 mins on KZhead - but you had me glued to the screen. A reel "page turner". Thanks for this amazing storytelling!
That was an excellent video! Love your fast paced talking and passion for the subject. I can't imagine the work that went into producing this, thank you for a trip down memory lane as well. New subscriber and looking forward to watching others you have created.
There was a cruel joke in Britain for many years that LOTUS was an acronym: Lots Of Trouble, Usually Serious. I wonder if anything's changed... 🤔
Yawn
No, it didn't change. Joseph Lucas was no help.
Really, I've never heard that.🥱 What a dull person you are🥱
Yawn.
I was so glued to the screen, 40 minutes flashed by. Thanks for a great review of Lotus.
Great Presentation, made me nostalgic and sad. But I think in the near future someone at Lotus will look back at the Elise and say "wouldn't that be fun?" At the end of the day, Simplify + Lightness = FUN
so you either die a hero or live long enough to make f*cking crossovers
Unfortunately, to survive in the modern automotive world you need to keep up with demand and that demand for lightweight sports cars is simply not enough. Car users want their cars filled with tech, touchscreens etc. Add in tough new restrictions on car safety and emissions, and the old stripped out Lotus of old would simply not pass current regulations. I've got an Exige 410 and everytime I look at it I can't help but smile, it looks amazing and drives even better. There really is nothing else like it and it's sad that it will be the last Exige. Unless my circumstances change, I'm never selling it.
I suspect the allure of the touch screen will fade. You should not be looking at things inside your car when driving, that's like looking at the gear leaver when changing gear. A sign of weakness which is only OK when women do it.
That tech garbage they put in cars now just encourages people to be completely distracted while driving. They encourage dangerous behavior
Modern Lotuses, even the EV ones with the exception of the dumpster fire that is the Eletre, are still Lotuses. They’re just Lotus EVs. Hell, Lotus even made a last internal combustion car complete with a manual transmission as one last message that Lotus is still for the drivers, and yet we ignore it as ppl in the car community usually do. I’m saying Lotus is trying to hold onto as much of their spirit as they can in this new electric age (again, with the exception of the Eletre). They just can’t hold onto all of it, cuz EVs are inherently heavy, although the weight issue will iron itself with the introduction of new battery chemistries with greater electric capacities, allowing them to be shrunk down and therefore lighter
@@mrsoisauce9017 I think the purpose of the EV is destroy motoring. The reason for doing that is The Great Reset and the reason for that is to put human freedom back in it's box. Motoring is one of our greatest freedoms which makes it an obvious target.
At 6:04 your video shows a twin carburettor Austin "B" series engine in a Lotus chassis whilst describing it as a Ford derived power unit? I don't ever recall Lotus officially using an Austin derived power plant though Austin did have an element of engine power plant development through the 1960's derived by the legendary John Cooper. In the late 1970's I purchase a dilapidated 1970 Lotus Elan S4 that required not far short of a total rebuild from chassis to electrics to engine and bodywork. Not much I don't know about this particular model and in fact I still own the original cars w/shop manual with receipts! Lotus cars had a manufacturing factory in my home town of Cheshunt in Hertfordshire UK. The factory is still here complete with unique vehicle "drive-off ramp" at the side from the first floor. A very dear friend of mine Michael Dunford used to work at this site during the mid to late 1960's and told me of how things where done back in those times until he lost his job though an unfortunate mishap. Sadly Michael passed away several years ago. The entire road (Delamare Road) is currently (late 2022) subject of a drastic development program which may well see the demolition of this historical building. I will try and clarify with photographs if this noteworthy site can be saved. History needs to be preserved but unfortunately money sometimes clouds this perception ultimately depriving future generations of essential links to the past. How sad is that?. Please request my contact details through this site if you want more information about the Delamere Road Cheshunt site. Thank you. David Parnell
"Lotus is the last brand to stay true to the classic sports car formula" RUF: Am I a joke to you?
Colin Chapman is true legend from both automotive world and formula 1 world.
From a company famous for making simple and light weight car, to evs and heavy ass daily driver 💀
I've just found your channel.... Your Lotus story was mesmerising, excellent delivery, editing, music and production quality. One of the best motorsport historical stories I've watched on KZhead.... I subbed, keep it up Brilliant content.
Very well put together and presented. My father was a big Lotus and Jim Clarke fan, this was the best story I've see on the Lotus story. I bought my first Lotus in 2012, a 2007 Elise S2. I wanted a cheap convertible which would also be a bit of fun, its been a fantastic reliable car, until recently it was a daily driver but now its getting older its getting a bit of TLC and will be used less. Definitely a keeper ,and the school kids faces when you drive past them!!! btw the M90 is up for sale at $86k usd.
I have owned and extensively driven a Series 2 Seven and a Europa Special and consider that you are correct in questioning the validity of that iconic green and yellow badge being attached to the exotic bodies of the models branded as Lotus over the recent years ....... never mind the ownership issues. Coming from such humble and exciting beginnings, a $ US 2.3 million price tag seems like a very rich insult to the name: I am prepared to admit that I might be wrong but my many miles of fun Lotus motoring induce me to feel this way ........ give me an elder Classic any day! Fortunately, we still have Morgans, though the new 3-wheeler has lost a lot of the model's appeal.
The issue is they are entering the big time in automobile manufacturing and lost the will to maintain the lightness theory...
Electric cars are better in almost every way. Yes, they are comparatively heavy - for now. But that is offset by the low COG. Batteries are getting smaller, lighter, more power dense all the time. Yes, they take longer to recharge than petrol vehicles and finding a charge is more difficult - for now. But 800V is being rolled out all along the UK motorway networks. Yes, you don't have the noise, the vibration. I don't miss it. I love the silent glide around town. Many manufacturers install a fake engine noise for those who miss it but it's the first thing I would turn off. I do love the punch in the back when I push the accelerator to the floor, at any speed, without having to cog down first. Anyone who thinks "golf buggy" or "milk cart" when they think of electric cars is plain wrong - those are specialist vehicles. If you have any doubts, find someone who has a Tesla or a Porsche Taycan and ask them to take you up a drag strip. Serious motoring.
That's nice. Where does electricity come from?
@@monsieurcommissaire1628 Unicorn Farts! Not really - It depends very much upon where you come from. At this precise moment in the UK we're at 53% renewable, 68% "green" (including nuclear, which is possibly an argument for another day). Some nations / states will be better, some will be worse. ICE vehicles can only every be 100% carbon emitters, at an efficiency of about 25%, which is not great, before you even make a start on the well-to-wheel argument.
Thank you for a fascinating history lesson. I grew up with the names in the 1960s 1970s, but you put this together with such clarity. In regard to simplify and add lightness as the Lotus mantra, I would love to see small sporty cars which would need smaller and therefore lighter batteries. Surely that should be the Lotus way, rather than yet another hideous SUV? There’s enough SUVs in the marketplace but not small sporty electric cars.
Younger generations of car enthusiasts nowadays probably don’t realise how influential the Austin 7 was in the global car industry. Versions of the Austin 7 were made under licence by American Austin from 1930. Dixi (later bought by BMW) in Germany from 1927 and Rosengart in France from 1928. Austin 7s were also manufactured by Nissan (Datsun) but reports differ as to whether these were built under licence or were unlicensed copies.[citation needed] In addition, rolling chassis were exported to Australia to have locally made bodies attached. Many legendary racing drivers cut their teeth with this simple and surprisingly capable little car, Stirling Moss, Jim Clark, Bruce McLaren, Jack Brabham and a host of others
Your videos are so entertaining! Probably the most fun car documentary I've watched! Keep it up, I'll be tuning in!
Thank you Nathan!
Tesla Roadsters were re-worked Elises. Now they are collectors' items.
Only the chassis was common.
Here is the conundrum Lotus finds itself in: simplify and add lightness results in stripped down cars that the public has failed to purchase in numbers large enough for the company to survive. But if you abandon this doctrine, how do you distinguish yourself in a crowded car market??? This last question becomes even more pressing as you move into very popular as well as very competitive car markets like SUVs or the future big markets in EVs. Can you live off your name? No. Lotus has been irrelevant in the car world for so long, many people have forgotten they still exist. Perhaps the Emira is pointing towards a potential solution. The Emira is basically a re-skinned Evora, but it is a $100,000 sports car that looks like a far more expensive exotic car. Unlike the Evora, that impression is not immediately dispelled by the interior. So far, that seems to be working as my understanding is that 1st year production of the Emira is sold out. However, from what we have heard, Geely is not interested in the small niche car company this strategy would produce. My take is that the Emira was the cheapest way to buy time for Lotus to develop what is coming next which you correctly point out is a SUV (or two). A pic of the new SUV has been teased for later this year. But how many ways are there to design this kind of car and stand out from the crowd??? And what would persuade a potential customer to put up with sub par fit and finish as well as a limited dealer network? Right now, Lotus car stand out on the outside and inside. Granted, the stand outs are not all good, but at least it is distinctive. In the future, Lotus will be hard pressed to stand out at all and that mediocrity could very well be the end of Lotus.
As a Lotus Elise owner, which is "track prepped", I can't feel good about the new offerings. The roar of the engine, taching 8500 RPMs is intoxicating. This feeling cannot be experienced in an electric car, even if the electric car can accelerate more quickly. The five-time SCCA XP-class national champion (Fred Zust) was earned in a Lotus Elise. They are worthy track cars. Chapman was right when he said "horsepower makes you fast in the straights, but lightness makes you fast everywhere". I did not get a Lotus for street driving comfort, otherwise, a BMW would have been purchased. The older Lotus cars were engineered for Driver's experience, instead of doing long road trips, or a trip to the grocery store. They have forgotten what cars brought them back from the brink. I suspect Lotus leadership is simply focusing on the actions, which assure finances for their next fat bonus check (through external finances). I guess earning those checks by making a better car sounds like too much work.
The owners are simply moving with the times and pleasing the woke, LGBT and Vegan communities or what they imagine those people want. All the corporations are doing this. They don't even mind if the go broke as long as they did so with Zero carbon emissions.
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got me crying, its very touching how his wife always got his back
ive had the pleasure of working on the Omega B Irmscher which is essentially the Carltons twin, it was only the 3.0L but the car was so well engineered, it felt luxurious yet with enough sportiness to excite you to drive it, it had a simple design yet it created this powerful aurora which invigorated feelings in you that i simply cannot explain, the engine was nothing else but phenomenal and it sounded incredible. The way the car drove was nothing short of amazing, i loved that car, i would immediately buy one given the chance!
Great piece of story telling! BTW the Celica shown was not the MK2 Supra that Lotus tuned. I had one when I worked for Toyota in the 80's.
Well done! I really didn't know much of anything about Lotus until this video and I sincerely thank you for the history lesson! As to what Lotus will be going forward? Well- I think staying alive would be a respectable achievement. It's a car company that has done what it had to in order to survive- remember the Lotus by Isuzu? Yeah. So cut them some slack and if anyone can make an interesting SUV, it's gotta be these folks.
Thank you for a great, enthralling, truthful and thorough video. The story needed to be told. R.I.P. to dear Hazel who worked so hard to keep their dream alive, and to the LOTUS cars I drove, raced and loved. While in England in the mid-60s I raced for a private Lotus team and got to know Jim Clark (one of my 3 personal heroes) and received many driving and life tips from him, and observed Colin's focus and determination - what a pair! But now the Chinese will do what they always do - turn it into a money maker while stealing others' ideas and destroying its spirit. I will cherish the fond memories and try to find an old Lotus that someone wants to 'unload' and give it the love it deserves.
Great video! Not enough emphasis on the Esprit though IMO. That was my dream car of the mid-80s. In 2008 I got a tour of the Lotus Cars plant and during conversation with several long time employees it came out that they lamented the loss of the Esprit model line.
Excellent video about Lotus, a company I've always admired but not really understood. While I have no problem with electrification, I have a big problem with SUVs. Porsche Cayenne? Ridiculous. Lotus SUV? Equally, or more so. In any case, many thanks for the really thorough review of Lotus. "Add lightness" - I LOVE that. It is the essence of Lotus that I perhaps knew but hadn't reduced to a phrase. Thank you, and RIP to the Lotus of the past.
Great episode. A great way to pass the time on this rainy day.
Agreed!!
Colin Chapman was the godfather of formula 1.
Well said!!!
I had NO IDEA Lotus had a hand in the DMC-12's creation! His is such a fascinating historical lesson, thank you so much for sharing these!
Your videos are some of my absolute favorite car content on YT. Right up there with Jason Cammisa and Throttle House. Keep it up man!!
People love Jason Cammisa's videos for Hagerty, but of course he's presenting from the perspective of a company that directly benefits from a constantly appreciating classic/enthusiast car market. I've long loved such cars myself, but your take on things includes the kind of stuff that Hagerty and others tends to gloss over. Your determination and diligence is appreciated.
I appreciate the kind words! I have immense love and respect for Jason and the Hagerty team! I'm happy that our different perspectives can provide different experiences for viewers!
I'm really excited about the Emira, but after that, who knows
If everybody wants SUVs, car makers have to make them. That is especially true in the UK, where there are actual laws that ensure that a company MUST be run with the intention of making as much money as possible. Not doing so can lead to the directors being disbarred. I currently have a SUV, the first in my life, and it will also be the last. It is a truly hateful thing. Simply knowing that it is carrying all that extra, useless weight around is enough to infuriate me. I bought it simply believing that nobody should criticise a style of vehicle without having owned one, and it has proven even worse than I had ever imagined. It really does absolutely nothing better than a similarly interior-dimensioned car of significantly less than half the price. It has the carrying capacity of a small van, but with the footprint of a medium sized van, the road manners of an ill-tempered warthog and the performance of an asthmatic lawn mower. I can't wait to replace it with an EV.
Thanks for telling me about Hazel Chapman. First I’d heard and such an integral part of Lotus This video presentation timelines Lotus success in racing and with enthusiasts. These successes are almost as amazing as how long the brand has survived making so few cars and so seldom any profit Porsche propers and while making sedans, coupes and yes, SUVs. Porsche survived, grew and still engineers and builds sports cars and races, and still has records at Nurburgring! Emira, less expensive, no pretend backseat, and a manual replaced my lust for a C8 (DCT) Porsche 718 GTS 4.0 ! Manual and naturally aspirated topped my list. $100k for a manual with a recognized wrong gear ratios 😵💫😓. Six speed going 85 mph in second!? I’m hoping Lotus does become a real car company building and selling not 50 cars. Building more than 5,000 Emiras I gave up on the C8s after two years of stuttering plagued production getting out some 40,000 cars! Mazda recently sold their 1 millionth Miata 5,000 Emiras, really?! Better I suppose than the hype for that new NSX, 350? That’s almost T.33 Gordon Murray special?! All the best to Lotus and Gelly. I hope there’s profit and lotuses for All of us.
36:00 only by tax benefits and legislation forcing these companies to go eletric.
you are such an amazing story teller.. like your content alot
Thank you!
Simplify and add lightness- Modern Lotus SUV- hold my crate of beer.
Just after my college days I saw my first Lotus Europa and fell in love with its cornering. Never got one ☹️
Used Lotus Elise or Exige will skyrocket soon.
Just imagine how Chapman felt from the sky when he looked down from heaven to the Elise. And the fact that Hazel was there from the begining to the end. I dont really see a big issue with Lotus' future. And the Emira is lightweight for today's standard at 1400 Kg. How much does a BMW M3 weight? Is it already by two tons? If I could change anything, I would bring Lotus to Toyota's control instead of a Chinese manufacturer (given current situations, it wouldn't surprise me if China banned car sales to the US and other western countries... And that would include Lotus). Toyota would make better use of Lotus, and given that they have powered Lotus cars for decades I don't think it would be worse or something
To put that Emira weight into perspective, a Fiesta ST weighs just short of 1500KG's
@@mreuropa88 Normal hatchbacks weigh ~1000kg, as does the MX5. 1400kg is still pigfat.
@@C.I... Perhaps, but give me an Emira over an MX5 any day.
Dealer in Cardiff in the 70's & 80's used to order a new gearbox and clutch the same day a new car was collected because the delivery time was about the same time that it took for the new car to need them 😄
The Carlton did not die because it was horrible but because it was quite easy to steal that no one wanted it and because of that factor, the insurance premium on those things during those days were off the roof. When the Carlton launched and the press was having a riot about it be it good or bad, it gained notoriety and joyriders soon realized the potential of the car. Coupled with the Sierra Cosworth, both the Carlton and Sierra soon became joyrider's ride of choice as both cars had terrible locking system that's easy to pry open and soon every carjackers would pick these cars, pry the doors open and take it for a high speed chase with the cops who at that that time didn't have anything to catch up with the Sierra and even worse, the Carlton which was way quicker and faster. Thus insurance company started to doll out exorbitant premiums for these cars which effectively class them under supercar status despite being normal coupes or even sedans and that effectively killed anyone's ambitions of wanting to own a car like that and with all these factors coming in hard, the sale stopped.
exactly.
Man your contents are one of a kind. Keep it up
Thank you so much!
Sport cars are exciting, not comforting They are dangerous, not sustainable They are made to be driven to the limit, not to the speed limit, To be desirable, they need to be exclusive, and what is more exclusive than be discontinued?
“To be precious a thing must be finite.” - The Greater Insult.
I think Lotus going electric isn't as big of a problem as them deciding to make a sedan and SUV, I believe Lotus is a brand I always associate with sportscar so hearing a Lotus SUV sounds more out of place than a Lotus Hypercar because atleast a hypercar is still technically a sportscar
I relate to you, Guff! One of my first and favourite Hot Wheels was a green Lotus M250, and as I got older I fell in love with the brand as a whole. It's not a poster, but similar story lol
Lotus is just moving with the times, light cars just can't meet the safety standards needed to be road legal anymore. Plus I believe Colin Chapman would be onboard with electric drive as it gives so much more control. Also, electric drive is way simpler than ice.
Ignoring actual reality; if all cars were electric and someone invented an ICE engine, Chapman would throw out the electric nonsense for the weight saving alone.
@@fredmercury1314 until some one figures out how to make the ev’s that are just as light.
@@rexthewolf3149 Never going to happen. It would require a physics-breaking breakthrough.
@@fredmercury1314 Can't beat the energy density of petrol. If synth fuel can get cheap enough, EVs are going to be a footnote.
Just going to ignore the existence of the MX5? Okay. It's ~1000kg and passes all crash regs, btw.
We want a car company that listens, y does everything have to be a big ugly SUV. We need a simple, basic, and fun car brand that doesn't try to reinvent the wheel, but perfects it
The kei car
Another car you seem to be un aware of is the lotus Isuzu Gemini from Japan. It was a front wheel drive Gemini (I'm sure there's another European car with a different name). It was built before the 90s elan as a test bed for the elan engine, it had recaro seats, different suspension and a body kit. There was also a later version with awd and a turbo
When I was a small child during very early 80's, I had a slot car track with Lotus Esprit. Others hated it because it looked dumb, but for me that was a first touch with Lotus. I have loved their cars after those days.
They used to say, the future is digital. In the car industry, the future is electric.
I wouldn't be so sure. The current energy crisis highlights how important fossil fuels are, and how inadequate all current electricity network infrastructure is (world wide). If current demand is barely being met, how is an all-electric vehicle fleet going to be supplied with energy? It doesn't add up.
@@cvanscho I think they will have it figured out. Fossil fuels willnhave its use. It's not like it is going to suddenly disappear, global transition to full electric will take decades. Some automobile companies are planning to shift to electric only by 2030 and that is just the start. Let's see how battery technology evolves in this decade.
The future is probably electric but definitely not battery
The future is high energy density without waiting a day to charge, straining the electricity grid or polluting. Hence, carbon capture (or similar) to make synthetic petrol.
The push for EV everything makes no sense to me, we are still going to deplete natural resources to make them.. what happens when we run out lithium for all the batteries? Carbon fuel makes more sense to me..
Neither are good. The car center life style is completely unstable. It’s the dirty truth that the automotive industry just isn’t willing to admit. EVs are just a ways of staving off the reality of the situation.
Synthetic fuel makes even more sense.
That old flat 16 engine was in fact a BRM H-16.
Good catch. And with Jim Clark at the wheel, it was the H-16's only F-1 win.
Entertaining video with a bit of not previously known insights. I do have issue with how you present the early years of Colin Chapman's car development and racing heritage. Chapman wasn't creating his earliest car in a vacuum. The first three car series were to compete in British hill climb events where they were successful, but not really so different from their competitors. The post war Brits had a performance car sub-industry created around building your own light weight track/street car from either hot rodded pre war cars or from manufactured kit cars which is where Chapman/Lotus thrived. The suspensions on Chapman engineered car were very much superior to other maker's offering and gave Lotus a significant advantage. You gloss over the fact that for Chapman, everything he did as far as manufacturing road cars was only to support his race car endeavors. You do allude to that mid video, but it a driving force in Chapman's decisions. As for the death rate of Lotus drivers: you might want to compare that to how many drivers died in other manufacturer's cars. F1 of the late 1950's and 1960's viewed the drivers as expendable items not much more valued than the tires on the cars. It took the efforts of Jackie Stewart at the end of the 1960's to force rules changes that would make safety features a part of the cars, but more importantly, the race courses the cars performed on. Were Chapman's cars more fragile than other. Yes. Did that make them bad cars? Hardly. For context, Porsche had a racing car with a chassis so fragile that it was pumped full of nitrogen gas and had a pressure gauge in the cockpit of the car. If the driver saw the pressure drop, he dropped out of the race because the frame had failed in the car. Race cars are dangerous, and everyone around them know it. Also let it be noted: Chapman attracted the biggest names as drivers at the time. The death of a star, no matter the enterprise, always carries a longer lasting impression than the loss in the same way of a driver no one had really paid attention too. The late 1970's cars that seem to diverge from Chapman's goal of designing out weight were an actual corporate decision to rebrand the companies offerings. Gone was the market the British sports car - MG and Triumph plus the other small maker (except Morgan) all had disappeared by 1980. The market was in up scale cars such as Porsche or Ferrari like cars, so that is where Lotus directed their efforts. I have real issues with the pictures you used to illustrate some off your points early in this video. At one time you are referencing Lotus' sue of Ford engine when the engine on screen is a MG 'A' series engine as used in the MG Midget. That was an engine used in some of the Lotus 7's and 11's, but was certainly not the engine of the early Lotus 6 or 7's.