Based only on looks and the spec sheet, I would want one... if I wanted an SUV, which I defiitely do not. Fingers crossed that the actual product lives up to the promise, because that's a good looking car.
Brand means nothing to me since over time the people change and everything engineering is about people , not brand.
, and that has gone down in history whereas the facts were very different.
Great story Frank… it’s sad Chapman got involved in the DeLorean scandal that tarnished his legacy.Brand means nothing to me since over time the people change and everything engineering is about people , not brand.
I know there are brand fans who like to think the ethos of a company is independant and maintained but this is at complete variance with my experience.
Lotus was sucessful in F1 when it was run by Colin Chapman and his biggest talent was getting big sponsorship - they had by far the biggest budget.
I got to know him fairly well in the short time I knew him since we both sat on the same FIA committee as FOCA representatives so had briefings and travelled together.
A very clever and competitive man whose interest in engineering was only exceeded by his push to make a lot of money.
Once he had gone it went into decline - holding on with successful BS, journalists genuinely believed their story that they had the best car in 1986 held back by the Renault engine
By the time I went to work there all the engineering data had been sold and no longer available. the wind tunnel contract run out and replaced by one with a company that hadn't finished theirs yet etc, and the budget was no longer the biggest, hopeless.
Lotus Cars under Chapman had a reputation for great but unreliable cars - my experience was that the Elan was a much better car than the Porsche 911 in every way but build quality, for example. Thankfully my mate's, built from a kit, was completely reliable.
Lotus Cars has gone through multiple owners since, all having bought the company for the name and all running it nothing like Colin did.
The only thing Lotus about the Eletre is the badge and a bit of handling work done, probably, by people who weren't born when Colin died.
OTOH it will probably be well made and reliable and looks quite nice (for a SUV) even though the key design features of a Chapman conceived car are entirely missing
I feel the same about all car companies, including Porsche. What is there today is nothing like the roots IMO.
Having travelled to Paris with Colin and Bernie Ecclestone for meetings I was not surprised by the de Lorean thing, listening to them discuss it he was, by then, probably far more interested in getting rich and avoiding tax than he was in cars. Sad but IME the way it was.
Some say he faked his death !
Quality control….Hmmm. Our Taycans aren’t exactly bastions of perfect quality control are they. Be honest with yourself.
They do indeed
This is very true.
