Overview
The regional engineer from Lotus gave us an unplanned demonstration of the hilarity involved in getting in and out of one of the company's Elise convertibles.
When he dropped off our press loaner this month in Manhattan, the car washed away any chance we had of missing it as he drove by--a Camry from Toyota Motor (nyse: TM - news - people ) will dwarf the Elise when idling next to it at a stoplight--thanks to its deep, fierce aubergine purple paint (about which we received several comments from pedestrians, such as "Oh man. That's the right color, bro").
HIGHS:
Among the best-handling cars you'll ever see. Lightweight body + high-revving Toyota motor = lots of fun. Gets a ton of attention.
LOWS:
Among the worst city rides you'll ever experience. Comically uncomfortable. Requires no personal insecurities about size.
When the engineer pulled up at the curb, he opened the driver's door of the tiny, go-kart-like toy. He threw one leg over the enormous ledge that runs between the seat and the door. Then he changed his mind. Then we saw fingers grabbing at the roof of the vehicle, and a couple of surges outward from the guy's feet and knees, then another retreat back into the vehicle.
The next thing we saw was an upward-pointing head emerging from the top of the driver's window, the way a mechanic's head comes forward when he slides out from underneath a car. Presumably using his legs as a lever to project himself outward as such, the engineer unfastened the Elise's black, manual-folding cloth convertible top, rolled it toward the center of the car to expose the cockpit to the chilly November air, and then--finally--he was able to turn around, open the door and somehow catapult himself past the ledge and on to the street.
We knew then that one's wife--or mother, for that matter--would never look appropriate entering or exiting this vehicle. A weekend of testing the car confirmed that once you're in it, you will need at least 30 to 60 seconds to get out of it--and no, there's no way to look cool while you do it.
Since it introduced the Elise eight years ago, Lotus has sold more than 10,000 models of the car worldwide, even though it only went on sale this summer in the U.S. Waiting lists are long for the 2005 convertible, for which some U.S. dealers began taking orders in 2001.
Group Lotus, the legendary British race- and sports-car manufacturer, seemed in the 1990s to be headed for extinction. It left Formula 1 racing in 1995, and Lotus Cars USA has been barely visible in the U.S. in the last few years, selling only the V-8-powered, ultra-low-volume Esprit supercar.
But serious automotive enthusiasts bring Lotus up in serious conversations about the best sports-car manufacturers of all time. Having been bailed out of some financial troubles by the Proton Group, a Malaysian carmaker that acquired it in 1996, Lotus now has a chance to expand, thanks to the higher-volume Elise. The company will bring another vehicle to America in 2006.
Lotus builds the Elise by hand in a new, high-tech factory at its headquarters in Hethel, England. The factory will allow Lotus to bring more cars at higher volumes into export markets such as the U.S. Read on to see if this is news about which you should be excited.
http://www.forbes.com/2004/11/22/cx_dl_1122test.html?partner=daily_newsletter
The regional engineer from Lotus gave us an unplanned demonstration of the hilarity involved in getting in and out of one of the company's Elise convertibles.
When he dropped off our press loaner this month in Manhattan, the car washed away any chance we had of missing it as he drove by--a Camry from Toyota Motor (nyse: TM - news - people ) will dwarf the Elise when idling next to it at a stoplight--thanks to its deep, fierce aubergine purple paint (about which we received several comments from pedestrians, such as "Oh man. That's the right color, bro").
HIGHS:
Among the best-handling cars you'll ever see. Lightweight body + high-revving Toyota motor = lots of fun. Gets a ton of attention.
LOWS:
Among the worst city rides you'll ever experience. Comically uncomfortable. Requires no personal insecurities about size.
When the engineer pulled up at the curb, he opened the driver's door of the tiny, go-kart-like toy. He threw one leg over the enormous ledge that runs between the seat and the door. Then he changed his mind. Then we saw fingers grabbing at the roof of the vehicle, and a couple of surges outward from the guy's feet and knees, then another retreat back into the vehicle.
The next thing we saw was an upward-pointing head emerging from the top of the driver's window, the way a mechanic's head comes forward when he slides out from underneath a car. Presumably using his legs as a lever to project himself outward as such, the engineer unfastened the Elise's black, manual-folding cloth convertible top, rolled it toward the center of the car to expose the cockpit to the chilly November air, and then--finally--he was able to turn around, open the door and somehow catapult himself past the ledge and on to the street.
We knew then that one's wife--or mother, for that matter--would never look appropriate entering or exiting this vehicle. A weekend of testing the car confirmed that once you're in it, you will need at least 30 to 60 seconds to get out of it--and no, there's no way to look cool while you do it.
Since it introduced the Elise eight years ago, Lotus has sold more than 10,000 models of the car worldwide, even though it only went on sale this summer in the U.S. Waiting lists are long for the 2005 convertible, for which some U.S. dealers began taking orders in 2001.
Group Lotus, the legendary British race- and sports-car manufacturer, seemed in the 1990s to be headed for extinction. It left Formula 1 racing in 1995, and Lotus Cars USA has been barely visible in the U.S. in the last few years, selling only the V-8-powered, ultra-low-volume Esprit supercar.
But serious automotive enthusiasts bring Lotus up in serious conversations about the best sports-car manufacturers of all time. Having been bailed out of some financial troubles by the Proton Group, a Malaysian carmaker that acquired it in 1996, Lotus now has a chance to expand, thanks to the higher-volume Elise. The company will bring another vehicle to America in 2006.
Lotus builds the Elise by hand in a new, high-tech factory at its headquarters in Hethel, England. The factory will allow Lotus to bring more cars at higher volumes into export markets such as the U.S. Read on to see if this is news about which you should be excited.
http://www.forbes.com/2004/11/22/cx_dl_1122test.html?partner=daily_newsletter
