RideLust

There have been a lot of goofy automobile ads over the years but this new one from Lotus ranks up there amongst the best. Apparently Lotus wanted to show us how their new 345 hp, 2012 Exige S has more agility than a professional boxer. To do this they’ve enlisted the services of a professional drifter, an athlete and a large skid-pad. Even though I don’t necessarily agree with the concept, I have to say that watching a Lotus put on a full-on drift show is pretty damn cool… Hokey mind you, but cool.

Image: Lotus

Police departments in Italy have used some impressive rides throughout the years. The Italian State Police (Polizia di Stato) had a pair of Lamborghini Gallardos until one was totaled in a wreck with a Seat Ibiza. Now comes word from Lotus that the Italian Military Police, the Arma dei Carabinieri, have taken delivery of two specially equipped Lotus Evora S police cars. Read More…

The 2011 Lotus livery. Image: Lotus

The last time I told you about Bruno Senna, the nephew of F1 great Ayrton Senna was among the ranks of the unemployed. After a disappointing year with perennial backmarker HRT, Senna was given the boot to make room for a driver with cold, hard cash. F1 it seem, is no longer about a driver’s ability to go fast, but rather about his ability to bring big money to a team. Prospects looked bleak for Senna landing a ride in 2011, but Lotus has given us some good news. Bruno Senna will serve as a test driver for the Lotus F1 team in the 2011 season, working alongside team drivers Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen. Read More…

The Lotus Type 125. Image: Lotus

Thirty years ago, Lotus’ Colin Chapman watched an apparently fearless British driver rise through the F3 ranks. Chapman liked what he saw, and offered a contract to the driver, who was older than most just entering the big leagues; hence, Nigel Mansell’s F1 career was born. Mansell spent the 1980 to 1984 seasons with Lotus, before going on to race with Williams and Ferrari in F1, then later with Newman Haas in the U.S. CART IndyCar World Series. Mansell was fast in nearly everything he drove, and is universally praised as being one of the top 50 Grand Prix drivers of all time. For 2011, Mansell is again back with Lotus, though not in the capacity you’re probably imagining. Read More…

Performance cars as a whole have a lot to live up to. They need to have supermodel looks, Olympic athlete performance and a presence that can push Brad and Angelina out of the spotlight at any given moment. Not only do manufacturers need to accomplish this, but they need to do it in such away that people will lay out big money for their creations. Right now the North American International Auto Show is going on in Detroit and within those walls are some of the most righteous creations ever to hit the tarmac. Porsche for instance is there with their stellar new 918 RSR, as is Cadillac with the new CTS-V Coupe SCCA racer. Both of these machines stem from amazing road cars that have not only peaked our imagination, but have gotten us excited for things to come. Sometimes auto makers put out cars that are simply lackluster and for one reason or another, just don’t resonate with consumers. Below is a listing of 5 cars that have outstanding performance numbers, but are about as exciting as watching water boil.
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A Caterham 7. Image: sjmmarsh

No road-going car in the history of the automobile sums up the Colin Chapman philosophy of “adding lightness” better than the Lotus 7, which lives on to this day in the form of the Caterham Roadsport and Superlight series. The cars weigh next to nothing, since luxury amenities are limited to things like seats, a steering wheel and a windshield. They’re considered to be among the best track-day toys you can buy, but they’re less than pleasant to drive on the roads to and from the track. Worse, they’re ugly as sin, since aesthetics were never considered in the vehicle’s design. Headlights and turn signals are tacked-on afterthoughts, as are the front fenders. The nose of the car is a giant grille, which gives the Caterham the appearance of a shell-shocked amphibian. Sure it’s fast, but it’s as sexy as John Madden in a dress.

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For me, the 1980′s conjure up visions of cars like the Lamborghini Countach, Ferrari Testarossa and Porsche 959. These were the super cars of the day and ones that I always hoped I would have a chance to drive. Most of them were outstanding performers by 1980′s standards, and have thus far, stood the test of time. There were however a select group of exotics built during the 1980′s that for one reason or another, never really caught on with the buying public. Maybe it had to do with spotty build quality, an exceedingly high price tag or the fact that they were underachievers. Whatever the reason though some of these big dollar cars simply didn’t make it and because of that, they sit below as part of this list.
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Jim Clark was a racing legend who racked up two Formula One World Championships, won some 25 Grand Prix races and even competed in NASCAR before his untimely death in 1968. In the United States, he’s perhaps best known for winning the 1965 Indianapolis 500 in a Lotus 38, the first mid-engined car to win at Indy. Clark qualified for the 1965 race on the front row, and utterly dominated the competition. He lead all but 10 laps in the Lotus, and took the checkered flag with only four additional cars on the lead lap.

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IndyCar’s 2012 competition rules should draw viewers back to the series. For the first time since the early years of this decade, American open wheel fans can watch cars powered by different engines and wearing unique aerodynamic packages compete against other, “different” cars. Lotus was among the first to announce an aero package (still under development) for the 2012 Dallara chassis. We knew all along that Honda would continue to build motors, and Chevy announced their return to the series last week. AutoWeek reports that Lotus has jumped into the engine competition as well, and will supply a V6 motor for the 2012 season.

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Looking back on this year’s Paris Auto Show, Lotus stood out as the manufacturer “most likely to throw away all their working capital building concept cars”. Worse, these concepts took the boutique automaker into some stratospheric pricing and seemed to ignore the basic premise of Colin Chapman’s genius. Instead of “adding lightness”, the five cars shown by Lotus in Paris seemed to add luxury and gadgetry, at the expense of lightness and performance. Even the styling of the concept cars was controversial, taking Lotus in an entirely new, Lamborghini influenced direction.

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