Spinney

I wish I could say that was helping. 😂 👍

That's an interesting observation about the 410 thanks Bibs and just the sort of comparison I'm after.👍 I'm a Lotus man too and have been since boyhood but having said that, my man maths is telling me I could keep a McLaren for a year to 18 months, then maybe move it on without losing too much, whereupon I could hopefully return to the fold, having got it out of my system. Hmmmm, what to do???🤔

I'm really happy with my Exige V6 Roadster but with advancing years I admit it isn't the easiest of cars to get in or out of whilst retaining any semblance of dignity. For the last couple of years or so I've been living in hope and ultimately frustrated anticipation as I, along with other Lotus cognoscenti, await the oft mooted but thus far mythical Evora 400 Roadster. In the meantime, we've seen seemingly endless variations on a theme, all involving the coupe version, 410, 410 GT, 430 GT and Sport etc etc, to the point where I'm now thinking I should maybe just give up waiting for a Roadster, that may never happen anyway, and go for a coupe. With that in mind, I was in the Bell & Colvill showroom last week, whilst my Exige was being worked on, and spent a while looking at the 410 GT and the 430 Jamie has in stock there. Both lovely looking cars and despite having a fixed roof, either one wouldn't look out of place in my garage, so that has set me thinking. Yes, I am a little disappointed that with spring now in full swing, the Roadster still hasn't surfaced as even if it was announced now, I'm sure deliveries wouldn't commence until well into summer, thus maybe missing the best of the weather for such a car this year. I know this is a tad long winded but please bear with me here. Assuming a coupe is now the way forward for me, I was talking with a mate last night and he suddenly decided to throw me a curved ball by suggesting that for not much more than a high end Evora, I could have something like this sitting in my garage:- http://www.ascot.mclaren.com/mclaren-preowned/2016/mclaren/540c/2016-mclaren-540c-storm-grey-ascot-for-sale-sbm13cac6gw000881 I hadn't really considered one before and just assumed McLarens would all be well out of my range, but the one linked to is certainly doable as an alternative to a new Evora. This has now left me in a bit of a quandary as since the 1960s, I've almost always owned a Lotus of some sort and consider myself a real dyed in the wool Lotus fanboy, but the chance of owning a Woking built alternative has now got me excited. Had the Evora Roadster already been unveiled, I would without doubt either have my order in or the car actually sitting in my garage, but I'm now wavering and possibly doing the previously unthinkable, by deserting the brand. So, should I do it and does anybody here have any real world experience with a McLaren?

With apologies to the OP of this topic, I do think it's a tad unfair to compare Lotus from 2012 with the current company and management. 2012 was the end of the rather unfortunate Bahar era when Lotus were very clearly all but bankrupt and in a completely different position to today. Yes, it is very unfortunate the 2 recent US owners started off with a poor experience but it seems to me in both cases that was down to the dealers rather than the manufacturer. What I do find very encouraging in both those cases though, is that Lotus appear to be listening and very willing to resolve the issues encountered. Trust me, as a long time Lotus owner approaching nearly 50 years of buying their products, the current management are a world away from previous owners of the brand. I am hugely encouraged at the giant leaps forward since JMG took the helm and for once I really do think Lotus have a bright future now. They are on an upward trajectory rather than lurching from one crisis to the next as they have done throughout their history. Let's give them a bit more time and I'm convinced we will see a really strong company emerging.

That's great thanks fellas, I'll let him know. 👍

Thanks Bibs. Any experiences from folk who have used them would be appreciated. 👍

Just reaching out to the US Lotus fans here. My son who, naturally enough, takes after his dad in being a Lotus fanboy (with me owning several examples over the last 50 years, there was little chance he wouldn’t be), now lives and works in Michigan. He has obviously thrown himself into V8 muscle cars since being over there (well you would wouldn’t you) but announced to me this week he is now hankering after having a Lotus in the garage (that’s my boy!). He has driven my Elise/Exige cars over the years, including track use, but being the US, realises it must be an Evora. That, in fact, is a good thing anyway since at 6’-4”, my cars have always been a bit of a squeeze, to say the least! So, any suggestions for recommended dealers in Michigan whom he should visit please? He lives in Rochester Hills, but is happy to travel a bit, obviously. TIA 👍

It's a normal Lotus practice to do 'special edition' limited runs. However, in my experience with them, you can almost always show them the colour of your money and they can be 'persuaded' to do more. It just won't have a 'number X of xyz' plaque on the dash is all.

He looks a real character and looking at his frilly ears, you can see he's a bit of a scrapper. So long as he wins! Maine Coons are really nice friendly cats. They tend to follow humans around the house and garden and one of the things that drew us to them is that unlike some of the oriental breeds, they don't yowl loudly. I also like that they are often big - very big! Our brown tabby, Chuck, in the pic above weighed nearly 10kgs when he reached full maturity, was all muscle and the scourge of the wildlife around here. He was always very gentle with us though. My wife often tells the tale of answering the front door to a delivery chap and as they often did, the cats walked alongside her. As she opened the door, the delivery chap looked down, saw Chuck looking up at him and immediately took one step back while asking, "is it friendly"?

Maine Coon or Norwegian Forest??? Here's our Coon, finally went at 21 years old last summer. The wife took this pic and only realised afterwards the reflection of white lights in the glass at the opposite end of the room makes it look like he's wearing a flipping tiara! He was big and butch, so wouldn't have been best pleased had he known. His sister, a red tabby Maine Coon 'only' lasted 19 years. We need to get a couple more this year.

Some folk can be very excitable.

He did after the marshals gave him a right rollicking and told him to apologise to me. Damage isn’t too bad thanks and mainly tyre scuffs down the right hand side from the rear, along the rear wheel arch towards the driver’s door so should hopefully be just a paint job. He ended up running alongside me over the grass. We had only done the two sighting laps behind the course car so most of us weren’t even going that quickly. He obviously just suffered brain fade. At least I didn’t turn in as originally intended or he would have T boned me.

Enjoying my first trackday of the year in the Exige today. Yippee!!! Just reaching the turn in point of the chicane when I suddenly hear tyre squeal from behind. Hasty look in the door mirror reveals the car behind barrelling forwards towards me with all 4 wheels locked and smoke pouring off his tyres! I immediately straightened up to go straight on over the grass, praying the twonk behind would miss me. He didn’t!!!!!

It is a small world sometimes. We spent Christmas 2016 in New York and on Christmas Eve had dinner in a pub/restaurant just off Times Square. Just after we'd sat down and ordered drinks, the owner was going round the tables chatting to the customers. Eventually he came to us and started with the usual "Hi folks, where are you guys from?" I replied with my standard response when in foreign parts of "about 50 miles west of London, England." Ok, he said, what town? "Oh you won't have heard of it, it's a place called Farnham." "Yes, I know it," he said and at this point, his previous US accent changed to a southern Brit accent. "Ah right, you're one of us" I said. "How do you know it"? "I was born in Aldershot where my dad was in the army and lived in the area until I was 16. Do you know Ramillies Road"? "Yes" I said "I bought a car from an army guy who lived there back in '76, a Cortina 1600E." "Yeah? Can you remember his name"? "Actually I can as it was an unusual name". I told him the name and imagine my surprise when he said "That's my dad"! I told him I remember two small kids, a boy and a girl, when I went to look at the car and it turns out that was him and his twin sister, aged 4 at the time. A truly incredible coincidence.

Couldn’t resist posting it. I too love the Essex Blue and could easily spec that as the preferred colour, but the Burnt Orange is just soooo beautiful! I really do love it, ever since I specced my old Elise SC in the colour.

May not ‘need’ it but doesn’t half suit it well.

I've just been looking online at that Burnt Orange 430 in Murrays. My oh my, that is a very handsome car they have there.

Yes I understand that, but you would presumably get warning lights coming on and provided you stop ASAP, it shouldn't be an issue. Cam belts on the other hand will cause instant catastrophic damage.

Re the supercharger belt change, I was told similar on my Exige V6, that it would only be changed if it looked like it needed it. The rationale behind it is that should the belt actually break and come off, it won't wreck the engine, unlike cam belts and so it isn't as sensitive. A pal of mine with a Ferrari 355 has his cam belts changed every 3 years, despite only doing around 2000 miles a year in it. He admits the belts are probably still in good condition but, for obvious reasons I guess, he is quite paranoid about the potential consequences should one break. To make matters worse, they have to remove the engine to change the belts. You can only imagine the cost of that! Makes me feel kinda smug about my humble Toyota lump. Similar performance but much less cost!

I will, indeed, turn up at a meeting. Just not this one, unfortunately, as I’m away on holiday again. It’s a tough life but somebody’s got to do it! As Kevin says, I am a trackaholic and looking forward to my first of the season with the Exige at Castle Combe on March 14th, being run by the Brooklands Trust. I hope to make the next meeting though for a beer and to catch up with you Kevin. I can’t believe it’s been well over 6 years since that meeting in your office!

I wasn't meaning to be harsh with my comments and whilst I applaud somebody's efforts at 'personalising' their car, it was always going to be a bit 'Marmite'. Seeing the end result of this just makes me think I now know why Lotus are taking their time with the official version despite JMG saying, some 3 years ago, he had already driven the prototype Roadster. I read somewhere last year (possibly Autocar) he said that turning the car into a Roadster has involved a bit more of a redesign than simply removing the roof. I can imagine them looking at the early prototype and thinking hmmm, I think we'd better go back to the drawing board on this one.

Oh dear, that's not a good look is it.

Good to hear thanks.

Not sure I’m too keen on the outlet shape shown in those pics. Would they do just twin round pipes do you know?

Bloody hell, that is one gorgeous looking car!