OakMan

I have a friend who's a GTechnique accredited detailer, thankfully not one of those who tries to sell you all the products and services, he just recommends the ones that are valid and beneficial. I asked him about my Evora interior which is also all Alcantara. To echo Keith's (ExeterJeep) advice, a light brush off with a vacuum available if dusty, then wipe down with a dampened cloth - microfibre not spongy wash cloth, allow to dry then give it a light brush to restore the finish and the nap of the fabric was his advice. I also asked should it be coated with Scotchguard or the equivalent, absolutely not was his recommendation. GTechnique do a terrific fabric protector that puts a water proof coating on standard car fabrics, making them easier to clean if dirty - I thought he would have suggested that but no was the answer. Keep enjoying your car 👍 PS. New Car Odour now comes in easy to use bio friendly Eco Green recyclable bottles, at all good car accessory shops, next to the Snake Oil, Parrots Teeth and Unicorn Dust 😉 🤣

Snap Just waiting on the 4th one in Essex Blue to join us 🤩

At Monsal Head car park, Peak District, Derbyshire. Middle of last week. A very scenic stop off for the two of them, you couldn't really miss them on such a grey day, one was bright Orange the other a pale Gulf Blue with orange accents. Sorry no photos as I was driving. I can only guess it was a magazine road test - wait and see ?

You are correct, mentioning the dealership is not tactful. I certainly wouldn’t have wished to compromise them with the factory. However the co owners comments were in open conversation whilst there was another customer there adjacent to myself, who had come to look at their new Morgan’s. The conversation/discussion was with us both. One can only surmise that the factory would have been very aware of their position after the reps visit.

Regarding Emira and the electric range of cars. I was at Central Lotus Nottingham a couple of months back. They had just had their visit that week from the factory sales rep. They were not very impressed that all the rep wanted to talk about was the electric cars, the Emira was completely dismissed. They were expected to confirm how many EV's they were going to (have to) take and that they would have to upgrade their workshop to work on them with all the very expensive new equipment required, including 2 new lifts. Also the vehicles would often require two mechanics (sorry technicians) to work on them at the same time whilst doing diagnostics. Word from the co owner was they weren't remotely interested in taking the electric vehicles - IE extremely kissed off. Additionally they said their commission as an order taker is very low, they have to do any warranty work on behalf of Lotus (unless it's a factory recall job), what incentive is there for them in all that ? Who knows if they will be de franchised or choose not to continue as an official sales agent (a very dubious position given Lotus new preference of direct sales). They may become an 'official service centre' like a lot of the Classic Lotus people were designated. Or just be freelance independent specialists. Incidentally the owner said they had topped Lotus sales/order charts for Emira - a statement I cannot verify I hasten to add. There has been a lot of bad timing and unfortunate coincidence with the Emira launch and deliveries, all too well documented here and online in general. Sadly this has happened to Lotus too often over the years. I'm a true fan, having three Lotus cars. The Emira was very much of interest to me. For me it now will be one of those cars that I will wait till all the problems are ironed out (like all first release vehicles have) and till prices drop to more sensible levels.

Looks like you have a fair distance to go to many of the official or independent specialists. I have known and used Chris Foulds at CJ Foulds Motors near Huddersfield for a great number of years. He looks after my classic Elan, S1 Elise and GT430 Evora. He doesn't find unnecessary work or costs and is always impartial with advice. They can't do some of the diagnostics on the Evora, apparently it's a bit different to the earlier Evora's which they can do. If it requires diagnostic work I take it to Central at Nottingham. Though Central are one of the newer generation of dealers their background is they own and ran the successful Le Mans Evora and campaigned it for Lotus. I've been very satisfied with them too.

Aided by the necessary take off velocity - 85mph 😇

A younger me captured on film circa 1990. Image was taken by Duncan Wherret for his Osprey book on the Elan. He was lying by the side of the road less than 6ft from the car ! Brave (or foolish) chap.

Funny, I always thought that this was Pistachio 😉

Email received today from Central Lotus, Nottingham. No doubt other main dealerships will have sent similar promotional messages. Pistonheads also has 5 new cars direct from the factory among the 34 for sale presently. Beat the £5,000 price increase on the Central Lotus Emira's in stock. PS. I have no affiliation with Lotus or Central Lotus

I read some of it - I would be totally confused ! 😂 There appears to be pages about the adaptive cruise control and lane assistance. Obviously not designed for owners of older or Classic Lotus 🫣 PS. What's ADAS ?? Or have I already dropped a goolie with the above about cruise control

Crikey 282 pages of handbook - Lotus keeping to minimalism or what !

I drove briefly on Sunday for first time since mid June. I’ve had a bit of a year with unexpected health issues. Well on the mend now thank you Jimmy. I contracted a hospital infection in mid June when I went in for something minor. I caught EColi which attacked my joints and ended in my right knee. Technically it is septic Arthritis and it totally disabled my knee and leg. Im just off crutches now and getting around better. not driven a Lotus since early June 🥲

Hi Scotty, I followed Ray the main organiser of LITP. He was in a Riviera Blue 410, it wasn’t his but a friend of his car. I was in my Sprint. It was the promo video shoot. I did the promo video the year after in my S1 Elise - it turned out they used footage of that quite a bit which I didn’t expect.

"For the trained ear not much out there sounds as good, (with the possible exception of V12 Vantage). 😎" That's what did it for me, following a 410 in my Elan for the filming of the promo video for LITP 3 years ago ! Mighty expensive exhaust note 🤣 it's stunning. I can't remember if I told you the outcome with my car, it was the ECU that had failed. Lotus allowed a bit of goodwill on its cost and Central fitted & re programmed it. Unfortunately I missed this years event, I was due to lead one of the Classic runs again but ended up in hospital before it, ended up being 4 weeks.