Daftest comment you've had

[semi42]

Owning an Esprit tends to attract attention, some comments are, lets say, misinformed.

I pulled into a car parking space just as a girl and her bf/hubby were walking past.

"wow, that car is gorgeous" she said , i heard him reply " nah... its just a kit car, one of them ones with a vw engine in the back".

Mate of mine had just built a ford pop hot rod with an exposed 1600 ford engine . One onlooker was heard to say, "he should fit one of those six cylinder v8s in"

[Rodewaryer]

Well them's fighting words to be sure. None of my experiences are that far left of center.

I was sick of the "does that have the V8 in it?" questions the first year or two I had my Alpine, and I've had it 34 years.....but once I had a guy ask if it was a Karman Ghia.

Sunbeam:

VW Karman Ghia:

Sorry, I don't see it.

[ramjet]

I had one as well. Picking my daughter up from the races where she works sometimes, family walks past. The young lad goes 'Wow dad look at this.' Dad goes 'yeah it's a Lotus' then walks over to me and says 'Is this a genuine one or a plastic fantastic?'

Dad - the font of all knowledge.

[cumbriaimp]

Well, i haven't had the white S2 out of the garage yet and

I've already had two people saying, 'ah yes, the James Bond car'!

Am I really going to regret the fact that the one I got is white,

everytime someone sees it??!?

still, least I've got one!

[Loose Cannon]

Am I really going to regret the fact that the one I got is white

That's a different viewpoint seeing as the world and his wife seem to want a white Bondmobile! Don't worry if it gets you down you could sell it very easily....but don't.

[billt]

I get a lot of "Is that a Ferrari?" so I was pleasantly surprised when someone shouted "Wow, a Lotus....E Spirit". Well, I guess Esprit DOES look like E Spirit so I sort of just let it go. After all, he got the Lotus part right.

[TrapperJohn]

Back in my Europa days, I had unfolded myself out of it (6'2", it was a bit of a squeeze), and an attractive young lady walked over, pointed down and asked... how do you get into that?

I was tempted to reply - well, you could start by buying me a drink.

The Esprit draws the occasional Ferrari comparison. I feel a bit insulted. Pretentious Italian go kart.

[winners]

"does it go underwater"... It gets funnier every time I hear it!!!

[rogerch]

Not an Esprit, my old Elan, "Oh look there's one of those copies of the MX5". He was joking, but I thought it quite funny.

[mangel]

"Your Tyres flat!"

"No, they're low profile!!"

"Yeah, thats wht I said, they're flat!!"

One from the police

"I had to thrash my car to keep up with you!"

had to reply with "Get a better car!"

And the alltime classic when messing around as a nipper in my Camels ear SRI (had just been performing hand break turns in a moment of extreme boredom)

"Is that car yours?"

I wave keys at them

Response "Strange!!"

[Vulcan Grey]

I bought my car in Nashville Tennessee and drove it home to Colorado. In Memphis TN a guy walked up to me at a gas station and asked "what class of car is that?"...

I asked him what he mean't a few times and he just kept repeating that question "what class of car is that?".

I finally just told him "it's Class A, like a Ferrari". he seemed happy with that classification.

Also near Memphis I had stopped at a garage to try and fix the windshield wiper arm, which had just broken in a torrential downpour. This enormous redneck in overalls (350lbs+) with a huge beard walked up, leaned (layed down on the hood really) on the front of the Esprit and said "it ain't got but one wipah" in a high pitched southern drawl. Right out of Deliverance...

Also, my 75+ year old neighbor asked me about the car while I was washing it once. She asked me what it was, and when I told her, she said "oh that's the company started by that Colin Chapman in England!" !!!!!! I was impressed. She also liked the "steel blue" color (close enough).

Edited May 7, 2009 by Vulcan Grey

[dodgy]

Shortly after buying mine, i drove it to work but stopped off at the ATM on the way.

A nice soft spoken elderly man walked over and started to talk about the car, He thought the car was worth a lot more than i paid for it as the question was .... Are you a millionaire?

Parking it outside a local Maplin store... as i was getting out i heard "what the fcuks that! in a young Male's voice, only to see his gf put him straight by saying "What? its a Lotus!"

[Jonathan]

Honest to god, in California once, I was introduced to someone....

"this is Jon fron England" and I said "hello there"

He says "wow, they speak english over there too ?"...............

......

One of the only times I was ever lost for words.

It is quite amusing though when you're out with the misses and someone disses the car (eg it's a Kit, lots of trouble....etc) - it just pings off the fibreglass with me but the girls get all pissy over it...."its a lotus ACTUALLY"

[Whippet]

The daftest comment I have had, was in fact a huge compliment.

Back in South Africa I used to drive a really nice 1989 911. On two occasions, parking near a shopping centre in a middle-class neighbourhood, I overheard "nice car, but I bet it is his dad's".

Now I am 39 years this year, and at the time I was around 34! And 6'6". It was meant as a dis, but obviously from my point of view a compliment.

I have also had a few "wow, look at that Ferrari" while parking my 1984 red 944!

I also used to play a trick on the petrol-pump attendants in small towns with the 911, asking them to check the water and then popping the front hood, only to find no engine. I know this seem silly, but they use to howl with laughter and be genuinely surprised.

[sgrobler]

Hey Whippet,

I can appreciate that experience with the petrol attendants in RSA.

I remember as a youngster travelling with my dad down to the Vrystaat, (Vredefort I think) and looking forward to seeing a red Essex Esprit that was always parked at the garage where we always stopped to fill up.

On the daftest comment topic: I get a lot of the "hey dad, look at that Ferrari".

Must be 'cos my Esprit is red.

[ifly]

Craziest comment "Didn't realize they made those Ferrari's in Blue"!!!!!

[Sparky]

"It's just a Toyota with a bodykit" - chav, 2008.

[Bibs]

Sparky, let him see if he feels lucky next time!

[Hemlock]

Lol.

Ok so I'm pretty new to Lotus ownership but the few times I took the S1 out, I got a lot of comments like wow it's gorgeous, or wow it sounds great (in french of course).

One thing you have to know is that Lotus and especially Esprits are rare as hell here in France (ummm is hell even rare?) much rarer than a Ferrari or lets say a Porsche (I spot an average of two Porsche a day somedays). I'd assume people confuse them with Ferrari or Lambos here too.

Anyway one day I was manoeuvring out of the garage with the series 1 going roarrrrrr, roarrrrr (you know typical S1 sound). It's so wide it's a pain in the ar.e.

I parked the car in the street and got back to the garage to get something I had forgotten (a jerrycan), removed some crap from the floor, closed the door etc... as I turned around a woman (in her late 30's) was just behind me. (I suspect she was looking at me from her window 5 mins before).

Hey your Lotus is funny!

(first reaction wow she knows it's a lotus)

Is it from the 70's?

Me : yes 1976 , it's as old as I'm.

It sounds great, you don't see them too often in France

Me : thanks, yes blabla bla, blaba bla

Your Lotus is funny : strange choice of word.

I got back to the car and there was a man looking at my S1, not that there is anything wrong with that, but he looked like he was managing the bank from accross the street..... well he gave me the jjjjjjealous eye, like What!!! What, how come a young guy like that own sucha car and not me?, angry eyes, really angry.

ATB.

[semi42]

It is quite amusing though when you're out with the misses and someone disses the car (eg it's a Kit, lots of trouble....etc) - it just pings off the fibreglass with me but the girls get all pissy over it...."its a lotus ACTUALLY"

talking to a guy who i heard owns a "classic" said" ah , a lotus...lots of trouble etc....." i asked him what he owned

"ford capri injection" and went on....

i said "ford?.....Fairly Ordinary, Really Dull"

didnt speak to me after that

[Tony K]

Years ago, in my red S1, I was driving on a four-lane boulevard with a 35mph speed limit. I was being followed in the lane next to me (you know, in the blind spot that you can only see with your mirror) by a girl wearing loads of makeup in a Ford Probe. We passed a police car sitting in a speed trap, which is common for that road.

1/4 mile down the road, she pulls alongside of me, rolls down her window (remember, we're traveling 35mph), and shouts, "Hey, did your radar detector go off?"

Me: "I don't have a radar detector."

Her: "Blah blah blah blah blah blabh" . . . something about radar detectors, police, etc. -- basically a really bad attempt at trying to trying to "pick me up" or start a conversation.

She saw a guy in a car that she thought was probably a Ferrari or Lambo, so she pulled up alongside and shouted!?! I had that happen a few times over the years, but what kind of a line is "Did your radar detector go off"???? And they say guys are bad at pick-up lines!

Now if she would have said, "Holy S--T, an Esprit S1!!!" ... then I would have pulled over!

[calvan]

This episode happened a couple of years ago I took the Europa out for a vital automotive exercise - picking up pizza for Friday dinner.

There was a multi-generation family group leaving the restaurant as I pulled up and a young guy, about 22 or 23, came over and said "Hey, its a Lotus Europa". When I expressed some surprise that he knew what it was, he stuck his hands out in front of himself, started vigorously waggling his thumbs and said "I used to race one in GT2."

Video games aside, it was the first real one he had seen. At least his dad, who is about my age, knew a fair bit about it.

[ILoveEsprit]

With all these comments we have.......one thing I can say is they're zealous what we have

[Alan Paterson]

I drew up at the lights at a crossroads in the centre of Aldershot on Saturday, with the windows down.

A bloke on his mobile phone broke off from his conversation to say:

"Dat's a noise mouta ya got dere , squire"

I said, "You're so right." just as the lights changed and I drove off, letting the exhaust finish the sentence for me.

Alan

[ifly]

Do I hear a Chav in there somewhere Alan? Or is that some farm lingo?