Lotus in the post DB era

[NedaSay]

Word is out that Coco still is pushing in full for a front engined Lotus...

 

If the Esprit is really coming and it has a V8 (in house or otherwise) The investment is likely to be such that a second car using as many transferable component as possible would not be such a bad idea. An Elite could help Lotus getting into the Grand Tourer (Mercedes SL, Ferrrari California, Aston DB9...)  It's a "big" niche market. It doesn't mean it's going to happen but I'd totally understand if Coco was pushing for it and his intent prototype Elite was not a bad looking car at all. 

 

Besides Lotus engineering has invested a great in research in aluminium HFQ pressing (see proActive Magazine issue 50, autumn 2013)  We could see the effect of that with the future cars. So if they have the right tooling to manufacture using even more aluminium and they can make a business case for Elite so that is the finish they want and is appealing to a new type of customer, why wouldn't they. 

Edited May 22, 2014 by NedaSay

[NedaSay]

@@@Nico:

 

HWA AG is not AMG (now part of Daimler / Mercedes) and he was working for AMG before he went to Lotus I think 

 

Zimmerman was at AMG and worked on the DTM engine program, HWA runs the Mercedes-AMG DTM program and is a component supplier for AMG. During his tenure as CTO he outsourced a lot of the prototype manufacturing to HWA. The two companies are so intertwined it's very hard to tell what is AMG and what his HWA.

 

HWA is the property - in part - of Toto Wolf who is also director and co-owner of the Petronas Mercedes AMG F1 team.

Edited May 22, 2014 by NedaSay

[Bee]

That new Elite was so desirable, I actually looked into selling my soul to raise funds. If a new Esprit also led to a new Elite, I can assure you that there'd be at least one ecstatically happy Lotus fan!

[Stirling_Villeneuve]

A new front engined car might not be a bad move, there's so many mid engines super cars on the way, the new R8, NSX, McLaren's P13 it could well provide a welcome alternative in a small but crowded market.

 

 

Personally, funds allowing I'd still go for the P13 but hey... what do I know? 

[Suddabym]

Dany is a god, and his vision will be vindicated. You'll all see. Obviously a Swiss guy from Turkey, is a better choice to lead a British Sports Car Company than a Frenchee, who probably surrendered something to someone at some point. Why am I the only buy that can see is?!

I am awesome and so is Dany.

If Dany was still running things I'd be driving a V17 Elite SUV convertible by now!

Dany understood premiumness and lifestyle and the importance photographing mock ups of cars that don't exist with half naked ladies sprawled across them.

Dany is a god.

[Bibs]

Is he still in the cave stealing your hand cream?

[Mark Blanchard]

Dany has a boyfriend, sorry Suddabym.

[Iconic Ride]

 "I'd be driving a V17 Elite SUV convertible by now!"

 

Praise Jesus!  Boys, I think we've found our new El Supremo. A man of vision if ever one walked the earth. I'm initiating my campaign now: 

 

Sudders for CEO! 

 

A Babe on every bonnet. A wine chiller in every boot. Ragtops rule, and hardtops drool. 

 

 

Please send all campaign donations (cash preferred, optionally cheques to be made out to J. Heath LLC) to box 007, Austin, Tx, USA.

 

Immediate position available for powerplant engineer capable of designing an in-house V17. Must be mathematically creative. 

[molemot]

Mathematically creative??? V-17....easy. Take 9 cylinders on one side...that leaves 8 gaps....so put the other 8 cylinders into the gaps!!!!! Next, please.....

[Iconic Ride]

OK, smartypants. Now give me the firing order.

[Suddabym]

Nah, Dany ran off one day, while emptying the chemical toilet. And he didn't even empty the smegging toilet. Actually, it was the scrotum balm and I rather not talk about it.

Ah, well, funnily enough, if I was elected supreme leader of Lotus, I would probably come up with a cunning 5 model line up plan, half naked ladies, a helicopter, and quite a lot of parties. And, I'd hire Dany to be the Chief Epic Officer. He would cut about in the South of France being epic, while I reinvented the sports coupe/SUV hybrid, premium, lifestyle vehicle specifically aimed at the discerning 'B' list movie star, which would become our core market.

I also think that Lotus could make wind turbines. Very popular, apparently. 'B' list movie stars all want a wind turbine now.

Me for awesome dude in charge of things.

And, the firing order for a roof mounted V17? Trust me that the least of the problems to be overcome!

I am awesome and so is Dany.

[Bibs]

Might be time to show us on the doll where he touched you?

[CaptainSlow]

As for V17, continue on the theme with V12 Meteor engine as used in the Bentley look alike. Add another 5 cylinder engine from Audi or Volvo to deal with the reverse. Put it on a Spyder chassis and wrap it all in some plastic :-)

[Suddabym]

Dany is awesome. Have you seen his hair?!

[Iconic Ride]

"And, the firing order for a roof mounted V17? Trust me that the least of the problems to be overcome!"

 

I completely get that, Sudders. A stroke of genius, the roof mount design. As anyone with even a passing interest in physics knows, atmospheric temperature drops with increase in altitude at the "adiabatic lapse rate." Thus the engine cooling requirements decrease accordingly. Simply brilliant, and worthy of an Dany "attaboy" for certain. 

 

However, I'm somewhat concerned about the 5" diameter anti sway bars specification necessary to counteract the high CG created by such a design. In order to remain within the conceptual boundaries of Chapman's quest for "lightness," may I suggest the bars be fabricated from reinforced balsa wood?

[Suddabym]

No need, old chap. I'm going to fill all the spare bits and gaps and wot not with helium.

Genius.

[Moxie]

Actually, it was the scrotum balm and I rather not talk about it.

[Bibs]

http://sniffpetrol.com/2014/06/02/a-new-message-from-dany-bahaha/

 

 

 

Hello believers,

You may have seen reports in the media that I have come to an agreement with the infidels at Lotus following my decision some time ago to be told to clear my desk and get out of the building. But what does this mean for me, Dany Bahaha, CEO, COO and CNT of The Bahaha Premium Excellence Lifestyle Automotive Group, curator of excellence and inventor of the laser? Let me explain.

It means that at last a new heritage premium aspirational excellences conceptualisation can be realised. For some time now I have been working in secret on a plan. Yet it is more than a plan. It is a vision. A vision of lifestyle brand-managed synchronicity premium aspirationalosity manifested in 17 brand new cars, announced at the same time by 17 different celebrities, all of whom are close personal friends of mine. We are talking about premium desirability supercar unveiled by Bryan Adams. A key market positioning excellence roadster revealed by Derek Jacobi. An optimum lifestyle experience saloon shown off by Cheggers. There are also many more which I cannot speak about at the moment. Sometimes in my dreams, my penis has my face on it.

Already I have shown off the my new brand leverage solutions excellence premium excellence pamphlet to trusted allies and those who can assist me in making it a reality. Each of these people signed a powerful legal document promising that they would not reveal the contents, laugh at the drawings or tell anyone I live in a skip.

On a wider scale, my deal with the back stabbers at Lotus has a much bigger significance. In giving me a cash settlement they have admitted that I was right, that I was not ‘full of shit’ and that I have always had tremendously nice hair. Also, I am capable of unaided flight.

Soon the media will see my vision once more and, like last time, they will not point out any obvious flaws with it. Please be patient, true believers, for the future is close at hand and the future is truly premium segment 25-36 key demographic excellence system leading edge solution hat turtle vestibule miasma something something something and so on.

Yours,

Jesus Bahaha 

[Snoopy1969]

no additional rapper in the yellow Container?

[Bibs]

http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1093103_former-lotus-ceo-dany-bahar-returns-as-boss-of-modena-tuning-firm

 

 

 

Dany Bahar is the name that shall not be spoken in Lotus circles, but the man himself has already moved onto other projects and the first is a new tuning house called Ares... like the mythical Greek god of war.

Based in Modena, Italy—a location already familiar to Bahar from his time at Ferrari—Bahar brings with him several personnel key to his previous Lotus plans, including a designer and a selection of managers. According to Car and Driver, 26-year old designer Mihai Panaitescu previously helped with four of the five future-Lotus proposals conceptualized under Bahar's tenure at the company, and is now tasked with reimagining several high-end luxury and sports cars at Ares.

Ares will work on high-end cars like the Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, Aston Martin Rapide S and Vanquish, and the Bentley Continental GT. In future, Ares will also apply its touch to the Lamborghini Huracán, Rolls-Royce Ghost and Rolls-Royce Wraith. Some of these will move beyond mere body kits and into the realms of reworked body styling—a shooting brake Aston Martin Rapide and Bentley Continental GT have both been proposed.

Also part of the Ares team is ex-AMG and ex-Lotus man Wolf Zimmerman, who adds that in addition to modified production cars, Ares is "also looking forward to building its own cars in the future". That could take the form of a mid-engined supercar, revealed in a brief Ares video, but given Bahar's old Lotus plans the sky is pretty much the limit. Unsurprisingly, the company will at first concentrate on markets like Russia, China and the Middle East but the company does reveal it has an "experienced, successful" partner in the U.S, ready to move into the market in 2015.

[Stirling_Villeneuve]

Dany Bahar, Wolf Zimmerman, Mid engined supercar... I wonder if they've thought of a name? 

[comem47]

The first will be called "the Fog", followed by "the Mist" followed by "the Specter". All vaporware cars that can't seem to really materialize or be grasped.  

[Iconic Ride]

Once upon a time, in the land of Razzle Dazzle, there lived a an iconoclastic elf named Dany, who took great delight in creating mythical carriages, powered by invisible contrivances that only he could see. These carriages, which were to be the saviors of The House of Lotus, were of remarkable design, able to be pushed to speeds as high as 4 mph...without the use of horses of any kind. The concepts were initially hailed with great fanfare at festive gatherings of various travelling troupes of past-their-prime actors, mostly held in a land known primarily for its foul atmosphere, but beautiful beachfront properties. Additional support was provided by sumptuous eye candy pixies and sprites unable to find employment at the better venues strewn about the region. The initial reaction of the hoi polloi was one of great joy and celebration...The House of Lotus, you see, was an institution well worth saving, and one with a glorious history and honorable pedigree, but it had fallen on hard times, having to compete with the likes of The House of Ferrari and The House of Lamborghini, whose treasuries were without equal in the land of Razzle Dazzle. In time, however, as the good citizens of the land came to realize the dubious nature of the new carriages, a general malaise began to spread throughout the community.  

 

But Dany was undeterred. He knew in his heart of hearts that he could bring his House back from the brink, if only he could find a White Knight of suitably deep pockets to ride to the rescue and fund his dreams and aspirations. If only the right Merlin could be found to create and develop a propulsion system capable of powering his carriages past the 4 mph mark. 

 

And so he sought the assistance of the infamous Wolfman, an outlier from a Germanic tribe, known throughout the land as a clever builder of actually functional motors that would lend greater credence to his heretofore stationary conveyances. Yes, "credibility," that was the ticket. And so it came to pass that the Wolfman did, in fact, produce the much needed dynamo, one with great potential. But alas, for reasons unknown, this magical device vanished from the stage. As did the Wolfman himself, from The House of Lotus. Thus did Dany's ambitious aspirations likewise fade into the ether, along with his carriages. And the White Knight never appeared.

 

Some time passed, and the elf Dany, after having enlisted the help of willing barristers to assist his efforts to relieve The House of Lotus of no small portion of their already beleaguered treasury, moved on to other ventures crying for his attention in the land of Razzle Dazzle. And the Wolfman? Some say he rejoined the elf in his newest enterprise. Who knew?

 

The End

[TBD]

Amazing if Zimmermann really does go back to Dany. That would certainly speak for Dany's ability to convince renowned specialists to follow him.

 

But, on the other hand, the world is too small for another supercar manufacturer, though it likely will feed another tuner. Bahar, Mansory, Carlsson, etc. together in the tuning world. Seems like a good fit.

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

Was there not another quest involved? That of rebuilding the mythical Castle of Camelot, in which Dany would start a dynasty of elves to rule the House of Lotus for all eternity.