Random car and/or Lotus related pictures and videos

[Bibs]

New Capri gets a wtf from me! 

[Sparky]

Nooooooooooooo

[jep]

Ford Cantona 🤢

[Al]

Oh deary deary me. My fond memories of first cars owning 2x Mk1’s, 1 x Mk2 and finally a 2.8inj Mk3 ruined in one visual impact 

[Al]

1st photo about summer ‘75 and 2nd about summer ‘83. Where did that figure go over last 40 years! 🥴

[calvan]

Same problem with the old photos around my house - there's some thin guy with hair wearing my old clothes.

[Chillidoggy]

I don’t have that problem with old photos; my eyesight has solved that issue.

[Escape]

It was to be expected, a European version of the Mustang Mach-E. 😞 The new Puma isn't much better.

And you could argue a 2.7 ton Eletre SUV is a long way from the light is right Lotus of the past as well...

[Bravo73]

20 hours ago, Bibs said:

New Capri gets a wtf from me! 

Ford has really lost it with its names. First Puma (miniSUV), then Mustang (an EV!!), now this. 🤦‍♂️

Can someone shoot their marketing Director, please?

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

To be fair even the Capri was a recycled name from the earlier Ford Consul Capri 2 door coupe, but nobody remembers that footnote in automotive history.

[MPx]

Well I do cos we had its stablemate 4 door version, the Ford Consul Classic (with the reverse slope rear screen) when I was a little younger...not much more than 60 years ago.😀

[Escape]

15 hours ago, LotusLeftLotusRight said:

To be fair even the Capri was a recycled name from the earlier Ford Consul Capri 2 door coupe, but nobody remembers that footnote in automotive history.

That was a pretty car for it's time and class, nothing wrong with it. 😉 

[Bravo73]

Aren’t these uberhypertrack cars getting a bit ridiculous now?

£5m, btw. 🤯

[mcdonaa]

A lot of people thought 15-20 years ago the supercar would be soon dead with the rising fuel costs, move to more efficient cars etc etc....but quite the opposite seems to have happened. This seems to have coincided with the massive increase in millionaires and billionaires.... i.e the people buying these cars. If there's a market for them and they are selling, then they will be made. These £5mil cars are merely trophies and many will never really be driven.

[Al]

…. & unlike trophy wives maintain their beauty.  Generally don’t depreciate it seems, so a good place to invest and still have the odd bit of fun! 🤫

[Escape]

At least the supercars from the 80s and 90s could be driven, even if they were far from practical. I remember back in the day the rare occasion when you saw a Countach or Testarossa on the road. No chance of ever seeing one of the current batch of hypercars being used, just shown off on events. Which is a shame, the core of a car is driving.

[jep]

It was ever thus. Plenty of low mileage classic supercars pop up. 

And plenty of the modern ones do get used, even if sparingly. Many owners have multiple cars and won't commute/shop in the supercar. My old man had a 930 in the 1980s (sold yesterday at FOS auction by the current owner). It was his only car, he did near 100,000 miles in 10 years. 

I used to commute in the Mclaren but frankly, it was an expensive and foolish exercise in depreciation and fuel. The car was brilliant, comfortable and easy but the Twingo was the sensible option. 

Saving your best for special days and trips, we all do it, be it a £5k classic Ford or a £5M folly. 

Justin 

[C8RKH]

8 hours ago, mcdonaa said:

This seems to have coincided with the massive increase in millionaires and billionaires.... i.e the people buying these cars. If there's a market for them and they are selling, then they will be made.

It's exactly the same with £150k 2.4 ton near 1,000bhp SUV's. There's a market for them so they will be made, even though quite honestly they are ridiculous. However, unlike the hypercars you WILL lose a great deal of money on them. But for many, that seems to be OK.

[mcdonaa]

That's the problem...the trap of depreciation. Just look at Porsche owners....once a car has got to 20,000 miles, it's considered ruined!

A car is for driving, and luckily mine has been driven with close to 80k on it now (I know there are other Evora owners with more).

[Escape]

15 hours ago, jep said:

It was ever thus. Plenty of low mileage classic supercars pop up. 

And plenty of the modern ones do get used, even if sparingly. Many owners have multiple cars and won't commute/shop in the supercar. My old man had a 930 in the 1980s (sold yesterday at FOS auction by the current owner). It was his only car, he did near 100,000 miles in 10 years. 

I used to commute in the Mclaren but frankly, it was an expensive and foolish exercise in depreciation and fuel. The car was brilliant, comfortable and easy but the Twingo was the sensible option. 

My point was, the older generations of supercars could be used if one was so inclined. Much harder with the current hypercars, I don't think any would be comfortable going to the shops. If even possible, I came across a video of an Evija ripping of the rear license plate trying to get out of parc fermé at some event. 😞 And at current price levels most will be considered an investment so depreciation is even more important, hence even less use.

Quote

Saving your best for special days and trips, we all do it, be it a £5k classic Ford or a £5M folly. 

That's were we disagree, I strongly believe live is too short to drive boring cars. My Esprit was used whenever possible, be it a fun drive out in the country or commuting into Brussels. I miss those days, really need to get her back on the road...

[jep]

@Escape we are cut from the same cloth. I agree life is too short for boring cars. 

However, one has to respect other peoples lives. I'd love to commute in a classic car every day but the XJ6 does 15mpg in town. The Twingo 3 does 44mpg. Thankfully, the Twingo 3 is brilliant, fun, cheap, entertaining and one of my favourite cars ever. There are moderns that ain't dull or fat. 

As for hypercars and supercars, I don't think it fair for folk to say they won't get used. Just as many owners rarely use their cheaper classics (we all know them) and others use them a lot, so it is with the very expensive stuff. 

Many of the £1m+ cars are made for track days and special events rather than regular use. I'm sure owners have lesser models for fast road use. 

Justin 

[Escape]

You're right, we agree more than we disagree. 😉 But a Twingo, or any other hot hatch for that matter, really isn't my cup of tea. And I really get annoyed in anything remotely modern, from the first beep.

I do agree there are exception out there using super and hypercars, like Atkinson did with his F1. Just like there are many cheap classics that rarely see use. I still think the price, and with it the class of people that can afford it, makes it more likely for the expensive stuff to be kept locked up, as an investment and/or to show off rather than be enjoyed on the road. The fact that driving on normal roads will be compromised in many cases surely doesn't help.

But we're straying off topic, so I'll make amends and post a picture of a cheapish classic, not used that often but used in anger when I do take him out, Tommy the Lightweight:

[jep]

Twingo 3 not a hot hatch: no beeps, no sat nav, no climate control, skinny tyres, manual, light, nippy. A Lotus in all but name.

 

[exeterjeep]

[jep]

Hopefully Trump visits that road soon