Hooniverse Asks – What’s The Most Hoontastic Lotus?
Colin Chapman is known for three things- a pencil-thin mustache, an incendiary temper, and making cars that were as light as gossamer and as fast as a turpintined cat. Most of Champan’s Lotus cars are awesome, but which one do you think is the most so?
If you’ve ever driven a Lotus car then you may have found the magical mix of fiberglass, horsepower and lightness add up to more than the sum of their parts. Riding in any of the late sixties, early seventies cars, it’s best not to think about the saddle bag like structure hanging over the central backbone and the only thing keeping your ass from scraping the pavement being about a quarter inch of fiberglass. No, it’s better just to punch the loud pedal and revel in Chapman’s philosophy of speed through efficiency.
It was that mantra that led to the Lotus 23 being banned from Le Mans as it ate the French and German teams for lunch, and that of the Lotus Seven, a car that seems to, zombie-like, defy death. Ferraris may be filled with lusty passion for speed, while Porsches achieve their accolades through icy cool technology. But it’s the British, and notably Chapman who have made the most of the concept of less being more, and Loti, while maybe not possessing the most horsepower, or the latest in adjustable this and movable that, still remain competitive for the one thing that Chapman refused to extract from his cars, and that was the fervor for winning no matter what.
Do you share that fervor? Are you a follower of the church of Chapman, seeking speed at the expense of excess? If so, or even if you’re not, which of Colin’s offspring, or those which have been born since his untimely passing, do you think is the ultimate Lotus, the best expression of Colin’s ethos? Which is the most hoontastic Lotus?
Image sources: [ nelsonlakes.co.nz, apana.org]
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Lotus 6
<img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1373/873599020_dce22e5fff.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="Minimaniacs – CarShow – British Car Show" />
I've always had the hots for a Europa in JPS livery
The 7. No question about it.
SE7EN! SE7EN! SE7EN! SE7EN! SE7EN! SE7EN! SE7EN! SE7EN! SE7EN! SE7EN!
/Sorry…me likes the seven!
As much as I love the 7, and all the lo-cost variants thereof, I have to go with the early Elan. It's an amazing thing to watch as a car smaller than a miata and with minimal horsepower makes its way through an autocross course faster than the corvettes and vipers it's classed with.
This is a toughy. You could reasonably argue any Lotus up to, but not including, the Evora. Everything before then was focused on lightweight, handling and beating the pants off more powerful competitors.
Just to pick one, though, is difficult. However, I am going to go with the Europa.
The little Europa is unloved. While still maintaining the less is more mantra, and while adding lightness, and having an engine that is very tunable, the Europa remains unloved. It's not the prettiest Lotus, nor is it the sexiest to be seen in. That would be the Elan and Seven, respectively.
But here on the Hooniverse we don't necessarily care about such things. We care about the cars that are unloved, yet still perform. Or are just unloved and survive. We also care about the price tag. While a real Series 1 Seven can cost $40,000 or more, a Europa could be had for under $20,000. In true Lotus fashion, the Europa will still handle like it's on rails.
I love the Europa, and would hoon the pants off one.
I'm leaning towards the Se7en, although it's more out of how the world has continued to breathe new life into Chapman's creation, decades later. As a car, it's a raw, direct piece of hoonable. But it's the DIY element that really makes it the most Hoontastic Lotus. By being so pure, so raw, so simple, it exists as a blank slate for our greater desires. You can even make one for $500 (so a book or two claims).
That being said, I'd like to throw out a non-Lotus Lotus (and I'm sort of surprised Dustin didn't beat me to that with the Cortina). Mildly obscure, mostly unloved, I would be more than happy to rock a small RWD Lotus-tuned hatchback,
<img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/PIAZZA.jpg" width=500 /img>
mark -mI words, i would totally hoon (another) one of those (a cute friend in HS had one… and needed to learn how to drive a manual from someone other than her father… i gladly helped)
It was a struggle between the Cortina and the Europa. The Europa won out for being uglier. Hey, I had to chose a tie breaker somehow.
By the way, awesome choice. I'd totally rock an Isuzu with a suspension tuned by Lotus. I'd also rock a Lotus Sunbeam.
I've always had a soft spot for Lotus Esprit Turbos. Maybe not the lightest, best handling Lotus but you can't deny the looks of it.
<img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/25/Green_Lotus_Esprit_V8_2001_US-Version_back.jpg" ,="" width="600/">
*img from WikiMedia
Something to really dig about the Lotus Esprit V8 is it has a flat-plane crank, so it sounds very similar to the S4 (ie, a drunken angry Thor gargling the entire city of Oslo). I have some serious Esprit love, so clickety-click for you.
Se7en. It's a perennial reminder that there is another way to attain performance.
Alright, I probably would have taken the Europa if Engineerd hadn't beat me to it (the evocative ugliness of the rear deck shows just how much the Europa means business), but now that I've had to think about it further, I've got to go with the first Lotus that I was aware of as a kid, the first (pre-Peter Stevens) Esprit. Not many people think of it as one of Giugiaro's best designs, but I'm always surprised how much I like it whenever I happen across one, especially the couple of times I've spotted them on the highway or open road. Up to 1975, Lotus was just playing the traditional sports car game to the extreme. With the Esprit, they took a stand against the bloat and high expense that were beginning to infect the supercar world. Make mine a naturally aspirated S3 without the turbo's aero body kit but with the bigger body color bumpers and other tweaks since the very first cars.
Simplify, then add lightness.
<img src="http://www.thejimbambercollection.com/bamberblog/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/sennasinclair1.jpg" width="400">
<img src="http://www.automobilesreview.com/uploads/2008/12/1992-lotus-carlton.jpg" width="500">
The Lotus Carlton. 377 horsepower, 0-60 in 5.2 seconds and on to 176 mph- in 1990! A spectacular sleeper, the fastest production four-door saloon in the world for several years, and the only car to have had its morality debated in the House of Commons.
"…the only car to have had its morality debated in the House of Commons."
Perhaps it's the only recent example, but such matters were part of the debate behind the infamous Acts of 1861, 1865, and 1878.
I'd happily reward you for this epic comment, but I'm stuck in traffic at the moment behind a road locomotive going 4 mph with a man walking 60 feet in front of it holding a red flag.
<img src="http://media.lunch.com/d/d7/488793.jpg" width=400>
somehow, from here
OK, if you're going to nitpick, the only specific model of car.
It wasn't meant as nitpicking but as a reminder that these same sorts of issues have arisen time after time. The transcript of the 1990 debate is preserved essentially verbatim:
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199091…
whereas some of the previous debates are recorded in a more summary form:
http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1865/a…
nonetheless even these abstracts make mention of specific routes and lines (At least by implication, this denotes specific "models" insofar as that concept applies to the mid-1800s. Who knows what was actually said but was deemed inexpedient to include in the published account.) The greater point, however, is the universality of the concerns expressed by the MPs in terms of public safety, business interests, and so forth. Nothing new under the sun….
Came to this thread specifically to check that somebody had mentioned the Carlton.
If ever there was a car that came along at the wrong time, this was it. The fact that it took until the '99 M5 came along to find a creditable rival was astonishing. People are still building replicas of them. It must have reached the point now where there are more Lotus Carlton replicas than there are regular Vauxhall Carltons.
I wrote an article about this awesome car in one my recent newspapers. Very cool indeed!
The Lotus 79 deserves a mention; hurrah for understanding ground effects!
<img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4085/5056837069_dfe8c8511c.jpg" width="500" height="398" alt="65 btcc snetterton jim clark lotus cortina" />
<img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3234/3151205331_a8f3ea65dd.jpg" width="500" height="313" alt="65 btcc snetterton jim clark lotus cortina" />
'nuff said
I love you.
That looks like so much fun.
The Seven, without a doubt. And it's the only Lotus (a 1964 model) I've ever ridden in.
The Tesla….
<img src="http://www.gmelectriccar.net/tesla-roadster-electric-car.gif" alt="" />
Let the stoning begin…..
I'm trying to get away with my earlier posting of a Sinclair C5, so by comparison you should be safe.
Lotus Talbot Sunbeam
<img src="http://images.forum-auto.com/mesimages/454300/1982%20Talbot%20Sunbeam%20Lotus%20IP%20Mental%20%281982%20Tron%20P121%20by%20Molinari%20n.011%20Ormezzano-Berro%20r%20ITA1982.jpg" height="370" width="610">
Yes!
I'm not the first, but Carlton. So to be different I'll do an HDR carlton
<img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4023/4612068897_dc4ceda5bb.jpg">
I'm going out on a limb here and saying the 26R was the most hoontastic Lotus ever. And I'm completely, willfully biased in this regard; being a Miata owner, my car basically owes its existence to the Elan (and the Fiat 124 Spyder).
<img src="http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/images/large/3952/Lotus-Elan-26R_13.jpg" width="700">
Does this count?
<img src="http://www.vettegearplus.com/catalog/MS_ZR_11.jpg">
Lotus did most of the engine development.
If not I'll throw out the Lotus Omega (The Lotus Carlton outside the UK), especially since it is easier to find a LHD version that maybe some day I could dream of importing.
<img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Opel_Lotus_Omega_rear_DSC00826.jpg" width="500/">
And for your enjoyment a Lotus MK III being Hooned back in the day:
<img src="http://www.williamsandpritchardregister.co.uk/Lotus%20IIIb%202.jpg"width=500>
Ah, nice call on the Vette. As a noob, I haven't had the pleasure of ever riding in, let alone driving a real Lotus. The C4 ZR1 is a different story. I know the old ZR1 hasn't aged gracefully, but in my limited experience it's probably the closest I've ever come to driving a real supercar.
340R
<img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lotus_340r_car.jpg/800px-Lotus_340r_car.jpg" width=600> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_340R
And I know where there's one just sitting…begging to be driven…
Gahh. When I was at Jacks it was just sitting there. That and his two 205gtis made me wish I never left.
Lotus Elise 120% scale
Lotus Eleven. Did so much with so little. Makes Elans look bloated in comparison.
<img src="http://www.historiclotusregister.co.uk/calendar/calendarimages/Lotus%2011%20No30-587.jpg" width=500> http://www.historiclotusregister.co.uk/calendar/2…
I'm going to mention the Lotus Carlton again. Because I can.
It's actually a distillatilon of every single value I like in a car. Size, speed, sound, effortlessness, and it just happens to look magnificent. OK, it's not a Lotus in the Chapman sense of the word, but that dull old Vauxhall saloon car didn't half respond well when the Hethel adreneline was injected.
With all respect to my fellow Hoons, this is the Lotus most desirable to this olelongrooffan…
http://hooniverse.com/2010/09/17/last-call-lotus-…
I want to say the Elise-but I just can't it's too compromised, too civilized. Therefore there can be only one- the SE7EN! No other car embodies the purity of the Lotus brand more than the SE7EN. In modern Caterham R500 guise it manages to have a better lap time around Top Gear's track than the Veyron. This from a design that is over 40 years old. Say what you will about the lack of luxury, but if you want to be comfortable buy a Cadillac. If you want to wear a car that is the embodiment of pure driving ecstasy though, get a SE7EN.
This is one of my favorite car pics of all time:
<img src="http://lotusenthusiast.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/eyesonlyesprit.jpg" width="650" />
Some lucky lady in these parts has the same turbo model in black (non 007, of course!). I noticed it in the grocery parking lot one day and had to go check it out. My husband had this to say:
"Why are you drooling over a spoiled wedge of cheese?"
I have no idea how hoontastic the Esprit of this generation really is, but I must admit to having a soft spot for the 80's wedge car look.
it's like the Elise GT1 as it should always have been. Enhancements properly done. Like breast implants that work
MK 1 Elise in JPS colors. or any color, really. actually, any elise or exige will do