.
John's
Online
LOTUS
Museum
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Editorial
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Disclaimer: The
opinions expressed below are
entirely
my own, and are based on 34 years of-
Lotus ownership,
and the observations that I
have witnessed
in that time period.----------------
-----------------------------------------------------------JMM
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What's
a Lotus ?
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Colin Chapman
was the-designer,
builder,---
and founder
of Lotus Engineering, a firm------
devoted-to-producing-competition-race-cars.--
.
He later builds
road cars in order to finance----
his racing efforts,
and thus gives the owners--
of these
cars a spiritual link to the racing team.
.
Chapman
calls his car a "... LOTUS,
...
because once you drive one you
will
forget all of the others ! "-----------
.
The company logo
that he designs for the
nose badge
is a triangular British Racing
Green lozenge
on a field of bright Yellow.
.
British Racing
Green is the color allocated to
all cars
of British origin that will be competing
in international
events.---------------------------------
.
The Yellow symbolizes
the sunny days that
Chapman hopes
lay ahead for his company.
.
At the top of
the lozenge are the initials:
A
- C - B - C ,
which are larger
than the word LOTUS.
.
The initials
stand for:
Anthony
Colin
Bruce
Chapman,
for indeed, without-Colin-Chapman
there-would-be-no-Lotus
!--------------
All Lotus competition
cars were painted-----------
British Racing
Green with Yellow detailing,-------
until the advent
of paid corporate sponsership
which turned
them into rolling billboards !-------
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In April of 1968,
World Champion Driver Jim Clark------
was killed at
Hockenheim, Germany, while driving a---
Type 48 in a
Formula 2 race. --------------------------------------
.
From that day
foreward, all LOTUS cars have------
worn black nose
badges, out of respect for his----
passing.-------------------------------------------------------------
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This practice
was carried foreward upon the death of--
Anthony Colin
Bruce Chapman, in 1982, an immense -
loss to us all.--------------------------------------------------------------
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Any
street Lotus, manufactured after 1968,
which
is wearing a green and yellow nose-
badge is pretending to be something that it
is
not.----------------------------------------------------
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With the advent
of the sale of the company to new------
owners such as
General Motors, Bugatti, and Proton,-
the nose badges
have reverted back to green and-----
yellow, in an
effort by these owners to cash in on -----
Lotus's former
glory days, which are fading fast.-------
.
This shows that
these owners had no regard nor -----
respect for the
human traditions that Chapman---------
instilled in
his organization.--------------------------------------
.
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When General
Motors purchased Lotus in 1986,
there was
speculation that they would sell the---
cars through
Pontiac dealers as an exclusive-----
" High
Performance " division.----------------------------
In fact, under
General Motors ownership, a new-
"Corprate Logo"
was designed, to be used on--
the flagship
Esprit Turbo.---------------------------------
This badge was
triangular in shape, with large-
stylized lettering,
and it omitted the A - C - B - C
initials.-------------------------------------------------------------
I believe that
this was done in an effort to purge
the memory of
Colin Chapman from the minds
of his employees
and the public.----------------------
I think that
they did this to show who was the
boss, and that
from now on things would be--
done their way.----------------------------------------------
.
( I once purchased
one of these badges from a---
supplier
back in 1986, but returned it because of--
it's cheap construction
quality.---------------------------
It was made out
of stamped metal and paint,-------
instead of cloisonné
enamel on a cast base like--
on the original
badges.----------------------------------------
Had I had known
that Lotus would go back to-----
using their original
logo, I would have kept it and
it would be a
very rare collectors item now.--------
I did keep the
cloisonné key ring with the same--
logo that I purchased
at that time.)---------------------
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(This
transitional badge is reproduced for you below.)
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The later badge
that they adopted for the-
Esprit' included
very small initials, to play
down Colin Chapman's
contributions to--
the company and
the art of automotive---
engineering.-------------------------------------------
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He
would, after all, be a
very
tough act to follow.
.
In reality, all
General Motors wanted Lotus for
was to rape it's
Research & Developement-----
Department, and
to try to get an inside track---
as to what other
auto manufacturers were------
having Lotus
Engineering, ( which GM did not
purchase ), develop
for them.-------------------------
.
The Anti- lock
Braking System ( ABS ),--
which is installed
in pretty much every--
car manufactured
today, and the Active-
Suspension
System, are two of the most
notable innovations
to come out of the
Lotus R &
D Department.---------------------
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As soon as GM
grabbed the Type 909 engine,-
( which was originally
designed for the 1974---
Lotus Elite M50
4- seater ), they had Lotus------
develop
it into the LT- 5 engine that they put----
into the
ZR-1 Corvette.-------------------------------------
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When no other
technology or secrets were----
forthcoming,
Lotus was quickly sold off.-------
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So
much for GM's plans for the company
as
a new division.----------------------------------------
.
Such
is the fate of fame in a world of
hostle
corporate take- overs.------------------
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To their credit,
when Bugatti bought Lotus they---
restored the
original logo, and thus tried to give--
a sense of continuity
to the company.------------------
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In
truth, I'm sorry to say, the-spirit-of
Lotus-passed-away-when-Colin-did.-
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You must understand
that the Lotus organization was
built by enthusiasts
for enthusiasts, and as such was
the case, had
a tight knit camaraderie that made the ---
owners feel that
we were part of an extended family ---
unit.--------------------------------------------------------------------------
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As
stated above, each Lotus road car
sold
helped finance the racing team,-
and
gave its owner a direct spiritual--
link
to that team.-----------------------------
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The
loss of Jim Clark and Colin Chapman were-
tragedies
that were felt by all of us at the time,--
and having a black nose badge on our cars was----
the very least that we could do to honor these-----
men
for their efforts on our behalf.----------------------
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Today a similar
tradition is being carried forward by-------
die- hard fans
of the Grateful Dead rock band.------------------
Many of these
fans started wearing black arm bands--------
when the groups
guitarist, Jerry Garcia, passed away.-
And they continue
to do so to this day !-----------------------------
.This
fact was noted and immortalized by the producers of--
the television
show "Nash Bridges", which takes place in--
San Francisco.------------------------------------------------------------------
The show has
a character named Harvey who is an avid----
"Dead- Head",
and who is still wearing his arm band all-----
these many years
since Jerry's passing.---------------------------
Such is the respect
given to our cultural heros.------------------
It is a lesson
that is lost on the "bean- counting" corporate
owners who view
Lotus as a product rather than an entity.-
.
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An example of
this would be the design and developement
of the Type 111
"Elise".------------------------------------------------------
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Colin
Chapman would have closely guarded it's
technology
in order to gain a competative edge.
.
Do the present
company owners do that?--------------------------
Not on your life
!----------------------------------------------------------------
They develop
this great new technology and then turn-------
around and offer
to build copies for any manufacturer-------
who wants one.----------------------------------------------------------------
What's the difference
if you drive a Lotus Elise, an Opel-----
Speedster,
or a Vauxhall VX 220?--------------------------------------
Not much.------------------------------------------------------------------------
They're all pretty
much the same car except for their drive-
trains
and a few styling cues.--------------------------------------------
Kind of like
the difference between the Chevrolet Camaro-
and the Pontiac
Firebird.--------------------------------------------------
Anyone with any
mechanical appitude can take the Opel--
or the Vauxhall
and swap out the drive train, change a-----
couple of body
panels, and "viola", have a Lotus !-----------
For another example,
take the Type 100 "Elan".---------------
It was a very
nice little car with cutting edge technology, -
that showed great
potential with furthur developement.---
It never got
that developement.---------------------------------------
It's design was
sold to Kia , where anyone in Asia can------
have an instant
Lotus wanna- be merely by substituting---
a green and yellow
nose badge.---------------------------------------
---You
think that Lotus would have learned it's lesson-after----
seeing
all those Lotus 7 clones, with Lotus nose badges,--
running
around out there.------------------------------------------------
Kind of like
throwing a couple of badges and some green
stripes on a
Ford Cortina and calling it a Lotus.-----------------
It happens more
times then you can imagine.------------------
The practice
is even condoned by some Lotus owners----
clubs, in an
effort to bolster sagging membership roles.--
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Click On Pictures
To Enlarge
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Caveat Emptor
( Buyer Beware
)
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"Lotus"
Cortina spotted on 09 / 09 / 2001,
at a car show
held on Long Island, N.Y.
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There was absolutely
nothing correct about
this "daily driver".--------------------------------------
.
( As if the
owner of a real Lotus would subject
a very valuable car to the rigors and dangers
of
using it for mundane daily transportation---
purposes ).---------------------------------------------------
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It
was missing the Lotus Components ID tag,-
it
has a push- rod Kent engine, and had stock
Cortina
suspension components.----------------------
.
It does have
a couple of LOTUS badges,-
Lotus tire
valve caps, Lotus logo carpet---
mats, and
green side stripes hung on it.-
.--.
SO
WHAT !
.
Is this what
a Lotus is being reduced to?
Eye
Candy?
No high performance
( twin- cam ) engine, no
tricked out transmission,
not even a Lotus---
tuned suspension?-------------------------------------
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In my opinion
this car was nice for a Cortina,
but it's not
a Lotus.--------------------------------------
.
Window stickers
proudly proclaimed the owners
membership in
the Lotus Ltd. organization.--------
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So much for the
exclusivity of owning a Lotus and being
part of the family.-----------------------------------------------------------
.
Don't
you feel like your birthrights have been sold
out
from under you, with all these pretenders to the
throne?---------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------JMM
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(Copyright
©
Taracomm 2001-2005)
All
rights Reserved
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Music:
"Theme From Miami Vice" by Jan Hammer
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I wrote the
above article after speaking with so many people who had heard of the name
LOTUS, but didn't really know much about the cars, or the man that had
made them a reality.
I am fortunate
in that I was able to meet both Colin Chapman and Jim Clark during the
Golden Years of the ascendency of Lotus.
I guess that
I was feeling nostalgic for the 'Old Days', and wanted to leave something
behind for future Lotus enthusiasts to find, before the history of Lotus
was lost to corporate 'newspeak', ala` "1984".
My 1967
Lotus Europa S1A has a Green & Yellow nose badge, and my 1974 Lotus
Elite M50 has a Black one.
That is the way
they will stay, because that is the way that Colin Chapman wanted it.
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It is said
that imatation is the sincerest form of flattery.
If that is the
case , then I should feel honored that two other websites have published
part of the above article.
However,
neither has given me my authors credit, nor have they included the Taracomm
copywrite mark.
You can
find an exerpt from the above article at:
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Lotus ESPRITWorld.com
( URL:
http://espritworld.co.uk/EHistory/lotusbadge.html
)
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and:
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Vince's Lotus
Page
( URL:
http://www.users.qwest.net/~vvenicasa/lotus_nose_badge.html
)
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I would appreciate
an e-mail if anyone finds it on any other website.
Thanks.
----------------------------------------------------------------------JMM
(2005)
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