I know that this is a strange question but apart from the seven why do all lotus model names begin with an E? eg. europa, excel,elan,elise etc. I am sure there must be others which don't but I can't think of them at the moment!

I know its a stupid question but it has got me thinking!! (it doesn't happen much!!)

Andy

 

Thoughtful question.
Are there any answers??

 

On a similar note, don't Peugeot have some sort of right to be the only ones to have 0 in the middle of 3 digit car names...

106
205
206
309
405
406
807

etc, etc????

 

Hello,

Yes and Its deliberate, I think Colin Chapman started it off.

 

Three are many answers ... but are any of them correct?

Esprit, Exige and Elite also begins with E

Can't think of any off-hand that don't begin with E (apart from the '7' that has been already mentioned).

This can't be just coincidence.

 

There was also the Eclat . I don't remember the details but at some point Colin Chapman changed from Marks to Numbers to Names.

Lotus Mark 6 (Pre-Seven trials car)
Lotus Seven
Lotus Eleven
...
Lotus 49 (Grand Prix car ?)
...
Then the names

I thinks the details are in some books my Dad has.

He has a Lotus Seven Series 2 with orignal 1340 Cosworth tuned engine, Twin Webers givng approx 85/90 bhp and weighs about the same as a bar of chocolate. What are the original tyres ? 3.5" Crossplies. Apparently it was interesting on damp roundabouts. I say 'was' because he's had it since the late 60s and it was on the road for a few years (2/3)and is mostly now in Cardboard boxes

Dean

 

Glad to get people thinking on a Monday morning!

 

What about the Lotus Carlton? Doesn't really count!

 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by simon_prickett:
<B>On a similar note, don't Peugeot have some sort of right to be the only ones to have 0 in the middle of 3 digit car names...

106
205
206
309
405
406
807

etc, etc????[/quote]

Yes, Porsche were originally going to call the 911 the 901 until Peugeot forced them to change. I can only assume they were able to get away with 904, 906, 908 etc because they were race cars not road cars.

G

 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by dsmith:
<B>There was also the Eclat . I don't remember the details but at some point Colin Chapman changed from Marks to Numbers to Names.


[/quote]

I always understood that Lotus raod cars had names and competition cars (or the original "specials") had numbers. There was a racing version of the Europa which was raced as a Lotus 47 (plus or minus!). I think the US Lotus site (www.Lotus.com ?) has a list of Lotus model numbers right up to the last F1 car - must have been the 102 or thereabouts.

I think that the Seven was originally designated as a competition car rather than a road car, hence no name.

G

 

Yeah, and Fords are always named after 'mens magazines' Escort, Fiesta etc etc and the next planed ford model the new 'Big and Busty'

 

Maybe someone should release a men's magazine called "Probe" then

 

Surely that would be a Women's magazine ?

 

All the road cars then:

Elite
Elan
Europa
Elite (70's wedge)
Eclat
Esprit
Excel
Etna (only one built!)
Elan (M100)
Elise

Yes there is a pattern and Colin Chapman started it!

 

So who can get the first picture of an Etna (WTF!)

Ahh Good old google !

 

Dont forget:

Exige

and..... just to spoil our fun:

340R

??? Maybe we'll ignore that one, since its basically a racecar.... but...the replacement for the Esprit is the M250

I guess corporate Lotus is a different company altogether...

Bri
&lt;has no Evo forum, so its either posting on Scoobynet or working&gt;

 

M250's just a project code name thingy isn't it? I'm sure they said that there'll be an E-name for it eventually.

Any guesses?

 

How about Eternity, 'cos the project is definitely dragging on.