Before you get excited Hethel, I’m not sure he’s even aware there was an S1.
I think the penultimate paragraph may just about sum it up.
Ian
ps. Pesky have you ever had a beer with Clarkson? He seems to be coming from your kind of thinking on car ownership.
This is a very fair review because it judges the car on its merits, rather than its heritage.
To take the progressive rock metaphor a bit further, the S2 is “Wishbone Ash Argus” to the S1’s “Led Zeppelin 1”
Both classics in their own right, but for different reasons and with their own separate fan bases?
I’m not sure he’s even aware there was an S1.
Ian
I like Clarkson and I’m sure he knows that there is an S1 but he is a big bloke short on patience - I doubt if he would have made the effort to get into a S1 Exige which is a pity because, had he done so, he would have known that motoring anarchy arrived long before the EVO VIII
Journalists eh - don’t you just love 'em…
(P.S. Just put my CRP back on today after its MoT and before its service/tune up tomorrow - see what I mean about motoring anarchy (“bu**er the law on catalysts)”)
Regards
Clarkson - lost a lot of my regard for him way back in the eary 1990s when he was still writing for performance car. His suggestion was that handling was unimportant and all cars should have 4wd . (I admit that this is my subjective recall). Writing for a mag called ‘Performance Car’, you would have thought that this opinion would be blasphemous!!
I do admire his intolerance of half-baked cars which just ‘do the job’.
In addition I find his place as the foremost motoring journalist a little disconcerting. He has no special skill with cars, merely the eloquence with which to state an opinion. Actually maybe that is his strength, an average driver with eloquence - maybe he was right, handling for most drivers probably is unimportant. Image, value and reliability are the watch words
…which is why he is unimportant in my book.
Ha! ignoring the very existance of the original Exige…
Clarkson is too much in the pocket of some manufacturers.
I’ve had no respect for him for a VERY long time. I really enjoyed him smacking his head in the MGSV on the last series of Top Gear.
He is also very inconsistant in his comments, example was when the Rover 75 was launched at Birmingham he was full of praise for it’s looks Mini Bentley comments etc, then when it was released to the press for test drives he slated it’s looks as too retro etc. Everyone has different opinions but at least the stick to them.
He is also a [censored] driver.
Trouble with Clarkson he will give a controversial view to be well… ‘controversial’ . I don’t respect his glib opinions on most things and his thumbs up or down attitude to motors. His press seems more important than any car he tests…
Whilst acknowledging that the Vectra wasn’t the greatest car ever, Clarkson contributed greatly to its sales failure by constantly slagging it off and the subsequent closure of Vauxhall’s Luton plant.
Loved it when master driver Gavan Kershaw took him out in the S2 Elise and showed him how it should be driven
Whilst acknowledging that the Vectra wasn’t the greatest car ever, Clarkson contributed greatly to its sales failure by constantly slagging it off and the subsequent closure of Vauxhall’s Luton plant.
Therefore Simon people evidently listen to him! Although I’m not sure Vectra drivers watch ‘Car Programmes’ so maybe you give him too much credit!
I expect they’ll be a very happen marketing manager at Hethel tomorrow. As if Jeremy had turned on his ‘interweb’ (joke for Top Gear viewers) and looked here first he could have come from a different angle and no S1 Exige driver would ever get Lotus to return their calls.
Ian
he could have come from a different angle and no S1 Exige driver would ever get Lotus to return their calls.
I’m never going to re-enter the debate over the merits or demerits of the S2, IDG.
But
It would be a very sad day indeed if the opinions of knowledgeable customers were modified just to keep Lotus happy.
Lotus may have a fantastic heritage and wonderful charisma. But that does not give it the right to expect anything other than constructive criticism from those of us who have parted with our cash to swell its coffers in the past.
If they don’t like what they hear then there can only be two conclusions
a. Move on with their proposed marketing plans regardless, on the basis that the criticism is not indicative of the actual target market for a given car.
b. Do something about it.
Being specific just for one fleeting moment, does anyone know of an existing Exige owner who was consulted about the design of the new car? I’ve not read a single post here to that effect…
I’m surprised at your comments because, of all motoring writers, Clarkson has never worried about upsetting manufacturers
I’m surprised at your comments because, of all motoring writers, Clarkson has never worried about upsetting manufacturers
Don’t take this the wrong way but a comment like that shows you don’t know much about the goings on in the motor industry.
He very rarely says anything bad about Jaguar, Ford, Aston, volvo etc, and the reason is that he used to be (no knowledge of current situation) contracted on a ‘consultancy’ basis to the Ford group. Nice free Jags etc.
Lots of people in the industry have absolutly no time for him, and believe a lot of the Vectra bashing may have had an ulterior motive.
Also there was uproar in Rover during the press launch that a Rover 75 was allegedly spotted by a supplier in a workshop at Fords Tech centre in Dunton, only the press had been given cars.
Also most of the big sideways stuff wasn’t him driving in the old Top Gear as he has admitted in the past he didn’t know how to slide a car, apparantly he’s had lessons since.
Sorry for the rant I can’t stand the bloke.
“Don’t take this the wrong way but a comment like that shows you don’t know much about the goings on in the motor industry”
No offence taken and, I’m sure, none meant.
Frankly, I really don’t care about the parish pump politics in the motor industry. In my long experience in wider industry, there’s nothing more despised than someone prepared to go out on a limb if he/she believes the situation merits it - and they’re usually journalists.
As far as Ford is concerned, you obviously didn’t watch Clarkson’s damning review of the RS Focus in the last series of Top Gear then?
“Lots of people in the industry have absolutely no time for him”
There’s no entertainment value in being sycophantic. Clarkson is widely admired by the viewing public because he is outspoken and has a unique style.
I doubt he’s employed by Ford now. He’s having to grovel to get them to sell him a new GT40!
I just think he’s amusing. He’s opinions on cars are pointless! That is unless you’re a marketing manager, as he’s the most listened to automotive journo.
Ian