As long as the MKI elise burst onto the scene…Ive longed for a Lotus (elise/exige)…cash and a growing family being the barrier! After 5 years at my company and having progressed, this year my company car WILL be a MK2 exige S…no question about it. I will finally beable to drive my dream! On Friday JCT600 (Leeds distributor) let me testdrive their orange S for a couple of hours. Naturally, I was nervous. What if this ‘concept’ I had longed for and read so many reviews about was actually - NOT ME??? I shouldnt have even doubted it. I drove to some pretty remote, fast, winding and empty roads near me and I just beamed the whole time. I love the loud cabin, the s/c whine, the ridiculously hard back breaking ride, the outrageous orange hue!! Brilliant. The raw purity and driving experience was so far detached from anything else I had test driven recently.
Already sorted the lease quotes. I’m not fussy about touring packs etc - just want starlight black met and possibly the sport pack!
Having finally received my dream Exige, after upgrading from my S1 Elise… I TOTALLY know how you feel… I had to wait AGES to get mine, but the wait, and the stress was worth it
Can’t be many companies that would allow an Exige as a company vehicle*
Not only that - but the chairman has no idea about ‘a drivers car’ - (S Merc diesel) and for the last couple of years speculated over how ‘appropriate’ this vehicle is when visiting key clients??? Believe me, this is one hell of a barrier. She OK’d the boxster, A6, 535d etc Z4 - but ONLY a no-brainer ‘return’ has sold the idea finally!!!
When the car came to work on Friday - she thought I was crazy - even considering the’kocart’. Some comments have to just be left alone!!!
The orange did look very ‘extrovert’ though. I’ll stick to the black…everyone to their own.
If I spent a little less time on this site, pondering over the benefits of twin oil coolers, the mismatch of Lotus option packs and Exige variants, the sheer enthusiasm shown to these cars…I would be pushing one day to the indecent heights of a green/orange GT3 RS??? Keep the dream alive I guess…one step at a time!