spare £225k? fancy a one off Exige (Elise)?

exigeboy · 1 November 2008 12:08

sorry for the angles on the shots… the car is literally crammed in the showroom with no room to stand back and take a proper pic!!

it looks monstrous in the flesh!!!

thommo · 1 November 2008 18:24

We’ve had the “love em or loathe them” debate before. I love em, Pesky doesn’t.

Mr_Pesky · 1 November 2008 19:23

We’ve had the “love em or loathe them” debate before. I love em, Pesky doesn’t.

Don’t loathe them, just think they’re all show & no go.

That particular one was supposed to run in a parade of Lotus Cars through the ages, at Le Mans in 2005 - it wouldn’t even start, let alone move (most embarassing!)! It does look a million times better than the green & yellow one, that seems to be permanently up for sale though

Mind you, if all you want your car for is for polishing, & carting round on a trailer to shows, then it’s probably purfick

fatcat · 1 November 2008 19:29

Does nothing for me I’m afraid

Benja · 1 November 2008 21:05

It has been known to turn a wheel…

[image]tsuphoto.com - tsuphoto Resources and Information.

Must be the same one at the Brands Lotus festival last year.

Mr_Pesky · 1 November 2008 21:11

Nice one, Graham

Must say, it does look good in that pic (well done Benja/Jason)

AndyD · 1 November 2008 21:16

That particular one was supposed to run in a parade of Lotus Cars through the ages, at Le Mans in 2005

Wasnt this also the one that was featured in CAR or another magazine and kept dying in the high street due to engine management problems or something ? I remember that I was quite smitten with it at that time

However I think the 225K price tag is a well overdone and sadly agree that is a museaum car now …

The83man · 1 November 2008 21:33

I think the type 115 is typical of many Lotus cars; photographs simply do not do it justice. This car is absolutely stunning when you stand next to it. I defy anyone on this forum to stand next to it and not think “I don’t suppose I could have a go in it…”

Pesky is right about the fact that it was never a race winner (it’s sole purpose was to win races) and in that respect it’s probably a miserable failure but that doesn’t mean it isn’t desirable. Or very quick. Or a fine piece of engineering. I’d have one in my collection…

Mr_Pesky · 1 November 2008 21:50

I defy anyone on this forum to stand next to it and not think “I don’t suppose I could have a go in it…”

That reminds me of the girlfriends of my yoooth

Aagh though, cousin Mike, you’ve got to remember that I simply don’t have the same allegience as you to all things Lotus. In that respect I must admit to being very shalllow - I just like what I like

However, I’m extremely fond of Exiges/Elises, & just as importantly, the great people I’ve met through them over the last 7 years or so. I’d even go as far as to say, life changing…

SeanB · 2 November 2008 13:40

I like them!!

Huskydog · 7 November 2008 02:46

Desireable, but not the best car in the world. It would be in the garage but would be mostly in GJOB form.
The Mclaren F1 is without a shadow of doubt the best and in my lifetime will always be the best road going car in the world. Read Driving Ambition the official F1 story if you haven’t done already?

But then you can have 4-5 of the type 115 for one F1.

Waverunner · 7 November 2008 07:23

That’s Graham Morris’ car (cousin of a guy I work with) and he’s had it for almost 10 years now. Stunning car in the flesh and the only pucker road version built. I believe divorce has a bearing on the fact it’s for sale now.

If I won the lottery it would be in my garage, but not for that money.

alicrozier · 7 November 2008 08:56

Lovely looking car but if I could afford it surely I’d look down the back of the sofa for the extra change to stretch to this…

andyr300 · 9 November 2008 22:34

lovely ar im sure most of us will agree.

however for that money you would be a mad man to even consider it!

Carttman · 10 November 2008 09:31

…too correct that its race career was a failure, but am I correct in remebering that the FIA changed rules in the weeks leading up to LM which saw them have to butcher the mod’d Esprit V8 out, and them drop a big chev lump in, only for the rules to change back, but the team did not have the resource or time to revert back? Is that right? I understood if it had remained in the original lotus engined setup, it would have been more competitive…

AonFocalEile · 10 November 2008 22:51

…too correct that its race career was a failure, but am I correct in remebering that the FIA changed rules in the weeks leading up to LM which saw them have to butcher the mod’d Esprit V8 out, and them drop a big chev lump in, only for the rules to change back, but the team did not have the resource or time to revert back? Is that right? I understood if it had remained in the original lotus engined setup, it would have been more competitive…

Love it, I would have one at the drop of a hat just for the madness of it. A very unconventional supercar and that is the attraction for me.

The83man · 11 November 2008 00:14

Not a good enough excuse, I’m afraid.

The Lotus V8 (turbo) WAS ruled out (by the teams not the FIA) at the start of the season because of regulation changes introduced by the FIA regarding air restrictor sizes. The ACO were not part of the decision as far as I am aware. There were several fires while testing with the Lotus turbo unit. They fitted the normally aspirated Corvette V8 (designed by Lotus Engineering) instead but it never really had the pre-season development, or the power, and they never recovered from the set back of having to swap the engine installation so late in the car’s developement.(One team did retain the Lotus turbo units and continued to set fire to cars regularly) The cars did compete in the FIA series but never achieved much. The Le Mans entry was speculative really, in that the perceived reliabilty of the V8 giving them an outside chance really didn’t pay off. Three cars were entered but only one qualified - they simply weren’t quick enough or well enough prepared.

But let’s not forget that this was the pinacle of so-called GT racing at the time. Mercedes (CLK-GTR) and Porsche (911 GT1, described by Tiff Needell as a bread van because it had no back window) had designed and built racing cars and then turned them back enough to meet the ‘production’ requirement. The McLaren F1-GTR was well-developed by then, as was the Panoz, another racing car design. The Elise GT1 really was a production car developed for racing and, in that respect at least, it was the moral victor.

But that doesn’t alter the fact that it was never a succesful race car in the series it was built for. It is still an amazing piece of engineering though, and very, very quick, just not as quick as the opposition at the time. If and when this era of cars ever ends up in historic racing it will probably do very well!

Only 7 (this might be the eighth) cars were built and were designated Type 115. According to the label, this car still has a Lotus twin turbo V8 fitted and therfore may be unique! It looks like the door might fit my Exige…

Mr_Pesky · 11 November 2008 07:36

Many thanks for your post Mike - you really are a fount of knowledge, on all things Lotus

See you on Saturday @ NEC?

The83man · 11 November 2008 21:45

NEC - Saturday - Hopefully yes but I must be in Hungerford for the HLR AGM by 6.00pm so it will have to be early in the day.