.
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 over 35 years
of LOTUS ownership,
and the observations that
I have witnessed
in that time period.------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------JMM
(2006)
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What's
a LOTUS ?
.
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 name LOTUS.
.
The initials
stand for:
Anthony
Colin
Bruce
Chapman,
for indeed, without-Colin-Chapman
there-would-be-no-LOTUS
!------------
.
The
name LOTUS appears in NON - SERIF Letters!
.
(This
becomes significant later as a way to distinguish Chapman - era
badges
from the Corporate GM / Bugatti / Proton & Aftermarket badges
on
which the name LOTUS appears in Serifed Letters.----------------------------
Colin
Chapman was an ambitious young man, with new ideas about
the
design of motor cars.---------------------------------------------------------------------
Perhaps
he felt that Serifed Letters looked too OLD FASHIONED, and
went
with the more modern and clean, (more aerodynamic?), looking
non-serife
type style.)-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
.
.
A Round Marque
Patch was produced, which mirrored
the nose badge
perfectly.--------------------------------------------
.
.
A special Mechanics
Patch, (which was
worn on the Service
Mechanics uniform),
was produced.----------------------------------------
It was triangular
in shape, and has Green Lettering
on an Orange
/ Yellow background.------------------------
It was made in
TWO sizes.-------------------------------------
A large 7.5"
X 5" size was worn on the back of the uniform,
and a small 2.75"
X 2" size was worn above the left breast
pocket on the
front of the uniform.-------------------------------------
.
.
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 LOTUS Type
48 in a Formula 2 race. ------------------
.
.From
that day onward, all LOTUS cars have worn
a
black nose badge, out of respect for his passing.
.
(Back in the
early 1970's, I was told by LOTUS Racing East
that existing
factory stocks of green & yellow nosebadges
were depleted
by selling them only to owners of cars-
manufactured
prior to the date of Jim Clark's death,-as
replacements
for stolen-or
damaged badges.-------------
Additional
stocks of green & yellow nosebadges were--
ordered by
the factory to supply the owners of the early
cars only
as they were needed.------------------------------------
I had to show
them my registration, which indicated a 1967
LOTUS, in
order to purchase a new Green & Yellow Nose --
Badge to replace
the chipped and cracked one on my car.)-
.
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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.
.
Some people claim
that a black nose badge indicates a
special vehicle,
one that has a hotter then normal engine,
or that has had
special chassis adjustments done.---------
Others would
have you believe that both the green & yellow
and the black
nose badges were used concurrently on the
road cars, and
that they are interchangable.------------------------
They think there
is no significance as to-whether
a car has
a black badge
or not.---------------------------------------------------------
If that were
truely the case, why would Colin Chapman even
consider going
through the expense of making and stocking
TWO different
LOTUS nosebadges, considering the notorious
cheapskate that
he was when it came to cutting production costs.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
.
Colin
Chapman meant the Black nosebadge to be an
Homage`
to a very dear and loyal friend.-------------------
A
friend that he missed to the very last day of his own
life.-----------------------------------------------------------------------
.
Any
street LOTUS, manufactured after 1968
which
is wearing a green and yellow nose-
badge, is pretending to be something that it
is
not.----------------------------------------------------
I
would consider it a disgrace to the memories
of
both Jim Clark and Colin Chapman.------------
.
In the mid -1980's
the Ford Motor Company had
the chance to
buy LOTUS.---------------------------------
They turned the
offer down, and opted to buy both
Aston Martin
and Jaguar instead.---------------------------
They have also
purchased Volvo and Rover.----------
.
(Colin
Chapman would probably have been very offended,
considering
the long and illustrious association that Ford has
had
with LOTUS.----------------------------------------------------------------------
To
this day, when many people hear the name LOTUS, they
think
that it is an English Ford.----------------------------------------------
They
can not really be faulted for this mistake, considering the
many
famous LOTUS race cars that proclaimed that they were
'Powered
by Ford' !)--------------------------------------------------------------------
.
General Motors
became alarmed by Ford's aquisitions,
and decided that
they had better make a few of their own.
When Ford passed
on LOTUS, GM stepped in, and proclaimed
that the marque
would become a new division, just as Saturn
and GEO had.------------------------------------------------------------------------
(You
do remember GEO, don't you?)-----------------------------------------------
It was said at
the time that the cars would first be sold
through Pontiac
dealers, so that the American public
could be re-introduced
to LOTUS.-----------------------------
.
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.--------------------------------------
.
.
As I mentioned
earlier, when General Motors bought
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
LOTUS Esprit Turbo.----------------------
.
.
GM did away with
the Yellow background, leaving
only the Triangular
Green Lozenge, and changed the
lettering of
the name LOTUS to a very stylized Serifed
type.--------------------------------------------------------------------------
.
This
badge also 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
style 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.)---------------------
.
(This
transitional badge is reproduced for you below.)
.
.
It was planned
that the new corporate LOTUS
logo would be
used as much as possible.------
.
.
Below is a uniform
patch.
.
.
The later badge
that they adopted for the-
Esprit' and Excel'
included very small initials,
to down-play
Colin Chapman's contributions
to the company
and the art of automotive ----
engineering.-------------------------------------------------
.
He
would, after all, be a
very
tough act to follow.
.
.
Such
is the fate of fame in a world
of
hostle corporate takeovers.-------
.
To try to remove
the memory of Colin Chapman from
LOTUS would be
akin to erasing Sir William Lyons---
from the history
of Jaguar, or David Brown from the
history of Aston
Martin.-------------------------------------------
.
In
truth, I'm sorry to say, the-Spirit-of
LOTUS-passed-away-when-Colin-did!
.
].
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 didn't 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.-------------------
.
As soon as GM
grabbed the Type 909 V8 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.-------------------------------------
.
When no other
technology or secrets were ---
forthcoming,
LOTUS was quickly sold off.----
.
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 takeovers.----------
.
To their credit,
when Bugatti bought LOTUS they
restored the
original logo, and thus tried to give -
a sense of continuity
to the company.------------------
.
However, they
changed the badge by making both
the Yellow and
Green darker, and using a SERIFED
style lettering
for the name LOTUS.-------------------------
.
.
The Marque Patch
has been modified with a Deeper Yellow
background and
a Darker Green, and the lettering has been
changed to the
Serif type, so that the patch mirrors the new
nose badge.-----------------------------------------------------------------------
.
.
Any private entrants
who race their cars, use the
Marque Patch
on their uniforms, even if they are
not factory sponsered.--------------------------------------
.
Proton has continued
to use the Green & Yellow badge,
with the Serifed
LOTUS name, on the cars that they have produced.----------------------------------------------------------------------
.
.
Is this the future,
(and end), of Lotus?
Proton seems
to want to move the marque away from
the high performance
sports car market, and into the
family oriented
luxury grand touring segment.-----------
(Will
LOTUS be as to Proton, as Acura is to Honda, Infinity is to Toyota, or
Lexus is to Nissan?)
.
.
Proton / LOTUS
Europa S
(Can
$100,000.00 Hundai's and Kia's be far behind?)
.
The new Europa
S that Proton has LOTUS developing
has NOTHING in
common with its famous mid-engine
ancestor.-------------------------------------------------------------------
Although it has
taken some styling cues from the Elise,
it is a FOUR
passenger vehicle more along the style of
a Mitsubishi
Eclipse, Toyota Celica, or Nissan Altima.---
There was even
talk of moving its production to the parent
factory in Malayasia,
but that that has been put on hold for
the time being.------------------------------------------------------------------
(I
think that Proton is waiting to see how the marketing of the car in
Asia
goes, and whether or not LOTUS can keep up with the necessary
production
if it is successful.)-----------------------------------------------------------------
If Proton is
successful in selling this vehicle in the Asian
market, it could
very well design and produce more cars like
it, and move
the entire Lotus production out of England!------
.
They have already
given the licensing rights for items
bearing the LOTUS
logo, (such as patches and stickers),
to Malayasian
manufacturers, instead of the English firms
who have produced
these items for more then 50 years. ---
.
Such
is the VALUE of fame, and tradition, in
a
world of hostile corporate takeovers !!!-----
.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------JMM
(2006)
.
(Copyright
©
Taracomm 1995 - 2006)
All
Rights Reserved
.
Music:
"Lothlorien"
by
Enya
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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.--------------------------------------------------------------------------
.
As
stated above, each Lotus road car that
was
sold helped to finance the racing team,
and
gave its owner a direct spiritual link to
that
team.-----------------------------------------------
.
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.-----------------------
.
.
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
types who view
Lotus as a product rather than an entity.-
.
.
An example of
this would be the design and developement
of the Type 111
"Elise".------------------------------------------------------
.
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 would 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.--
.
Click On Pictures
To Enlarge
.
 
.
Caveat Emptor
( Buyer Beware
)
.
'LOTUS'
Cortina spotted on 09 / 09 / 2001,
at a car show
held on Long Island, N.Y.
.
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).---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
.
It
was missing the Lotus Components ID tag,-
had
no aluminum body panels, it had a push-
rod
Kent engine, and had totally stock Cortina
suspension
components.--------------------------------------
.
Those facts add
up to a stock English Ford in my book.
.
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?-------------------------------------
.
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.--------
.
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
(2006)
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| 1948
- 1968 |
1968
- 1985 |
1986 |
1987
- 1993 |
1993
- 2006 |
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(Copyright
©
Taracomm 1995 - 2006)
All
Rights Reserved
.
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 in 1966, 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 both my 1974
LOTUS Elite M503 V8 and 1976 LOTUS Elite M504 Automatic have a Black one.
That is the way
they will stay, because that is the way that
Colin Chapman
wanted it!
.
.
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:
.
Lotus
ESPRITWorld.com
URL:
http://espritworld.co.uk/EHistory/lotusbadge.html
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and:
.
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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Copyright©
Taracomm 1995 - 2008
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