home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
CD-ROM Aktief 1995 #3
/
CDA3.iso
/
faqs
/
lotusfq2.zip
/
FAQ-0133.TXT
Wrap
Text File
|
1995-03-22
|
12KB
|
304 lines
Last-modified: Mon Mar 20 10:38:18 PST 1995 by esprit@netcom.com
Archive-name: autos/lotus-cars-faq/group-lotus
Version: 1.06
Posting-Frequency: monthly
Lotus Cars FAQ
Version 1.06
This is part 2 of the FAQ for Lotus Cars. As with most FAQs,
this is a list of questions that are frequently asked, in this
case about Lotus Cars. Alan F. Perry (esprit@netcom.com) wrote
the first version of this document and is currently maintaining
it. Send mail to esprit@netcom.com for questions or updates.
Special thanks to Mike Causer, Patrick Peal of Group Lotus,
K.C. Babb, Bob Bandera, Bill Castellano, Noel Chiappa, Phil
Ethier, Jon Fairhurst, Doug Fraser, Mike Galos, Andrew Huang,
Ken Landaiche, John O'Connor, Ian Peters, Michael Sands and
Dave Van Horn for their help in preparing this FAQ.
NOTE: This document was created and maintained by owners and
enthusiasts of Lotus-built or -inspired vehicles and is not in
any way connected with Group Lotus Limited, Team Lotus Limited,
Lotus Cars USA or any other subsidiaries or related companies.
Questions:
A. General Questions
A1. Who makes Lotuses?
A2. Who owns Lotus?
A3. What is the history of Lotus?
A4. Who was Colin Chapman?
A5. What is the relationship between Lotus Cars, the road car company,
and Team Lotus, the Formula One racing team?
A6. Why are the cars called "Lotus"?
A7. Where were/are Lotuses built?
A8. What films and television series have featured Lotus cars?
A9. What books are available about Lotus?
A10.How can I contact a Lotus Car club in my area?
A11.What Internet resources are available on Lotus cars?
A12.Who has the Lotus Cars Mailing List map of England?
A13.What is the plural form of "Lotus"?
B. Group Lotus/Lotus Cars Questions
B1. How can I contact Lotus Cars?
B2. What does Group Lotus currently sell?
B3. What kind of Lotus might I see on the street?
B4. Why were Lotuses sold as kits?
B5. Is the DeLorean a Lotus?
B6. Is the Jensen-Healey a Lotus?
B7. Is the first-generation Toyota MR2 a Lotus?
B8. Is the Corvette ZR-1 a Lotus?
B9. Is the [insert car name here] a Lotus?
B10.Is Lotus making bicycles?
C. Team Lotus Questions
C1. How can I contact Team Lotus?
C2. How well has Team Lotus done in Formula One?
C3. Has Team Lotus won more Constructor's Cups than Ferrari?
C4. What famous names are associated with Team Lotus?
C5. Were Nigel Mansell and Mario Andretti ever teammates at Team Lotus?
C6. Who have been major sponsors of the Team Lotus?
C7. Who is currently sponsoring Team Lotus?
C8. What is Classic Team Lotus?
D. Questions About Owning A Lotus
D1. What should I pay for a Lotus/What is my Lotus worth?
D2. Where can I get parts for my Lotus?
D3. What problems might I expect from a Seven?
D4. What problems might I expect from a Type 14 Elite?
D5. What problems might I expect from an Elan?
D6. What problems might I expect from a Plus 2?
D7. What problems might I expect from a Renault-Europa?
D8. What problems might I expect from a TwinCam-engined Europa?
D9. What problems might I expect from a Elite/Eclat?
D10.What problems might I expect from a Esprit S1/S2?
D11.What problems might I expect from a Turbo Esprit?
D12.What problems might I expect from a Excel?
D13.What problems might I expect from a M100 Elan?
D14.What Renault engines can be used in a Europa-Renault (S1/S2)?
B. Group Lotus/Lotus Cars Questions
===================================
B1. How can I contact Lotus Cars?
Group Lotus
Hethel, Norwich
Norfolk NR14 8EZ
England
United Kingdom
+44-953-608000
A good person to start with would be Patrick Peal, Head of
Communications.
Lotus Cars USA
1655 Lakes Parkway
Lawrenceville, GA 30243
USA
+1-404-822-4566
This is the U.S. distributor.
If you wish to buy a new Lotus and you live outside of the US and
you do not know where to buy one, please contact Lotus' Sales and
Marketing Department at +44-953-60800 (+44-953-608281 (fax)).
B2. What does Group Lotus currently sell?
According to Patrick Peal:
Lotus Cars sells the Esprit S4 in virtually all major markets
worldwide. The Lotus Esprit Sport 300 is the ultra high-
performance version from which the LeMans GT cars have been
developed, and is on sale across Europe and the Pacific. It is
not on sale in the USA. The Elan has just returned to production
as the Elan S2, and only 800 will be built, over the next twelve
months. It too is not available in the USA. When the 800 are
finished, we will prepare to introduce the new small car (Type 111).
Lotus Engineering sells mainly engineering contracts (which will
include contract-specific hardware, e.g., prototype engines,
suspension, styling models, etc.). In addition, we offer certain
software and hardware packages for the engineering community, e.g.:
Lotus Data Collection and Analysis System
Lotus Instrumented Steering Wheel (for vehicle handling analysis)
Lotus Active Valve Train (fully computer-controlled inlet/
exhaust valve actuating system, which dispenses with camshafts
completely, for research purposes)
And, of course, we sell bits for Esprit race cars... right up to
fully built race cars.
In addition, the Esprit S4S was introduced at the 1994 Birmingham
Auto Show.
Specifications of the Elan S2, Esprit S4 and Esprit S4S are available
in the Lotus Cars Mailing List anonymous FTP area.
B3. What kind of Lotus might I see on the street?
Seven (Types 7, 60)
1953 - 1973
Elite (Type 14)
1958 - 1964
Elan (Types 26, 36, 45)
S1 1962 - 1964
S2 1964 - 1966
S3 1965 - 1968
S4 1968 - 1971
Sprint 1971 - 1973
Cortina (Type 28)
Mk 1 1963 - 1966
Europa (Types 46, 54, 65, 74)
S1 1966 - 1967
S1A 1967 - 1968
S2 1968 - 1971
S2 Fed 1969 - 1971
Twin Cam 1971 - 1972
Special 1972 - 1975
Elan +2 (Type 50)
+2 1967 - 1969
+2S 1969 - 1974
Elite (Type 75)
1974 - 1982
Eclat (Type 76)
1975 - 1982
Esprit (Types 79, 85)
S1 1976 - 1978
S2 1978 - 1981
S2.2 1981
S3 1981 - 1990
Turbo Esprit (Type 82)
1980 - current
Excel (Type 89)
1982 - 1992
Elan (Type M100)
1989 - 1992, 1994
A complete list of Lotus cars (by Type or Mark) can be found in the
Lotus Cars Mailing List FTP area.
B4. Why were Lotuses sold as kits?
From John O'Connor (jpoc@strat-sys.bt.co.uk):
In the UK, for most of the post war years, one of the main forms of
tax used by the government was purchase tax. This was a sales tax
levied at various percentages on a wide range of goods.
In this environment, cars were considered to be a luxury item and
thus a high level of purchase tax was levied against them. For some
reason, along with food, childrens clothing and books, kit cars
were not taxed with the purchase tax. Thus, in the UK, kit cars
were a lot cheaper than fully assembled cars and the market
flourished.
In the early 1970s, the UK joined what was then called the European
Economic Community (now known as the European Union). One membership
condition of the EEC was the imposition of a tax known as Value
Added Tax or VAT. This is another sales tax and is used by the EEC/EU
as a revenue gathering instrument for it's own purpose. To gain
equity accross the organisation, each country must levy a similar
rate of VAT on a similar range of items and a proportion of that tax
is then taken by the EEC/EU to fund its ac