OT-what model is this Lotus? Options

[Bleyseng]

Stumbled across this Lotus in Rethymon, Crete on the street. What is it?

Geoff

[lapuwali]

Lotuses were not particularly badly engineered compared to other British cars of the day. I think plenty of engineering went into the road-going Lotus cars, but durability just wasn't considered as important as it sound have been. They would have been complete non-starters had Colin Chapman started in 1980 rather than 1950, when government regulations required things like crash testing. There were a number of significant missteps, like the first Elite (fiberglass monocoque, which cracked badly when exposed to real roads, not just racetracks). However, I also consider the first Elite to be one of the prettiest, tidiest cars ever made.

That said, there's been a good deal of progress using these cars as inspiration. Caterham has made the Seven a durable car, though they added significant weight to get it (up to 1500lbs from 1100lbs). Banks Garage has manage to produce solid Europas with a vastly stronger chassis, and managed to do so without adding a huge amount of weight.

The 914 can also be made into a much better car now than it was in 1969. Shortcomings in power, braking, strength, and shifting have all been addressed over the years.

What we should be happy for is that cars were made that sufficiently inspired people to go to all of this trouble in continuing to develop them long after the factory stopped. IMHO, there are far fewer such cars being produced today. Can you see people continuing to drive and improve the MR Spyder in 2034?