"Simplify, and add lightness" and "lots of trouble, usually serious" are two phrases associated with sports car manufacturer Lotus which, though juxtaposed in their meaning, stand as a metaphor for the mixed bag of creations that have left the company's Norfolk factory over the last 70 years.
Despite the propensity of most Lotus cars to provide an exhilarating and satisfying driving experience, the company has often been plagued by issues relating to build quality and reliability, which has, on occasion tarnished its reputation.
Practicality issues aside, however, driving something built at Hethel is, more often than not, a formative automotive experience. So, to celebrate the storied marque, we compiled some of our test drivers' most memorable moments behind the wheel of a Lotus.
Andrew Frankel
I’d been on the mag for less than a year and already been booted off the road test desk for being, well, crap. Almost 30 years later, I can’t remember how I scored a seat in the weirdest three-car convoy ever to journey from Land’s End to John O’Groats but there we were, a Peugeot 405 Mi-16, a Vauxhall Nova GTE and a Lotus Esprit Turbo SE.
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Question ?
Why would an Esprit GT3, be better than an Esprit S4S ? I bothered to speak to an Esprit expert to ask the question when I saw this written this morning, and he was at a complete loss to come up with an answer. As an S4S owner, and previously a GT3 owner, I'm also at a loss to understand the thinking of Autocar too ?