Lets name them all!

[Martin]

Lotus Engineering has engineered at least some component of an astonishing number of vehicles that have seen the open road that are not badged with a Lotus Emblem. For the education of all of us, I say we name the ones we can think of, and don't use the internet unless you are just checking for details of what you already know.

I'll start the list with two obvious ones:

Chevy Corvette ZR1
Isuzu Stylus XS

[jimmybondi]

Isuzu Piazza
Opel Speedster
VX220
Tesla Roadster
(Easy... these are mentioned on the top of this section :D )

[WayneB]

I know a few from the 80's /90's

Renault 5 GT Turbo/Renault Fuego (turbo setup)

MG Metro Turbo/MG Maestro Turbo (turbo setup)

Dodge 2.2 Turbo III (cylinder head and turbo/intercooler setup)

Oldsmobile Quad 4 (cylinder head)

Cadillac Northstar V8/Oldsmobile Aurora V8 engines

That Emme thing from Brazil.

[Autocross7]

Toyota MR2 (2nd Generation)
Maxton Rollerskate (susspension only)
Delorean (ooof)

...and an argument could be made that the MX-5 Miata, at least in herritage, was indirectly influenced by Lotus.

[jimmybondi]

That Emme thing from Brazil.

Shame on me! :rolleyes: I should have mentioned that one... :p

Cortina, Carlton, Jensen-Healey, Supra, Celica....

[WayneB]

That engine looks better in your car then it did that thing Jimmy!:p
http://www.supercars.net/carpics/472/1998_EmmeLotus_422T3.jpg

[TWO OLD ELANS]

Caterham,
a bunch of AJ Foyt's Sheraton Thompson Indy cars from the mid 60's, (and the first few Coyotes?)
(Did Dan Gurney's 1966 Indy Yamaha Special have a Lotus badge? I'll guess yeah),
and Parnelli Jones' Agajanian Indy cars from 64 and 65.

Twenty-two Lotus Chassis are listed as having competed at Indy from '63 to '69. How many other Lotuses without the Lotus badge/chassis recognition were racing back then??? Ford knows the answer.

[Kimbers]

Rover SD1 (yep)
Scorpion light Tank
Sinclair C5
Tesla
Opel Calibra 24v

erm.....several I can't mention including

Many vauxhall Opels
Some Toyota's and Honda's

Basically, i think a recent quote said that Lotus had been involved either in design, fixing poor performance/handling or cars having parts originally designed by Lotus (ground effects etc), on 50% of cars on the roads.

[Autocross7]

Can't forget the Pontiac Fiero and Fiero GT!

[Martin]

What did Lotus do for the Supra? (and what generation Supra at that)
Also,
Kimbers, I did hear that as well but it is quoted for only cars in EU.

BTW, what the hell is that thing with a Lotus motor in it?

[Autocross7]

Ugly and fast...

Here ya go...
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.fantasycars.com/gallery/Cars/Emme%2520Lotus/422T/tn_emme_lotus_422t2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.fantasycars.com/sedans/HTML/emme_lotus_422t.html&h=100&w=118&sz=5&hl=en&start=4&um=1&tbnid=EJVoy2DeeNhhWM:&tbnh=75&tbnw=88&prev=/images%3Fq%3DEmme%2BBrazilian%2Bcars%26svnum%3D10% 26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4IBMA_en___US242%26sa %3DG

[jimmybondi]

That engine looks better in your car then it did that thing Jimmy!:p
http://www.supercars.net/carpics/472/1998_EmmeLotus_422T3.jpg

A very poor attempt to hide the classic Lotus engine under a 'modern' Merc-style engine cover... :eek:

Did not help pushing sales figures up, though :rolleyes:

[WayneB]

Now Jimmy, that engine in an Excel ;)

[Martin]

Damn, I knew nothing about the Emme. Thanks for the info.
And yes, now that I know what it I still have to say it is hideous. Of course I would still love to have 1 for funzies.

[WayneB]

Silly me , I forgot about Lotuses involvement with the VVA chassis on the Aston-Martin Vanquish, DB9 and Vantage .:rolleyes:

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f355/WayneBarr/astoninshop2.jpg

[Tony K]

Is the Mastretta MXT an Elise-based car?

http://www.mastrettadesign.com/index_eng.htm
(click on MXT Proyect [sic])

http://www.mastrettadesign.com/photos/mxtweb04.jpg

[Tony K]

Okay, I thought of a good one -- the 16-valve head on the 80s Chrysler Laser, Spirit, etc!

http://i.pbase.com/u25/rmscott/upload/14860373.MKenny91SpiritRTwithEuroValveCover.JPG

...and has the Talbot/Sunbeam been mentioned?




...
.
.
.
EDIT: Okay, I went back and I see Wayne already beat me to it!

[Martin]

Is the Mastretta MXT an Elise-based car?

http://www.mastrettadesign.com/index_eng.htm
(click on MXT Proyect [sic])



Cool, never heard of it. It does look a little like the Yes car. BTW, has anyone mentioned that one. I know Arnie Johnson was involved in the car, but as for actual factory Lotus stuff I don't know.

[Al B]

I don't know the particular model number but initially, before U.S. production of the elise was ramped up, one of the two assembly lines at Hethel was being used for a Vauxhall which looked very much like the Elise.
Among the Isuzu's mentioned I did not see a listing of the Isuzu Impulse. It carries an "engineered by Lotus" badge on its sides.
At one time Lotus engineering was also heavily involved in the Corvette's suspension design if I'm not mistaken.
All the above are pulled from the questionable and 70's besotted memory banks of the writer and should be considerd with a tin of salt. We're way beyond the capacity of a single grain :rolleyes:

[Tony K]

Al -- the Impulse is the same car as the Piazza, mentioned earlier. :)

Or are you talking about the one that looks like a Geo Storm?


By the way what about the Stylus?

[Brian Skeoch]

I know they had some work on the Jeep Liberty and the PT Cruiser turbo. I believe Lotus engineering in Michigan worked on both of these cars.

[Kimbers]

Al -- the Impulse is the same car as the Piazza, mentioned earlier. :)

Or are you talking about the one that looks like a Geo Storm?


By the way what about the Stylus?

Also did the Isuzu Trooper suspension.

Al B yep did the Corvette suspension back in the late 80's early 90's i believe (thats when I remember seeing it around).

This thread could go on for ever seeing as how over 50% of the cars in Europe (I suspect thats the world) have some sort of Lotus involvement.

[Al B]

Tony,

I guess that the Impulse moniker was the U.S. version.

Know not of the Stylus.

[Brian Skeoch]

Thats right. Corvette was running the Lotus active suspension on the corvette GTP team out of the Hendricks stables back in 1990 ?

isnt that when Doc approached your dad Mike to plant the seed on the X180 R team and how Lotus could wax up the IMSA Supercar series. ?

Brian

[Günter]

That engine looks better in your car then it did that thing Jimmy!:p
http://www.supercars.net/carpics/472/1998_EmmeLotus_422T3.jpg


Uuuuups, what is that !? a *wannabe V8* :(

[WayneB]

Brian Angus remembers working on the Bugatti EB 110 at Lotus, they worked on the RHD UK version and a USA Federal version (airbags and impact bumper systems)

I seem to remember the RHD conversion was not staightforwards and very difficult on these cars as the driveline was quite offset to the right!

At the time, Bugatti , Lotus, Lamborghini and Vector were all owned by Romano Artioli. wonder where he is now?

http://www.classicdriver.com/upload/images/_uk/12393/img02.jpg

[Martin]

Nice one. Certainly didn't know that one.

That is one car I have never seen in person, and I feel cheated because of it. :crying::)

[Autocross7]

Saw one in Miami a while ago and it was stunning... more than the photo suggests. And the lady driving was about the same :mf_dribble:....

Cameron

[Brian Skeoch]

Man, I didnt know that Lotus had anything to do with that Bugati. very cool.

[Brian Skeoch]

I remember in the 80's the Vector plant was just down the street from me in Long Beach CA. I believe they were based in Wilmington , just south of LA in a HORRIBLE part of town.

has Vector been reborn again ?

Brian

[Günter]

..has Vector been reborn again ?

Brian
rumors in the LEF say "yes".

there is also a post with pictures in it, you can see them also on "pistonheads" in the UK!


http://www.pistonheads.com/news/default.asp?storyId=17236

[WayneB]

Just reading that press release on Vector made me cringe.:001_unsure:

Doesn't Gerry Wiegart think people won't remember the whole farcical way the whole show was run in the 80's? (before Artoli bought the company):sorcerer:

Words like hyper, electroluminecent, paradym, aviation quality and loony performance figures, nothing has changed!:blink:

And those old Supra headlight clusters (from the junkyard?):pinch:

[Autocross7]

Actually, the way I remember it was that only the first 10 or 12 cars were worth anything. Once the corporate types took it over and started shoving Lambo motors and the like in the quality actually went down... and so did everything else about the car.

Personally, I did not much care for it then - automatic... come on! But, I saw #3 (I think it was #3) a little while ago and it was very interesting...

Cameron

[WayneB]

I remember the first car being repainted and repainted for what seemed like 10 years(being passed off as a production run) and being tested by the car mags and blowing up and catching fire on several occasions(whilst on airport runways and drag strips).

It never did go anywheres near its claimed 200 mph + top speed in independant hands, and Wiegert always had 100+1 excuses..

Andre Agassi was so pissed off with his W8 he sued and got his money back.

The Lambo engined Vectors came about when Artolli took over the brand and resorted to making them glorified lamborghinis (only uglier) to get real life performance out of them and to try and re-launch the brand .

I guess Gerry Wiegert now owns the name again, so we can prepare for the bull to start again in earnest.(If it hasn't already):001_unsure:

[Martin]

What was with that 3-speed anyway. How in the hell could that be efficient?:steeringwheel::sleep1:

[WayneB]

The transmission Vector used was actually the GM Turbohydramatic 425 automatic first seen in the 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado (GM's first front wheel drive car worldwide), which had been converted with a Tight torque converter and manual valve body by B+M transmissions in California (so it could be manually shifted a bit like a forunner of todays SMG boxes). It wasnt overdriven (direct top)and had a 2.56 final drive ratio If I remember correctly.

The tranny never caused any problems however, but the Donovan alloy blocked V8 Chevrolet copy (6 litre twin turbo) would get hot under continous high boost and warp its head surfaces (causing blown gaskets), and heat from the turbos would set fire to stuff in the engine comparment area.

Apparently though some of the last run of W8's were finally sorted, and I believe one fellow in Nevada has 100,000miles on one!

[Günter]

...It does look a little like the Yes car. BTW, has anyone mentioned that one....

YES is the Young Engineers Sportscar. A German University project that has grown up to a business. It is related to VW/Audi drivetrains... .


Has anyone mentioned the AC-Cars MK -IV (Cobra) engine option now !? i wounder how many cars maybe on the road in real now ....??