View From The Porch: Patterns.

Saturday, March 06, 2010

Patterns.

How come Lotus has made an "Esprit", an "Elan", an "Exige", a "Europa", an "Elite", but never an "Eater"?

33 comments:

perlhaqr said...: Bad Tam. Bad, bad Tam. No bacon.; 1:05 PM, March 06, 2010
Dr. StrangeGun said...: It's because they never can seem to find the motivation.; 1:27 PM, March 06, 2010
John Peddie (Toronto) said...: The adult juveniles who recently jumped all over Apple's name for its newest product would go absolutely galactic at your suggestion.

Gotta wonder what might happen if other companies started using the marketing team that advised Apple and GM (Nova, Lacrosse).; 1:33 PM, March 06, 2010
Tam said...: I like all the motorcycle dudes riding around on their Yamaha Viragos...; 1:41 PM, March 06, 2010
Hunsdon said...: Acura Vigor, anyone?; 2:24 PM, March 06, 2010
Jeffro said...: As far as apropos vehicle names go, the Suzuki Kizashi tickles me. Sounds like a condiment at the sushi bar.; 3:07 PM, March 06, 2010
GeorgeH said...: They never had access to a V-12.; 3:26 PM, March 06, 2010
Ed Foster said...: The Katana had a cool name. With the 1100cc model it really made a connection.

Never liked them, the "hang our over the tank until you get carpal tunnel" design didn't show me much, but they went quick.; 3:31 PM, March 06, 2010
Kristophr said...: The sportbike design is good for going fast in the twisties ... and at excessive speed, like doing 115 MPH on I90 in Montana, the bike ( a Honda Goof in my case ) was actually comfy ... airflow tended to lift you slightly off the tank.; 3:45 PM, March 06, 2010
Owen said...: what's wrong with the name Nova, or lacrosse for that matter?; 4:11 PM, March 06, 2010
Anonymous said...: "How come Lotus has made an "Esprit", an "Elan", an "Exige", a "Europa", an "Elite", but never an "Eater"?"

all those names accent the second syllable.; 4:13 PM, March 06, 2010
Ed Foster said...: Owen, when they tried to sell the Chevy Nova in Latin America, people broke down laughing. No Va means "It don't go" in Spanish.; 4:30 PM, March 06, 2010
og said...: Same guy gave the Ford 4wd group the Escape, Explorer, Expedition, and Excursion.; 5:59 PM, March 06, 2010
Chas S. Clifton said...: @Ed Foster. Correct on "no va." As I recall, they had to rename it the Caribe.; 6:43 PM, March 06, 2010
Dave said...: Ed, that's a BS urban legend.; 6:44 PM, March 06, 2010
NotClauswitz said...: There are plenty here in California, or did you mean a car or something?

115 isn't excessive, it's just getting started! 120 is semi-normal cruising, 150 is reduced reaction times for any adversity. Hwy 25 on the backside of Hollister past Tres Pinos has wide-open country - even Porsches go to play there. I like the motorcyclists who ride a Heyabuseme, but I just don't get the big clown-seat cruisers with baseball-bat handlebars...; 7:29 PM, March 06, 2010
pax said...: Yamaha Viragos...

Yeah, that one makes me giggle too.

Fortunately in our post-literate society, we are afforded many opportunities for amusement on behalf of the know-nothings...; 7:36 PM, March 06, 2010
RC said...: Ed Foster said...

Owen, when they tried to sell the Chevy Nova in Latin America, people broke down laughing. No Va means "It don't go" in Spanish.

As someone already pointed out, that's an urban legend.

While no va does mean "no go" in Spanish, "Nova" means new.; 7:48 PM, March 06, 2010
Drang said...: Same guy gave the Ford 4wd group the Escape, Explorer, Expedition, and Excursion.
Local car stereo store ran a series of ads featuring "Bill Clinton" and "George HW Bush", in one of which "Clinton" made a reference to his Ford Exhibitionist...; 9:23 PM, March 06, 2010
Old NFO said...: Oh man... Lotus Europa, what a FUN car!!! When it ran, it was great; but working on it and getting parts was a nightmare!; 9:25 PM, March 06, 2010
Canthros said...: En Español, 'no va' means 'no go'. 'Nuevo' means 'new'. However, I'm pretty sure that a nova is a nova, whether you're in Boston, Mass or Ciudad de México.

'Novo' might be 'new' in Italian, but I only studied one Romance language. Snopes on the Chevy Nova, because it's the Internet, and we can link things instead of asserting them.; 9:28 PM, March 06, 2010
Darrell said...: Had a boss up in the mtns many years ago who owned a Lotus Esprit. Total joe cool prick. I moved on, a couple of years later Perry Mason filmed an episode up there. I guess they'd put out a casting call--I watched the show, one scene showed the exterior of a fancy restaurant, and darn if that car didn't pull up in front for valet parking. Kept watching, the next scene was Perry and some clients inside eating, and guess who I saw in the background, grinning from ear to ear? Yeah, the ex boss. Grrrrr.; 9:28 PM, March 06, 2010
theirritablearchitect said...: and the Elise.

Never understood why they chose a girl's name for that one.; 9:52 PM, March 06, 2010
Revolver Rob said...: Esprit, Elan, Exige, Europa, Elite, Elise, and now Evora. I think Anon had it right, they all accent the second syllable of the name.

Whatever it is, I ~STILL~ have a major joneser for the Elise/Exige series of cars. These days with the Toyota built engine (but not gas pedal), they are probably the most reliable of all Lotus ever built. It still seems odd to say, "reliable" and "Lotus" in the same sentence, but courtesy of a Toyota VVT-i engine and matching transmission, it's really true.

-Rob; 10:59 PM, March 06, 2010
Rabbit said...: A guy I went to college with owned a beautiful Lotus Europa. The only time it was ever moved from the parking spot it occupied was when the paving crew attached a strap to it and relocated it when they repaved the parking lot. In 3 years I never saw it running.

Another guy I knew had one for sale about '86 or so. Renault drivetrain. I considered buying it and doing an engine swap for something that would propel it, but after 15 minutes of thinking about it, I decided against it.

Regards,
Rabbit.; 2:48 AM, March 07, 2010
Tam said...: "and the Elise."

There was also an "Eclat", but no "Eclair".; 7:22 AM, March 07, 2010
Ken said...: Same guy gave the Ford 4wd group the Escape, Explorer, Expedition, and Excursion.

Next would have been the Extinction.; 10:09 AM, March 07, 2010
CGHill said...: You want a car that won't go south of the border, you want the 1970s AMC Matador, which latter word means "killer" - and not necessarily of bulls, either.

Me, I lament the departure of BMW's common sense: after decades of comprehensible nomenclature, the Bavarians are now serving up stuff like "X5 xDrive35d." A simple "WTF" would have sufficed.; 10:24 AM, March 07, 2010
Anonymous said...: Colin was a doer, not a dreamer.

Not all his doings panned out. It was said of his Lotus 40, "It's a Lotus 30 with ten more mistakes."

Art; 10:40 AM, March 07, 2010
Anonymous said...: ...Because they don't grok that it would be the one investment that comes back with meaningful interest?

Jim (who nearly blew coffee across the living room reading that); 1:58 PM, March 07, 2010
Old NFO said...: Rabbit, you made a SMART move!!!; 4:42 PM, March 07, 2010
tickmeister said...: How about the Toyota Privea or however they spell it? Where I was raised, a "privy" is an outhouse.; 10:40 PM, March 07, 2010
Dr. StrangeGun said...: Suzuki Forsa LE.; 12:13 AM, March 08, 2010

View From The Porch

Saturday, March 06, 2010

Patterns.

33 comments:

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