Do you own your Lotus because...

[Jamie84]

that comes under lucky i think

[M Blur]

I wanted a fast track/race car and Esprit came up and traded in the Mazda 323T I was building. Esprits remain very untapped as track cars mainly cos they were ageing by the time the track day explosion occured and Lotus had moved onto small cars in the 90s, but they have fine testimonials from race drivers to their chassis and have to conclude they would have taken more honours in GT1/2 but for the turbo cars being dogged with reliability woes. We're now seeing more hit the track and they're suprising many. My car is an ex John Hazzard 750MC car but I decided to build sth more adveturous, almost a year on now and I'm still rebuilding it..

[renmure]

I wanted an Esprit cause James Bond had one and they looked spectacular and that was my 1st time of paying attention to Lotus cars. It lived up to expectation. I have to confess that I always thought the s1 elise looked too quirky for me and it was only when the s2 came out that I paid any real attention to an elise. Wendy and I went through to MMC one day for a nosey, Graeme spent ages talking about them and letting us test-drive one.. and we came away having agreed to buy one. It led a good pampered life and its good that Krishnan is now enjoying the same car.

2 years later it was a similar situation where we found ourselves in Edinburgh, popped in to MMC on the way home and ended up (honestly) tossing a coin with Graeme to decide whether we would buy the Red or the Yellow 111R.

We had both always thought that the s1 exige looked spectacular so when AndyG put a post up out of the blue in here that a friend of a friend was selling one I jumped on the train with a Bankers draft and drove it home.

I should probably take them out for a blast more often it never fails to put a big grin on my face when I am in the driving seat.
All in all.. I guess its all down to luck really

[k12chu]

Even better that you use it to deliver your Indian dinners around the County.

tut

for that i have one of this now

[Mikie711]

Was the wifes idea after I bought the 911. She wanted one to run to and from work, which was never going to work as we have dogs and they were not getting in the 911. Talked her into a CRV!!!. So, after this years crap summer (again) I decided to sell my bike as it wasn't getting enough use and figured I would get a track/hillclimb car instead.
So, the hunt was on and was surprised to find Elise's in the price band I was shopping in.
After looking for a couple of months the car I have now came up on ebay, so while on holiday in the USA I stuck a bid in and the rest as they say is history...........

Now looking to trade the 911 for a S2 I like it that much.

Just lucky I guess.................



Mike

[ExigeKen]

Simple really - paid a mortgage for 20 years then let some bint move in with me and put her name on deeds as we were about to get married. One nasty assault later, kicked her out, police involved, big legal battle, lost my house, moved into dingy bed sit and bought an Exige with what was left - perfect really. No I didnt get married in Carribean, I took my son to Turks & Caicos Islands and we both got PADI diving licences instead of a wedding licence.

[EliseR]

...you are lucky, or smart, or like driving, or have too much money, or all of the above, or something else entirely (if so please elaborate!)

Who knows, but I feel like a smug wanker every time I go out in it

I think we can definately all claim to be lucky, owning a car like this. And I presume it goes without asking, we all like driving.

Smart, too much money?...

Gary.

[EliseR]

Couple of weeks after picking up the S2, Graeme called me to ask for the cat back - unknown to me that had put a by-pass pipe on when the fitted the sports exhaust and not charged or told me! Not often you get something for nothing from MMC. The cat must have been lying around in the workshop somewhere.

he has a tendancy to drop bombshells like that

A few days before I collected, he called to say a clerical error had resulted in me getting £1,000 too much special offer. Turned out the special offer was less special, and ended up being £1K instead of the promised £2K discount...

I was gutted, but I paid up - not very good at haggling.

G.

[EliseR]

I saw my first Elise when I was still at High School, I was probably around 16. I lived in Broomhouse with my mum at weekends, and the childrens home mon to fri (poor me )...

A chap caled Fareek owned the local corner shop in Broomhouse, and he has a purple S1. First time I clapped eyes on the car, I fell in love, but thought "In my dreams".

Worked as a commis chef or KP into my early twenties in various city centre establishments, hated the job. Signed onto Job Seekers Allowance after quiting from the Caley Ale House, and told the job centre I refused to work with anything other than computers. (I was trying to ensure I would get no job, and a free ride).

Around the same time, I was made homeless. I ended up getting enrolled in a project called Barnado's 16+, which helped people like myself get back on their feet. Theyhelp ffind you a flat etc, and teach you to budget your money.

I met a careers adviser in Barnados who said if I liked PC's, he could arrange for me to operate the till in an Internet Cafe. I took the job, and within a few weeks I was designing web sites as a hobby after watching the boss attempt to design sites for his clients.


The boss caught wind of what I was doing, and gave me my fist real life work challenge - to design a site for a property agent (Trinity Facotrs). I pulled out all the stops, even though I was clueless, and after the site went live, I was promoted to Web Designer.

I ended up designing 30+ web sites for his clients, and my skills grew. I eventually got the confidence to start up on my own as a sideline, and I hit the goldmine in my first week. I was contacted by a company who required an Interactive Database Driven site, and I didnt know what the heck they were talking about, but I said "Yeah, i'm your guy".

I then studied the various newsgroups and web design forums, and started to learn very quickly the skills required to deal with my first real client.

For 4 years they paid me £200 a day to maintain their network of sites and databases, and my skills went through the roof (Modest, aren't I ).

I eventually dumped them and set up a business with a friend which we were sure would work. 4 years later I could afford my dream car(s), dream house and 7 members of full time staff. Got married too!

I have had a complete Uturn in life, and I am enjoying all of it. I am not stupid though, I will never forget where I came from, and I will live with it holding my head up high if I ever have to go back.

In the mean time, I will enjoy!

[The Hoff]

Wasn't that bothered about it when I first saw it.. (still have the Top Gear issue with elise v. renault spider august '96) and never aspired to one until the end of 18 months of MX-5 ownership back in 2000.. had a test drive and instantly fell in love with it.. bought the very car I test drove a few weeks later.. and had it for 7 years before selling it to Tut..
I was lucky at the time and was in a position to buy one at a good price.
I now have an exige S ,which has been the source of endless fun, even though I don't go on track. I'm lucky I can enjoy it for what it is without needing to do trackdays etc.. (wouldn't be able to afford it), therefor I'm no less enthusiastic about the brand. Whatever the next weekend car may be.. it will almost certainly be a Lotus of some description.

Cowan

[gorrie]

Bloomin' eck Gary.... that's no way to write a CV...

[campbell]

What's the name of your firm Gary?

[EliseR]

What's the name of your firm Gary?

Smarter Money.

[deano15482]

i have a new found respect for you after reading that gary

[Lazydonkey]

I bought my VX 2 months before my 30th birthday as I was miserable and wanted to cheer myself up! Later realised it was GF / living in Hamilton that was making me miserable and not the lack of car but that's another story

I've always loved cars and religiously bought car magazines every month, but as I moved out when I was 18 and bought my first flat 2 years later money had always been tight and the cars always had to be practical (Cinq sporting, diesel punto etc). Ive always been careful with money - tis my dad's fault as he's an accountant

So when me and the (now ex) mrs bought our house in Hamilton I bought an MX5 as a fun car as I had some money left over from my flat sale and it seemed like a good idea. Never had a convertible before let along rwd and just loved it. It was like being 17 again. Learning how to drive properly, going out for a drive just for the hell of it. It was like I'd rediscovered having fun.

One year later I'd been promoted and decided to spend the money on the VX for the reasons above. Briefly considered an Elise, but to be honest I'd always liked the VX from the initial reviews and always dreamed of having one. Also value for money wise the VX scored highly, and it's still quite unusual. Bought it in Jan '05 and I've since put 36k on the clock - and loved every minute of it.

It's now paid off and I honestly can't ever see me selling it. I'm now fortunate enough to now be in a position where i could chop it in today for an Elise / exige / something else if i wanted and not have to eat dust bunnies........but I just couldn't face it. Too many memories, too many amazing drives, too much significance. When I took the decision to move out and finish the relationship (hardest decision of my life) the one thing that was never in question was selling the VX - it was the only place I could escape from things and be truly happy. For me it's no longer a car, but an extension of me.

So in answer to Campbell's original question I bought it cos i love driving.



.......Sorry for the emotional outburst !