Lotus Goes Racing

​            F1 the final frontier!  This is the final frontier for any auto company.  To be able to afford an F1 team is a major hurdle for any company.  With costs sky high and regulations upon regulations, why would anyone want to enter this arena?  Just like Hollywood, Formula 1 is the big leagues of the auto market.  If you can build a team which takes the manufactures title then you will have the perfect recipe for a car which

 anyone would be willing to give up everything for.  Take Ferrari for instance.  He built his company’s fame on his success with his F1 team.  And the more Ferrari won, the more people wanted to drive a Ferrari.  But if you want a true F1 success story, all you have to do is look over at Mercedes.  A company know for building luxury cars, was able to build a limited production, automatic supercar which many people still want.  Yes we are talking about the SLR, the famed super car which created an uproar over at Mercedes.  Well an uproar which lasted as long as McLaren was a part of their racing team.

            Now why would you ask that a small sports car manufacturer from the United Kingdom want to get into something this big.  Well when you’re owned by a Malaysian car company and backed by major banks, it may be a way to prove to your investors that you can make money.  Of course you need to start selling cars, so you can support your racing team and R&D of your new model line.  So what’s in all of this for Lotus, well besides moving more cars?  Fame and Fortune, that’s what. 

            The only problem with their plan is that it requires a lot of money to make a name for yourself.  Why would anyone say that, well if you want to compete with Ferrari and Mercedes you better have deep pockets.  No one ever thinks of Honda as a Ferrari competitor, but at one point they were.  Of course when you don’t have any sports cars in your line-up, its hard to make people notice you have a fun side.  When it comes to Lotus though, all they have are sports cars.  So unlike Porsche and Lamborghini, it seems that this little sports car manufacturer wants to play in the big leagues.  And if your going to play in the big leagues, you better dress the part.
 
Everett J.
March 7, 2011