Lotus announced today its Elise is the company’s most successful model in its 57-year history, setting a one-year sales record in the US — 2,385 cars delivered — and exceeding expectations by nearly 20%. Strong demand for the Elise has led Lotus to continue cultivating dealerships in the US, with dealers recently added in Cleveland, Richmond and Raleigh, and new plans for showrooms in Las Vegas and Sacramento. Lotus, majority-owned by Malaysia’s Proton, also has several new models in the works, including the next-generation of its venerable Esprit coupe and a coupe with more refinements than the Elise, which will resurrect its Europa nameplate, and compete with Porsche’s new Cayman. Whoever said Americans would never buy a stripped-down, lightweight, corner-on-rails, Toyota-powered, Lotus-tuned sports car for $40,000 was either waxing ironic or, more likely, works for Toyota. [Thanks to Zerin for the tip.]
Related:
Lotus to Go After Porsche Cayman with Europa; Lotus’s New Europa: Sorting out the Facts; Lotus Reveals New, Elise-Based Circuit Car [internal]
Hyundai’s new Elantra, offspring of the 1988 Excel we once drove 75 miles with a hand over one eye (don’t ask), was recently caught on film by spies. The Car Connection posted evidence of the Elantra’s turn in the makeover chair today, as the car was apparently doing its best impression of a men’s slipper, or attending a desert audition for HBO’s “Carnivale.” As TCC points out, the Elantra’s new design diverges from the new Sonata’s angular, aggressive stance, with softer edges and lines that flow from bow to stern, nary a right angle in sight.
Spy Shots: ‘07 Hyundai Elantra [The Car Connection]
Related:
Spy Photos: Clearly a Hyundai Santa Fe;
Spy Photos: 2007 Kia Magentis/Optima; Spy Photos: Hyundai’s Luxury Equus [internal]
If they can put a man on the moon, why can’t they put all the minivans there as well? I know: Minivans’ mileage and safety make a mockery of the SUVs playing roll-over and fetch in the great American suburbs. But any 4500lbs. vehicle with a sliding side door says bread van to me. My parents didn’t pay for five years of college so their son could become an amateur delivery boy. If Nissan wants to give me a Quest, how about I figure out a way to park the entire ’06 production run in the Copernicus crater?
[MORE]
The latest rumor about the long bandied-about Apple/Motorola iPod phone is that they’ve been talking to automakers about incorporating it into cars. While neither confirmed nor denied by Apple, the phone/music player would somehow interface with the car’s stereo, we’re assuming via Bluetooth, but that’s just pure conjecture on our part.
iPod Phone For Cars Coming Soon? [Smartofficenews]
Scosche Bluetooth iPod Connection for the Car [Internal]
|
|
SPONSORSHIP
Gawker Media – Jalopnik and seven other weblog titles – brings a young and influential audience to brand advertisers. Click here to find out more about sponsorship opportunities.
Jalopnik posts
continue below...
|
So we come to the end of a month’s worth of casting out lines and reeling in Photoshopped images of potential upcoming VW four-door (arrgh) “coupes.” We’ve gotten some good entries in within the August 31st deadline — like the spec pictured, by Mark — but since the month ends awkwardly on a Thursday, we thought we’d extend the deadline until Monday (that’s September 5), when we’ll all vote on the finalists. We haven’t decided on a prize yet, but it should be relatively cool. So get those last-minute p-shops in.
Related:
Jalopnik’s Contest of Speculation: What Will Volkswagen’s Four-Door Coupe Look Like? Intro, Week 1, Week 2, Week 3 [internal]
Forbes’ Dan Lienert busts out with the prognostications like it ain’t no thing, putting his mental weight to bear on what the next James Bond car could possibly be. His choices for 007’s next whip? The Aston-Martin V8 Vantage, the Bugatti Veyron, the Bentley Azure, the new Jag XK and the amphibious Splash concept vehicle (pictured) from those head-cases over at Rinspeed.
[MORE]
Squeezing her supermodel frame into a pair of short, short pants, British supermodel and sometime racing driver Jodie Kidd will host the premiere showing of The Dukes of Hazzard at the new T-Mobile Street Movies facility, apparently the first permanent drive-in theatre in England. Ah, silly Brits. “Blimey, the Americans failed with this concept, so we’re gonna bring it to Blighty!” Though if they had a revolving cast of supermodels and starlets hosting each showing…
Jodie Kidd Does Daisy Duke [Pistonheads]
Related:
British Supermodel, Jodie Kidd, Wins First Auto Race [Internal]
GM’s Opel announced it would bring a new version of Zafira minivan powered by natural gas to the Frankfurt show this year. The Zafira 1.6 CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) expands on the previous version’s success (it’s the best-selling natural gas vehicle in Germany, at 20,000 units produced). An underfloor arrangement of four gas tanks surround the rear axle, providing for greater interior spaciousness than its predecessor. The gassy Zafira will launch in spring 2006, but Opel will start taking orders in mid-September, when prices are announced.
Related:
Gas-X: CNG-Powered Honda Civic Now Available to the Public; More on Honda’s CNG Home Refueling Station; Swedes Rate Natural-Gas Fiat Punto the Greenest Machine [internal]
Rooting for the USPS lately is somewhat like being a Buffalo Bills fan in the early 1990s. With private carriers like FedEx encroaching on their turf and stealing market share, the Postal Service seems to be keep kicking ‘em wide of the goalposts. But FedEx doesn’t have classic car stamps. This new issuance of 37-centers, entitled “America on the Move: ’50s Sporty Cars,” features the Studebaker Starliner, the Nash Healey, the T-Bird, the Kaiser Darrin and Corvette, rendered by illustrator and former Packard designer Art Linkletter, er, Fitzpatrick.
New stamps salute classic cars [Detroit News]
Related:
Stanley Mouse: Hot Rod Hippie Icon [Internal]
Anyone up for a piece of LeMans-inspired concept-car history? Safir GT 40 Spares is offering up one of the two Ford GT prototype rollers (no blown 5.4L mod motor) to carry the GT40 name before it was smacked down in a trademark-infringement suit by Safir. The other is owned by Ford and isn’t for sale. The place? Auburn, IN. The date? August 31 through Sept 6th. We’re interested to see what this one goes for.
Ford GT-40 Concept Mock-Up Coupe [Kruse International via Sports Car Market]
Related:
RM Auctions’ Monterey Results [Internal]
Oh, California, you sweet, car-loving bastard. Your children are starving themselves to keep the beloved platelets flowing through your arteries. A new Field Poll shows that 70% of Californians consider fuel prices a serious problem, with 40% admitting that they’ve cut back on expenditures such as dining to keep their cars on the road, a figure that rises to 54% in the under-40k-a-year set. Hey, maybe it’ll do something for your denizens’ waistlines! Silver lining, beloved California. Think silver lining.
Californians cut back on dining to feed their cars [9 News]
Related:
Hurricane Katrina to Send Retail Gas Prices Higher [Internal]
Suzuki released details on the 2006 US production version of its redesigned Grand Vitara small SUV, which the company introduced in concept form at the New York Auto Show this year as the Concept-X2. For ‘06, Suzie also gave the GV a more powerful standard V6, stability and traction control and six airbags, as well as ABS. Two four-wheel-drive options are also available, both full-time: single-mode and four-mode, which will likely adjust to specific conditions. A 2.7-liter, 24-valve DOHC six, producing 185hp, and hooked to either manual or electronically controlled automatic five-speed gearboxes. Pricing? Click on, MacDuffs.
[MORE]
