First US Elise Delivered
Chap from Georgia drives off in a slice of history
Last week Chris Smith of Columbus Georgia took delivery of the very first Federal Lotus Elise.
In December 2001, he put a deposit down with Lotus of Atlanta for an Ardent Red Elise with the Touring Package. This included additional sound deadening, cargo net and upgraded Blaupunkt Los Angeles stereo. Another option Chris got was the dealer-installed "clear bra" after strong recommendations from members of the SELOC Elise UK BBS.
After picking up the car he drove it home 140 miles in rush hour traffic. "I was up to 100 mph before I even knew it - the engine wasn't even working hard." He is following the factory manual break-in recommendations of varying moderate throttle with bursts of high rpm for short periods during the first 600 miles, and staying under 6250 (where the variable valve timing kicks in).
The Elise has faced a long road to reach the US including engineering hurdles, changes in management and various production and delivery delays. Since production began in May, 3 delays set back deliveries over a month from the original projected date.
The sport suspension packaged vehicles faced a delay due to a supplier failure. Lotus quickly rescheduled production, pushing forward some non-sport packaged cars to keep production numbers up. The second delay came from a desire on LCU's part to make sure that all dealers would obtain their demos at the same time. This meant that some cars have been held at storage facilities for over a month while additional cars were shipped to allow for the national coordinated rollout.
Finally, just a week ago, some trouble was encountered when the 3M Clearbra applications at the distribution center ran into a slight snag. Interestingly, even since the media car production in March, detail changes have made their way into the cars. In particular, the dash has received an upgraded surface which, in addition to having more visual appeal, also addresses sun glare problems more successfully than it's forerunner.
By the end of this week, all dealers should have their demo cars along with some of the first customer units. Accessories are already in place at the dealers so new owners can stock up on all the goodies. Cars have been batched at the factory by color to increase efficiency which means that along with the sport package delay, some deliveries will be out of order from the actual deposit lists at the dealers. Production will ramp up throughout the summer reaching full steam by September.
It's been a long time coming but it appears the wait was worth it.
Reporting by Jon Rosner & Robert Konick
mustard said:
Perhaps they'll start making some production for the UK Market again
According to TopGear TV, UK elise sales have dropped. The K engined variants won't be exported to the US so I'm puzzled as to why there are waiting lists in the UK. It looks like the US is only getting less than 4000 cars in the next 12 months from what I understand.
m.
I don't understand the analogy. Bra's are for support, not skin protection! quote] The "clear bra" option is called Starr Guard. It's a factory installed option valued at just under US$1000.
Tim Engel
Lotus Owners Oftha North
Minnesota
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