What would an "ex press" car mean?
Discussion
I have been looking at an Evora that has been described as an "ex press car" I assume that means that journalists have thrashed it for it's short life and it will now be totally cream crackered.
I had one of the original M100 show cars many years ago that seemed to be put together with wood screws and everything fitted where they could find a hole or left off if it could not be seen (none of the wiring or fuses where they should have been). Despite this, I loved it though!
I am worried that this Evora may be prematurely aged.
Any thoughts or experience of this type of car?
I had one of the original M100 show cars many years ago that seemed to be put together with wood screws and everything fitted where they could find a hole or left off if it could not be seen (none of the wiring or fuses where they should have been). Despite this, I loved it though!
I am worried that this Evora may be prematurely aged.
Any thoughts or experience of this type of car?
zippysigma said:
I like the thinking, thanks. So some bits may be a little worn, but setup and appearance should be sorted!
I would think that, having been a press car, it would be kept in mint condition troughout that period. OK, it'll be run in quite "lively" as after all it's only a "press car"...FWIW, the Tuscan I own was a press car too, it was given a complete update before it left the factory, and the handling is properly sorted too.
I used to do a lot of the 'running in' for the Lotus press cars. I would usually cover 300 miles in an evening and 1000-1200m in a weekend.
After every run the mileage had to be logged, along with a full description of anything that felt less than perfect, performance, handling, braking etc, even rattles and vibes were reported.
After completing the required mileage I would hand the car over to Lotus Engineering where Colin and his team (who looked after all the press and VIP cars) would check, adjust, fettle and recheck everything that had been logged plus anything else they could find. They would tweak geometry, shocks and tyres etc as well as any F1 team preparing for the next race.
Driving a car when they had finished was a revelation.
After every outing with the press the cars were returned to Colin and team, to be completely reworked, any damage repaired and any faults rectified.
All press and VIP cars were subject to regular checks and test drives by Roger Becker, and you can be sure he would soon know if they were less than perfect.
Would I buy an 'ex press' car? definitely. True they get hammered about by journo's, but they also get a lot of attention and fettling from some of the most dedicated Lotus staff.
After every run the mileage had to be logged, along with a full description of anything that felt less than perfect, performance, handling, braking etc, even rattles and vibes were reported.
After completing the required mileage I would hand the car over to Lotus Engineering where Colin and his team (who looked after all the press and VIP cars) would check, adjust, fettle and recheck everything that had been logged plus anything else they could find. They would tweak geometry, shocks and tyres etc as well as any F1 team preparing for the next race.
Driving a car when they had finished was a revelation.
After every outing with the press the cars were returned to Colin and team, to be completely reworked, any damage repaired and any faults rectified.
All press and VIP cars were subject to regular checks and test drives by Roger Becker, and you can be sure he would soon know if they were less than perfect.
Would I buy an 'ex press' car? definitely. True they get hammered about by journo's, but they also get a lot of attention and fettling from some of the most dedicated Lotus staff.
FazerBob said:
I used to do a lot of the 'running in' for the Lotus press cars. I would usually cover 300 miles in an evening and 1000-1200m in a weekend.
After every run the mileage had to be logged, along with a full description of anything that felt less than perfect, performance, handling, braking etc, even rattles and vibes were reported.
After completing the required mileage I would hand the car over to Lotus Engineering where Colin and his team (who looked after all the press and VIP cars) would check, adjust, fettle and recheck everything that had been logged plus anything else they could find. They would tweak geometry, shocks and tyres etc as well as any F1 team preparing for the next race.
Driving a car when they had finished was a revelation.
After every outing with the press the cars were returned to Colin and team, to be completely reworked, any damage repaired and any faults rectified.
All press and VIP cars were subject to regular checks and test drives by Roger Becker, and you can be sure he would soon know if they were less than perfect.
Would I buy an 'ex press' car? definitely. True they get hammered about by journo's, but they also get a lot of attention and fettling from some of the most dedicated Lotus staff.
After every run the mileage had to be logged, along with a full description of anything that felt less than perfect, performance, handling, braking etc, even rattles and vibes were reported.
After completing the required mileage I would hand the car over to Lotus Engineering where Colin and his team (who looked after all the press and VIP cars) would check, adjust, fettle and recheck everything that had been logged plus anything else they could find. They would tweak geometry, shocks and tyres etc as well as any F1 team preparing for the next race.
Driving a car when they had finished was a revelation.
After every outing with the press the cars were returned to Colin and team, to be completely reworked, any damage repaired and any faults rectified.
All press and VIP cars were subject to regular checks and test drives by Roger Becker, and you can be sure he would soon know if they were less than perfect.
Would I buy an 'ex press' car? definitely. True they get hammered about by journo's, but they also get a lot of attention and fettling from some of the most dedicated Lotus staff.
Very interesting read.
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