US Elise Decision

[Dean]

Rumors were flying at LOG21 concerning a September 5th decision about a US car (i.e., Elise2, Elise3, 110%Elise). Since then the 5th has come and gone. Has anyone heard about a decision?

[monolith]

I haven't heard anything either, and I've been extremely active in searching all the usual channels for information (as I am dying to own one of these beautiful looking cars). Maybe somebody else has some information on it?

[monolith]

www.sunspeed.com - you can get US legal elises made via them. You supply the original elise, they rip out the engine, and make it street legal. See the site for more information.

[smeagol]

3f: Yes they are! Lotus is a small production business, producing 2-3000 cars a year. The extra expense in making a car meet the American laws is not outwayed by the amount they could make and sell. This mistake was made with the Lotus Elan M100 (which I drive). The car was designed for high production figures and to include the American market. Unfortunately, this was nearly Lotus's ruin as they couldn't produce enough cars to outway the production costs. I think Lotus is currently thinking "Once Bitten, Twice Shy". It is a shame, perhaps you need to lobby your congressman about changing your car laws to allows limited numbers of imports (or similar).