In car video from Stefano D’Aste driving the Exige R-GT rally car on a tarmac stage in Northern Italy.
Lotus F1 E20 launch
4
Q&A with Asif Kapadia, Director of Senna
Several GGLC members attended the special SFF1 pre-release screening of the Senna documentary with director Asif Kapadia last night. We have been hearing rave reviews of the movie for several months now and have to say that the movie meets and actually exceeds the hype. The film makers have done a masterful job keeping the flow of a movie and building suspense even though we all know how the story ends.
After the movie Asif was kind enough to stay back and answer questions about the movie and the following video shows the session in its entirety. Some highlights include the process of shooting a movie with only archival footage, getting access to Bernies archive, showing the movie to the Senna family, extended footage in the DVD/Blu-Ray, writing the music before making the movie, etc…
A huge thanks to Asif for spending his valuable time with us and giving us this insight into the genius of Senna. He will also be appearing in person on 8/19 at the 7:30pm and 10:00pm shows at the Landmark Embarcadero theater, and on 8/20 at the San Rafael Film Center. We highly recommend that you attend those showings for a chance to discuss the movie in person. For more info on the Senna movie please visit: http://sennamovie.com/
100th Anniversary of Juan Manuel Fangio
Celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Juan Manuel Fangio by watching this amazing 6-lap race between him and Sir Jack Brabham from 1978 Australian Grand Prix. Fangio is 66 years old and is racing his title winning W196 Mercedes Benz against Brabham in his title winning Repco Brabham. The two of them have an incredible 8 world championships between them.
Metamorphosis
Fantastic video shot by Parabolique for Scott Walkers Lotus specialists.
Metamorphosis – Scottwalkers from Parabolique on Vimeo.
Lotus esprit to evora … a test drive on beautiful twisty UK roads
Lotus Evora featured on Desperate Housewives
Lotus PR has had a great coup with the Lotus Evora being featured in a long segment on the hit AB show Desperate Housewives.
The car is shown and mentioned by name multiple times along with shots of the main characters getting taken in by the driving experience. By working a mention of the price into the show, Lotus has manged to make it simulateousely aspirational and affordable – kudos to Dany and the team.
Lotus Goes Turbo
Fantastic documentary showing the creation of the first turbo-powered Lotus F1 car – the 93T. It was also the last car designed under Colin Chapman though unfortunately he died before the car was completed.
Lotus Goes Turbo from gt4zone on Vimeo.
[via Axis of Oversteer]
Dario Franchiti drives the Lotus 38
Road and Track magazine recently invited Dario Franchiti to drive a few laps of the brickyard in Jim Clarks winning Lotus 38.
Lotus Management on the Future of Lotus (GGLC Exclusive Interviews)
GGLC attended the North America launch of the new Lotus range at the LA Auto Show and got a chance to speak to senior management about their plans for Lotus and the challenges in launching 5 new cars in a short span of time. Short descriptions of the interviews and their major points are below but we recommend you watch the actual videos to get a sense about the future direction of Lotus
First up we spoke to Dany Bahar, the CEO of Group Lotus about his vision for the future of the company and why they were launching so many cars in such a short timeframe. Major points that he confirmed were:
- Not all cars will be going to aluminium skins, the Elise will remain a composite body
- Motorsports activities will include Evora GT4, Evora GT2, IndyCar (bespoke engine and aero)
- Simultaneous worldwide launch with an intended volume of 6-7000 cars per year
Next up was Donato Coco, Head of Lotus Design and the man behind the 5 cars on display. He spoke to us about the challenges in designing iconic cars like the Esprit as well as the goals for the design language for the Lotus range. Our favorite quite here was that the design for the new front ends has been inspired by the original Lotus Seven and if you look at the cars (especially the Elise) it does actually come through.
Finally we spoke to Wolf Zimmermann, CTO of Lotus about the challenges in rapidly developing 5 new cars. This was a great interview with reasons behind various decisions and we recommend you watch the whole video below. Significant points include:
- Aluminium bodies are required because composite cannot provide the required quality and shapes for the new designs
- Engines are not yet confirmed but will be decided in the next few months
- VVA architecture and manufacturing will have to be upgraded to meet targets
- Lotus Engineering is already involved in some of the design processes
Metamorphosis
met•a•mor•pho•sis n. pl. met•a•mor•pho•ses
1. A transformation, as by magic or sorcery.
2. A marked change in appearance, character, condition, or function.
3. Biology A change in the form and often habits of an animal during normal development after the embryonic stage
To celebrate the new changes at Lotus, the company has joined forces with award winning French artist Gerard Rancinan for a new publicity stunt called the Lotus Metamorphosis. The Lotus Metamorphosis represents a series of seven images created by Gerard Rancinan, together with a book French writer, Caroline Gaudriault. The Lotus Metamorphosis project is meant to capture the essence of the brand’s recent evolution.
With a perfect example of art in motion, Lotus are set to unveil Metamorphosis – a unique collaboration between Lotus and the award winning French artist Gérard Rancinan – on Friday (12th November) at an exclusive VIP event in Los Angeles. Metamorphosis is a selection of seven stunning images alongside a book created by French writer, Caroline Gaudriault. Both elements aim to capture the essence of Lotus’ evolution.
Lotus CEO Dany Bahar said: “Lotus is currently going through a complete metamorphosis and at times it can be a real challenge to communicate the transition of a brand, especially one as iconic as Lotus. The passion people have for our brand can be both a blessing and a curse, everyone has a strong opinion – for this reason, we are always looking for creative ways to reach out to the world. When the idea was presented to me, I couldn’t resist. Gérard is an exceptional artist, I have followed his work closely over the years and I felt instinctively that he would be the perfect person to demonstrate our vision and encapsulate the spirit of our brand with his images. People are in for a real treat when they see all seven.”
Gérard Rancinan creator of Metamorphosis said: “I can see a clear artistic link between the work of Lotus and my photographs in terms of commitment, the relevance of the subject matter, the audacity of the creator, the beauty of the gesture and the perfection of the object. We are engaged in a dialogue which takes place on the same terrain: the world of art.”
Caroline Gaudriault author of the Metamorphosis book said: “Authors always look for a good story to use as a kind of canvas; their characters take on the form of living matter; they introduce twists and turns in their narratives in an attempt to surprise their readers. By immersing myself in the Lotus saga, I was able to find all the material I needed to create a feuilleton drawn from real life.”
Lotus Director of Design Donato Coco said: “From a design perspective Lotus is in full metamorphosis and it’s a natural progression for any forward thinking brand, in my view we are retaining the core DNA through everything we’re doing – the way I see it, Lotus is more Lotus now than ever before. We obsessively seek innovation, we are unique and we are bold, that is what Lotus is about. With the Metamorphosis collaboration we are simply spreading our wings. The project means a great deal to me personally, I have known Gérard for many years and we inspire each other through our work – he completely understands our vision for the future of Lotus whilst still paying great respect to our past.”
[press release from Lotus]