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Text Box: involves fitting the body panels, windscreen (British term for windshield), instrument panels, and seats until you are pretty much done. There is a third line that we passed – it seemed that the sole purpose was to help with the fit and finish – align the body panels and buff the paint. All panels are pre-painted, in another building. For some reason I thought they would be painted later but I guess it is easier this way. When the cars are done, they rain test them. Hah! I asked Richard what happens if it fails the test and his answer was, “they don’t fail.” Yeah, right. And, it doesn’t rain in England either. But seriously, I guess they perform whatever adjustments are necessary to make the cars pass the rain test. I doubt waterproofing has ever been taken really seriously at Lotus but I could be wrong. After buffing and clean up, the car is then tested on a “rolling road.” Its sort of like a dyno; each part of the car and the engine management system are computer tested by an engineer in a special room. When done, the engineer just drives the car off and into the parking lot.

	By the time you read this, Lotus will have released a new version of the Elise which is a bit upmarket. It has fancier wheels, a livelier engine (did I hear 160 bhp, right?) and a much better convertible top. The previous/current top could best described as a cover. The top is much smaller and simpler – it only covers the cockpit whereas the previous one went all the way back down the sides. The new one is sort of like a canvas T-top without the T. Its one piece but you flip it up on the driver’s side, then the passenger side, then pull it off. Clean and neat, I like it. Much better than the current version.

(Continued next month ….)