Now here’s a piece of interesting news. We received an invite by Team Lotus for an event that’s to be held at The Imperial War Museum in Duxford, UK.
With the headline “Team Lotus Powers Ahead”, the 10:30 am April 27 event is all about two things – the T128 doing a “straightline aero test” and “an incredibly exciting announcement about the future of our team”.
What’s this you ask. Well, we were scratching our heads too, but reports from the UK are saying that this big announcement is likely to be of Tony Fernandes’ Team Lotus buying over Caterham, famous as the maker of the Seven. Yes, you read right, they’re saying that Team Lotus is going to buy a carmaker, one whose defining model started life as a Lotus!
Autosport’s sources points out that this possible takeover of Caterham would provide marketing and technical opportunities between the F1 operation and the road car business. Autocar says that the Kent-based company, owned by private equity firm Corven Ventures and run by former Lotus exec Ansar Ali, will net fresh investment and ambitious product plans with this deal, which Team Lotus has not commented on.
Another interesting view is that by having Caterham on board, Team Lotus will have a car brand to fall back on if it loses in the Lotus name battle with Group Lotus.
The naming rights case is currently being played in British courts, with a verdict not likely to be out till next month.
How’s this for a twist? Stay tuned for updates!
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
hmm..possible future path, a contingency plan for the team? So we might see Caterham F1 team in the future huh… interesting twist, someone ought to make a movie out of this
“However, the Caterham has proven so successful against bigger and more powerful sports cars that it has been banned from FIA competitions and most international races, coining the phrase “too fast to race”.” – wikipedia
Okay TF. Buy Caterham. Change you TL F1 team to Caterham F1 team. Race with LRGP. Win some race (if you can), and be happy. Put Team Lotus it belong; in history.
Sorry, “Put Team Lotus where it belong; in history”.
First David Hunt’s name, now Caterham. I sure hope all of these people who think they are selling something actually get paid. Remember what Hunt said?
no more conflict between TF and david hunt. The problem already solved.
Interesting time ahead indeed…We wouldn’t mind a healthy competition as long no public fund is taken
what crap you’re talking about?
public fund?
LoL
Hey man.. Sis u read CAREFULLY??? omanjedi said We wouldn’t mind a healthy competition as long NO public fund is taken… u should read carefully before write a comment u know.. U should read at least 2 times… to make sure that u didn’t fool ur self…..
For Lotus renult and Petronas Mercedes, yes they are GLC and they use our money.. But if it can bring more money , why not?
LoL
what crap you’re talking about?
Lotus renault GP? Petronas Mercedes?
LoL
maybank use our money to buy indon bank! TM/axiata using our money to buy singapore telco company!
can I say YTL also used public funding to be spent lavishly elsewhere? Public funding in YTL’s case is via the massive profits sourced from the IPP electricity supplier contract given by the government to YTL
So, is that public funding? We might as well call it public funding right, since we the rakyat want to claim everything as public property, whenever special treatment are given to M’sian companies
Agree completely. On the ERL I have to bear watching all the high society concerts and events they organise for the rich and famous. They then complain to government to prevent Petronas from raising gas prices. Such hypocrite.
tony own money lah…no duit rakyat…aiseh…
Tony own money ehh??? he also received special treatment while setting up AirAsia.. what about all the Inroad for landing right made via Rakyat money?? … maybe G should put aside rakyat money and only use it for food subsidies..
yes. please stop the salary for pm and all minister. please stop salary to all public servant. please stop salary to police, hospital, army, schools, etc. short, gov please stop spending. ITS RAKYAT MONEY!!!
Could be a backup plan if the court trial fail, can change the name from Team Lotus to Team Caterham? LOL!
it’s a good name. Why not. I’d love to see Team Caterham F1 in action soon.
now everyone can caterham!
soon air asia passenger have to self check in. if check in at counter, you kena rmxx!.. need more money to buy things ma..
Having to pay just for counter check-in? What a joke. It’s like you only pay cheap when buying a printer and then you have to buy ridiculously expensive original inks. That’s how the so-called cheap airliner like AirAsia makes money.
Later sold for One Steering Pound ??
Like MV Agusta.
Well I dont see this as a bad idea afterall. Caterham is afterall a spirtual version of Colin Chapman’s Lotus as seen in the Caterham 7 series. Seeing Tony has the rights of Colin’s legacy via Team Lotus, Tony maybe can use Caterham to build cars Group Lotus wanted to abandon.
Group Lotus is now abandoning Colin philosophy of “simplity then add lightness” with the new Espirt cars which may alienate Lotus fans. Tony may solve the problem by continue to provide affordable but fun sports cars, following Colin’s legacy that has become a British icon. Unless Tony has other plans…..
Will Colin Chapman’s soul will haunt Tony Fernandes?
I didn’t know the original Esprit met the Chapman philosophy of “simplicity then add lightness”. In fact, I don’t think it met that philosophy.
if “simplity then add lightness” dont sell the car, whats the point to continue? dump je lahh
Caterham 7 is a spiritual version of Colin Chapman’s Lotus???… What a heck!!!
Have you heard Lotus 7??
CABC licensed Lotus 7 to Caterham for mass production.
Caterham 7 is Lotus type 7.
Colin philosophy of “simplity then add lightness” .
Collin philosophy is not lightness…. He came from aviation field but his good friend believe in lightness. MJK built the Elise and Exige. MJK drive for lightness..
Lotus is not about lightness.
1) It’s about excellent power to weight ratio.
2) It’s about acceleration & braking.
3) It’s about driving dynamic.
4) It’s about good ride & handling.
5) It’s about fun to drive.
6) it’s about to be wasted
LoL
TF is so badly wants something that got to do with Lotus….. so be it TF.. go n buy Caterham and compete fairly….
Compete fiarly? Proton buy other f1 team is compete fairly? (steal other team)..this is hell..lol..
good luck to Corven Ventures
Hello Chaps it s Colin here. I must say i am jolly pleased that Mr. Fernandes is such a jolly sport for buying up all of my heritage.
I do have a couple of pairs of my old knickers under the old tool box in the old Team Lotus transporter should that fine fellow Tony be interested. After all, it would look smashing on him since he already has my lucky hat.
Ok, gotta go now Tony boy after all I am dead if u hadnt noticed. And Anthony (how smashing we both have the same first name…….must be fate eh!), i must warn you the lucky cap has a use by date…… its used to being thrown in the air after victories so u must get a victory soon otherwise it will all disappear as quick as Cinderellas magical night.
Tootletoo.
ACBC
1 Hantu Racing Team
funny! =))
So Chapman, u died of heart attack during the Lotus corrupt period eh? How is it going in after life? Does after life exist?
hey colin, how’s heaven? and signor enzo? no gravity there…so that ‘lightness’ thing’s no advantage we guess. cheers !
how is internet speed there?… is it fast?
I hope he get 1malaysia email address meh
Btw that makes Caterham is the second car manufacturer from UK to fall to Malaysian hands. First Group Lotus to Proton and now Caterham to Tony Fernandes!!!!
Should we be proud of this?
i don’t see the point of being proud if malaysians don’t get any benefits from this. at least with proton + lotus, we get ‘lotus ride & handling’ tech on proton cars :)
as for TF + caterham, it’s vice versa. he’s the only one who get benefits by calling himself ‘Malaysian’
lotus ride and handling? It just waste of money..Tony will win in court..talk so much..where is the good of proton? no new model and just stop use government fund to stay in market and just compete fairly with other giant car manufacturer..
lotus ride and handling? you mean the worthless and meaningless “just stick on a car sticker” to portray sport feeling to the car?Does it even enhance the performance of the car? wait a minute, off topic, where have i seen this scenario before about “putting a sticker on a car makes it somehow have connection to Lotus”? seems very familiar too, don’t you think so?
Seems like TF is expanding its business from air to ground seriously.
getting more interesting~
Team Lotus will be changing code names..
Team Lotus is now Team Caterham.
Nom Nom…if only they bring the caterham here and have dealership make it an option for us to put it OTR, SATRIA NEO R3/ CATERHAM… nom nom caterham
There is a Malaysian Caterham dealership, sold by Gary Murrell.
Well,Atleast Tony got money to Involve in F1 and to buy caterham.Proton??Buy f1 renault then borrow from bank to cover up the f1 sponsorship cost.This is call a proton ego..want quick sucess,not from the true spirit in f1.
Hey get real. Tony also borrows money from banks. Quite a lot.
Tony get a loan doesn’t affect us if tony got in trouble….
Wiinextge, if they really ‘buy’ is ok, but they just a sponsor… they got no stake in LRGP.
LoL
What crap you’re talking about?
no stake in LRGP?
Y U NO read this article
They have stake in LRGP but the money to buy the stake is come from people money..hey! proton, give me back my money and just develop new car bro..LOL..
er. what money are you talking about. i’d love to get my hand on that too.
Lotus have not stake in Lotus Renault GP yet. They’re just a title sponsor.
dude airasia owe people money too man!!!…why dont you ask tony to pay his company debt first before starting a f1 team?….and proton take up the loan for r&d cost of lotus rebranding not only in f1……and f1 involvement is just part of the re-branding which cost a tiny sums compare to the development and r&d cost of the upcoming lotus cars…..
true spirit?tell that to mercedes…..and tell that to tony too, hello!!!!! tony didnt start airasia…or in this case team lotus….he just want the name…..
If you see tax incentive as an offense I suppose Naza is a worse offender than Proton. And didn’t Naza still is one of 1MF1 major shareholder.
anyway that caterham looks prettty ordinary to me. is it really that fast?
adoi! go google caterham 7s, and stop making yourself look like a fool lah.
Surely you are not aware about this beast. Don’t be fooled by its 1957 looks. This car coined “too fast to race”. The car was banned from racing in the USA in the 1960s, as being “Too fast to race” and again in the UK in the 1970s for the same reasons. Both bans were later lifted. In 2002 an R400 won its class (and came 11th overall out of 200 starters) at the Nürburgring 24-hour race by 10 laps, ahead of competition that included Porsche and BMW racecars, leading, once again, to a ban on entry in subsequent years. Caterham JPE (Jonathan Palmer Evolution) held the world record for production car 0–60 mph times (at 3.4 seconds) until it was bettered by the $1M McLaren F1.A standard Caterham CSR 2.3-litre Ford Duratec engine produces a whopping 260bhp – enough to give the car a power-to-weight ratio of 456bhp per tonne.Caterham Levante is a mostly-carbon-fibre bodied Caterham, with Kevlar seats, combined with an “over 500bhp” 2.4-litre, 40-valve supercharged V8 and a reduced body weight of 520 kg (1,146 lb) boasts almost 1,000 bhp (746 kW; 1,014 PS) per tonne.
Read Paul review of this beast http://paultan.org/2008/02/29/the-insanely-powerful-caterham-seven-rst-v8/
ini bukan lagi rumour, khabar angin..
Tony Fernandes dan Kamaruddin Meranun sudah sah jadi director CATERHAM CARS LTD. dan CATERHAM CARS GROUP LIMITED
dokumen rasmi berkaitan..
http://www.companiesintheuk.co.uk/ltd/caterham-cars
http://www.companiesintheuk.co.uk/ltd/caterham-cars-group
manakala PROTON sah jadi director Lotus Renault GP
dokumen rasmi berkaitan
http://www.companiesintheuk.co.uk/ltd/lotus-renault-gp
thanks dude
that’s really helpful
After Proton take over LRGP fully in stake, sure the failure of proton disease will absorb to LRGP and take this f1 team down to the last grid..that what gonna happen when people steal..
Who stealing? No body…. Lotus owned 100% by Proton.. Of coz they have right to used it…
the court battle gonna be more interesting.. LOtus new 2013-2015 line-up models will be design with the Caterham Seven (formerly Lotus Seven) inspired front-end design as mentioned by Dany Bahar, so new owner may sue Lotus for that (for compensation & great $$$ as well)..
Court battle take exhaustingly long time, it is better to avoid it unless one have a really strong case. Comparing side by side i don’t really see the similarity between both models.
caterham not so good,, tony should buy lamborghini