It seems that the new sports car we’ve been seeing around is not a Proton but a Lotus Europa.
The picture above was from the latest issue of Autocars in UK. Here’s the issue.
The Lotus Europa was Lotus’ first mid-engined car, developed in the 1970s. Produced between 1969 and 1975 to be exact. Lotus is re-using the name. I think it’s much more tamer than names like Exige and Esprit.
The original Lotus Europa
The Lotus Europa will be a two-seater, despite looking like a 2+2. It will be based on an Elise chassis, but will defer in such a way that it’s much more plusher than the Elise, making it a good car for weekend sprints rather than all-out track madness that the Elise is. The extended hatch at the back is not for additional seats but it’s for a proper boot space. Despite all the comforts, the car will still be relatively lightweight at about 950kg. That’s roughly the weight of a Perodua Myvi.
Spyshots of the car undergoing track testing in Europe.
A section of the Autocar article.
To push that 950kg around, the car is believed to be powered by a 2-litre turbocharged engine from Vauxhall, the same one from the Vauxhall VX220 Turbo. The engine makes about 200 horsepower.
Proton might make the Europa as a Proton sports car but sources say that most likely the Proton Ultimate sports car will be based on an Elise instead of this new Europa. I think an Europa-based Proton sports car with a slightly tamer motor would be great. A 1.8 or 2.0 Campro?
The above spyshots were taken at a car park in London. Thanks to Mike from Liverpool for the scoop.
The Lotus Europa is expected to go on sale in March 2006.
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not jealous at all….. really…
the out look is so-so only?
there are some lotus ppl at proton, and vice versa. plenty of mat salehs working at proton nowadays. they’ve roped in a yankee ex-mazda guy (who headed the development of the mx-5/miata) at vehicle integration. the guy in charge of the tie-up with vw is a german, ex-daimler-chrysler
Wonder how is Lotus faring after acquired by Proton? Anyone have any idea at all? Heard we got a team of engineers working for Lotus in various dept locally… Anyone with any idea???
Btw, i got something that i really wanna share with you guys out there… not related but i feel i realy need to highlight this… last saturday night about 12.30am a Merc E280 got a major accident… i arrived right after the accident happened… there's 3 passengers, all badly hurt… one of them were sent to hospital immediately by a passer by… i called ambulance to get help, and while i was doing that, a police patrol passed by, slowed down and i thought they could help then… what astounded me was they sped off and never turned back… well hello, someone's life at risk here… every passerby trying to help and they shrugged off their responsibility and just leave the scene???
And recently, i got a friend who was stopped by a police patrol too… stopped for illegal U-turn… stopped and asked for IC and license… asked whats the offence, answered them, they grinned and asked, 'so, how you wanna "settle" the summonse? if i open a summon that would cost you 300, how?' F**K, talking about improving police's image… screw them big time…
it's better to use LOTUS name beside of PROTON name..
because people will buy EXPENSIVE LOTUS than CHEAP PRTOTOn..
even it's the same car design.. :p
Proton closed = renamed as LOTUN? PROTUN?
should be nice..
hi, am just back from a briefing by proton in kuantan last friday. we had the chance to drive the savvy at high-speeds at the east coast highway from s. alam to kuantan on thurs and fri. the savvy is a surprisingly good car. u don't get that milo tin feeling in an iswara or kelisa. engine is ok up to 140 km/h, i pushed the car to 165 km/h and it was deafeningly noisy. vibration is minimal though. manual transmission is smooth and responsive. interior quite plasticky, could use some fabric on the inside of doors to tone down the 'plastickiness' and rear headroom rather low. trunk is almost non-existent. fuel consumption is good too at RM32 from s.alam to gambang (that's 200 km++, folks)
about the sports car, proton will be launching a two-seater lotus-based sports car in 2006, code-named 'sepang'. don't know which car it will be based on though, probably the elise, like u said. it will be the only model for that year (unless the srm gets delayed again!). they showed pics of srm gti version which looks way cool. proton will be assembling vws staring in 2006 with the Passat, which will be exported to the asean region, and then the Fox mini MPV and hatchback. Models from joint development with vw expected in 2008/2009. talks on equity stake acquisition in proton still ongoing, despite what the papers say.
so there u go, some updates on proton.
Dear AlexC,
the Police force have a moto : " jangan buat kerja yang to dapat manfaat"
there was a electricity blackout in my area last week, it was a big X junction, with lots of car, I saw a trafic police motorcycle just ride pass this junction like anyother motorbike, ignore the trafic jam cause by the blackout.
good that im seeing watermarks on the images Paul, rippers are all over, katch em and kill em
:)
Dear Proton.
we design the car, and U just want to take away from us,….. dream on la. So what U own us, but u trying to take away from us only, what have you given to us.
anyway, this saying is correct too "people will buy EXPENSIVE LOTUS than CHEAP PROTON" , do not spoil Lutos image.
hail lotus. it will survive. proton can rot in malaysian bureaucracy… and dumbass management
I think it's unfair to just hail Lotus, and critisize Proton. I honestly think that both companies have defects, both companies have been miss-managed and both companies could do much better. I mean, of course Lotus have tonnes of experience and expertise, but if they are so good, why did they lose £7M last financial year? And also don't forget that more than 250 jobs were cut from Lotus UK in November of last year. Apparently Proton have invested alot of money in Lotus. Most of their R&D are done collaboratively with Lotus. I don't think Lotus, as an Engineering consultant could be able to sustain it's business without depending on Proton. And of course people's perception of Proton is really bad, (they ARE quite bad) but I don't think I'd be wrong in saying that most of the blame can be put on the management. But one thing is for sure, both companies are on the up. After the redundancy process, Lotus has been restructured, and the new CEO (Kim O Nielson) seems to put Lotus back on track. I was told that the main target is to be totally independant on Proton, by going out and find their own engineering projects for customers around the world. Proton also seems to have a new target of increasing quality of their cars. When (IF!!) they change the management system, and be more focused in achieving this target, things would be much better.
I have personally seen this car, albeit only the mule ones. It is actually quite a nice car. It is a long awaited Lotus new product, and the general market view is that it would be a success. It would be interesting to see if the car would be badged as a Proton, and if it would affect the sales of the ones with the Lotus badge.
well… don't you agree that it is amazing how lotus could even survive on ONE basic model (whatever they have made since has been Elise based)?
Lotus has always been plagued by the same problem that proton faces, lack of quality control. So instead of going all out in developing many models, lotus made Elise, and polishes it, makes it better.
Mismanagement, definitely. But lotus is changing for the better. I dont think Lotus Engineering is losing money, it has an large client base. Lotus Cars desperately needed the US business, hence the toyota engine and the sales of new Elise in states. They will stop losing money when they have a decent range of cars to sell in the states.
Lotus' new Versatile Vehicle Architecture is probably designed with Proton in mind, so that a basic platform can be easily modified into multiple forms. No denying that Proton has invested much money in Lotus, and do in fact reap profit in terms of better vehicle dynamics.
However, the expertise, the amazing technology, seems to get lost in transition when it comes to Proton. Proton's failure will be in its incompetency here in Malaysia to produce quality and reliable products, and its reluctance to be more stringent with its suppliers. It is worse than mismanagement, but a case of sheer ignorance and arrogance in running a manufacturing company.
It is time proton recognises that if 80% local content means low quality cars, bad sales and a tremendous hit on reputation, they should seek better, even non local suppliers that make higher quality products, to compete in post-AFTA car market. no more argument with Rafidah as well.
Hi bumboy,
I'm sure what you said have some points there… however, our tun quoted that they could do just that, only it will affect the livelihood of some 20,000 employees nationwide… i'm not sure he quipped this just to scare off the government for further support or its simply true… well, you see, its all about giving out contracts to bumis and creating more jobs for them in this issue, IRREGARDLESS of the quality control… from my point of view, although proton doesnt have much state-of-the-art-technology, slapping some prehistoric engine tech on brand new car, most of their defects are results from third party vendor; such as power windows, creaking parts and the long list goes on… in short, it'll be something if proton could outsource, just that some imcompetent party will fail, and that is unacceptable… our gov policy 'must outsource contract to "certain party"', no crutch they cant get themselves walking…
Well, frankly Lotus success was really based on the fact that it sold rather well in UK and they have wonderful reputation with their "Quality, not quantity" approach. I really can't imagine how the Brits must have felt when their national pride was taken over by Proton. But what's interesting is that, the famous and reputable car companies in UK like Lotus and Aston Martin are owned by Proton and Ford respectively. But that's motoring, everyone owns everyone else.
It'll be interesting to see a Proton sportscar on the road. They seems to have some improvement with Savvvy, except for the horrendous backseat space.(Proton seems to think all Malaysians are short since Waja) Thus, since this is gonna be a 2-seater, it might just do well.
TYPICALLY MALAYSIAN :
Want a Superb in Quality but MUST CHEAP like hell price…..
yeah.. that's malaysian.. :p
we can see it anywhere.. in malaysia..
want a SEDAP FOOD but to then babbling unstopable coz the high price.. hehe
If proton + quality in Body , Plastic etc.. then the price will up to = 60 – 80K .. they will make a comparison with HONDA lah pulak.. why like this.. why must bla bla,,
that why.. i tot.. bla bla bla…
Rebranding the proton and lotus = PROTUS! all car designed by lotus in total.. Proton just produced and sell it all over the world.. stop sell and build/product it in malaysia.. mabuild a factory in indonesia.. more cheap maaaa… you know, malaysian sucks.. , diorang keje malas2 mana nak ada kualiti! Hahaha
found this on ebay.sg
alexC… my advise is … to u or anyone… take down the patrol car number… openly… have no fear because believe it or not.. police have a lot more to fear from us… if you show no fear… they will fear you…
take down the car number… their patrol route schedule should show that they should be around that area… report them.. give their information to the media… anything at all… so long as they don't get away with it…
truth of the matter is… police in malaysia… are somewhat … a lost case… without pressure form the public… they'd never change.. i was stopped by a police for running a red light… at 3.00am … on a deserted road.. no cars for miles… the cop car appeared out of nowhere… chasing up my rear like a man possessed… stopped me.. ask for license… said i ran a red light.. and asked " how…????????"… i said… saman je la… kesilapan dah dibuat… apa lagi… saman je la……. police man asked… "saman?….? .. ye lah.. saman je la… saya nak bilk tidur la… he kept quiet… acted like he was writing me a summon… then returned my drivers license.. and went back to petrol car… no warning… no advise… just went back into patrol car… and the patrol car didn't move away… i drove off… and could see the patrol car stationary…not moving off…
the way it should be… we dictate how things are done with these under educated idiots…
i have other stories.. some involving policemen swinging their fist as if wanting to punch me… blah blah… so… i think i am in a good position to say that policemen in malaysia… are dirtlike… my turd contains more good stuff….
Top Gear had a pimp my ride session in one of it's episode in 2003 They took a hopeless russian car named lada and made it a worthy driver's car. It simply shows the kind of expertise that lotus possesses.
I found the video clip on how lotus converted the crappy and useless Lada into a true driver's car. Paul perhaps you can save it in your server or something. I have it on rapidshare here.
If the inferiority complex Malaysians are going to start trying to build Lotus cars in Malaysia, well then f*** it, I'll go buy my cars from another company. What a shame… Here is hoping that Proton/Malaysia go bellyup and some other company takes back Lotus. We can only wish.
The spy photo's WERE NOT taken in London, they were taken in Northern Italy !!
Here comes another SLANDER from an anti-Malaysian mitsu_galant_2000.
What you said is much like spitting (ludah) the face of our former PM Dr. Mahathir. You should know that without Dr. Mahathir, Proton would never been in this country. We Malaysians have our own opinion. Whether they want to work hard or not, it's up to them. You came here with your filthy insults and slander that could destroy Proton and make other people in here TOTALLY angry with you.
I have one last WARNING to you- if you think Malaysia is sucks, then GET THE HELL OUT of this country and find some other country you think that is good for you to live.
mitsu_galant_2000 kau ni BODOH ke!? Kau ni pergi sekolah exam selalu GAGAL ke? Proton ada HAK nak buat kereta tak kira nak macam Lotus ke, macam Honda ke, itu HAK diorang. Mereka buat kereta ikut spesifikasi komersil negara kita. Kau ni hidup selalu kutuk, hina dan fitnah orang ke!? Kalau kau nak posting kat sini semata-mata nak memfitnah, mengutuk dan menghina PROTON, lebih baik kau pergi MAMPUS saja!
We Malaysians are NOT sucks like the way your anti-Malaysian propaganda comment said. What a shame. Curse you three MILLION times, mitsu_galant_2000! Proton design cars based on THEIR OWN design, Lotus helped them by improving the car much more, since Proton owned Lotus. Proton have the RIGHT to produce cars, whether they want to copy other people's design or not. It's up to them. You should say thank you to Tun Dr. Mahathir for that. Without him, Malaysia would be a Third World country, having NO car company at all! PERGI MAMPUS anti-MALAYSIAN mitsu_galant_2000!
Note to all, laziness is NOT the reason why Malaysians cars have no kualiti. Our country is not as fully developed like UK or even Japan, so think again before sending in your comments. A high-quality carbon fibre body is no easy task to manufacture, and it is EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE. Mitsu_galant_2000 was proud to be the leader of the anti-Malaysian propaganda unit, no wonder he always condemn our country's car companies. He never believed and even thank God for what God has given to him.
If I drive a highly-modded Nissan Skyline GT-R M-Spec Nur, I would say the car is cool, but I would never EVER try to condemn Perodua and Proton, although I drove an imported car. I respect these guys, you know. Mitsu_galant_2000 does it in the opposite way. He hates Malaysia, he hates our PM and Tun Dr. Mahathir, and he hates everything available here in Malaysia.
Three nasty messages from me? Or was it that bad guy who stole my identity did it all? You know what, I have no idea what to say about those messages. So painful!
i wonder how much the price of this proton ultimate car.Rm100k-Rm200k? noppp. it can't be. i think it will be higher that that.