Gojirra99

Text & Photo courtesy Lotus Cars
03-31-2006

Lotus Cars is delighted to announce that its first light commercial vehicle rolls off the production line today.

The Lotus Elise 'Load Lugga' is an Elise-derived flatbed that seeks to secure a slice of the ever-growing worldwide market for sportscar-derived pickup trucks.

Utilising a Briggs and Stratton pull-start diesel engine, uniquely supercharged by Lotus's own engineers, the Elise 'Load Lugga' is the first Lotus to marry advanced 4-wheel drive technology with the Lotus design philosophy of 'performance through lightweight'. A useful 5kg payload, together with an optional towing hitch offering a further 10kg of load-hauling capacity, ensures the new Lotus will be equally at home carrying a small bag of sugar as an expanded polystyrene surfboard.

With carbon fibre roof rails and perforated aluminium bull bars ensuring the new Elise derivative looks the part without compromising performance, hopes are high that 0-60mph acceleration is less than 3 seconds, and will have flatbed fans reaching for their chequebooks.

An active payload management system, linked to the engine's oil pressure control module, optimises ride and handling round even the sharpest bend, while big chunky tyres increase ground clearance to an all-terrain-conquering 4 inches.

Trevor Houghton-Berry, Lotus Head of Commercial Operations looked to the future 'The Elise 'Load Lugga' is our first move into the lucrative LCV market and certainly lives up to the Lotus philosophy of 'change the rules'. We like trucking and we like to truck!'

Mark O'Shaughnessy, Lotus USA Sales and Marketing Director commented, 'We can no longer ignore Lotus's big opportunity in the pickup market - we want a slice of the action and are gunning for a 0.0026% market share this year and 0.0027% next. The Elise 'Load Lugga' will be known as the F1.50 stateside and we are set to take the market by storm. 200 Lotus Elise F1.50's in the first year? Bring them on.........'

source : worldcarfans

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

Maybe this should have been posted on April 1st?

PhilipMSPT

iTrader: (5)

Wrong. Totally wrong. Like, what will that "pick-up"? It has cargo room for a box of chocolates. Maybe...

diablo1

haha, that's awesome. and I heard Ferrari is making a full-size SUV...

southernsc

not a bad photoshop, but the trailer hitch gives it away

XeroK00L

Yeah, with the chop skill demonstrated on the cargo bed you'd think that the hitch could've been made to look a bit more realistic than that. Good try though.

Vegassc400

Did anyone else notice the "pull start" handle

Lil4X

I guess that's for the 1-cyl Lotus engine produced under license from Briggs and Stratton.

Saw a similar rig on an home-built mid-wing ultralight aircraft a few years ago. It seems that the Rotax engine mounted in front of the cockpit had nearly outsmarted the owner a time or two when without electrics, he hand propped the little engine. With minimal brakes available the thing nearly ran over him while dashing under the wing and trying to hoist himself up over it into the cockpit. He solved the problem by putting a pull start handle sticking out of the cowling just forward of the windshield so that he could reach over the windshield and start the engine while standing in the cockpit.

A few weeks later some friends saw the plane passing silently over a heavily wooded area. The pilot could be seen heaving forward in his seat reaching around the windshield, frantically yanking the starter cord. He'd experienced and engine failure in flight, and was in no position to attempt an air start, and having insufficient airspeed, and no altitude to trade for airspeed. He was fortunate in all of that thrashing around with the pull-starter to get that Rotax going again.

The guy landed safely but knowing him, he probably beat himself half to death patting himself on the back for his "brilliant" invention.

Vegassc400

My TORO makes some decent HP.