Williams Should Buy Lotus Cars

"GhostZ" (GhostZ) 11/05/2015 at 17:30 • Filed to: None

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And quick-print them some low-cost carbon fiber chassis to make a cheap speedster, a Morgan 3 Wheeler competitor, classified as a motorcycle in the US but using a Corolla engine for a 40+ MPG sports speedster.

But that’s just my opinion.

djmt1 > GhostZ 11/05/2015 at 17:34

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They would probably be better off doing what McLaren did and just start from scratch. I’m not sure what Lotus could really offer Williams in this day and age.

GhostZ > djmt1 11/05/2015 at 17:37

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Mostly labor and production lines. It took McLaren 20 years of tuning to make the leap from “non production” to “low volume production” cars. I also think that the market is just way too saturated. Williams needs to find an existing production line that needs what Williams does best: Chassis.

Then again the board at Williams would probably lose their shit about not being a premier brand, and the board at Lotus would lose their shit about threatening their relationship with Toyota since Williams is mostly in bed with Mercedes already.,

djmt1 > GhostZ 11/05/2015 at 17:49

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No it didn’t. McLaren Automotive as we know it today started in 2008. Within 3 years they had the 12C on the road and now in 2015 just 7 years later, they have 3 production lines, a global dealer network and have sold over 4000 cars. In short they grew from an incredibly similar position to Williams of today to one of the biggest players in the Supercar market in a remarkably short amount of time.

Taking on Lotus comes with a lot of baggage, baggage I don’t think Williams has the knowledge to deal with and it has been proven multiple times over that Lotus can’t look after themselves.

As for saturation, I partly agree on that. I’m not sure what segment Williams can go into. Supercars are tricky as they can’t do what McLaren did and use the F1 as a way to generate hype and don’t have the luxury of billionaire owners like Pagani and Koenigsegg to bankroll them regardless of profit margins. That leaves either the Sports car or track toy market both of which are incredibly saturated. In my ideal world they would start tuning hatchbacks again.

this is not matt farah's foxbodymiata > djmt1 11/05/2015 at 18:00

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Martini livery wide body mgu-k equipped Fiesta R.

tromoly > GhostZ 11/05/2015 at 18:02

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And quick-print

That’s an oxymoron, it would be quicker to mold a chassis from carbon fiber sheeting than to print one.

And then there’s the strength issue, laying carbon sheets gives freedom to orient the weave for optimal strength, printing with carbon reinforcement doesn’t give any fibers oriented in the Z-axis.

I’m curious how it would benefit Williams to buy Lotus then do all of that versus just doing all that on their own, cut out the losses of buying Lotus in the first place.

JR1 > GhostZ 11/05/2015 at 18:03

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I love me some Williams!

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > GhostZ 11/05/2015 at 18:27

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Lotus is already owned by Proton.

GhostZ > tromoly 11/05/2015 at 18:33

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I’m assuming that it’s cheaper to buy Lotus’s production lines and factories than to staff their own team and start from scratch.

As for CF printing, I mean more along the lines of doing efficient CF molding that would be faster than supercar level (more akin to the Alfa Romeo 4C or i3) to give Lotus the ability to have a new chassis to release a more updated car on.

GhostZ > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly 11/05/2015 at 18:35

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And Williams should make an offer to buy Lotus off of Proton.

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > GhostZ 11/05/2015 at 18:45

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But if they buy it off of Proton, it will lead to a big Saga ...

davedave1111 > GhostZ 11/05/2015 at 19:29

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Nope. Lotus needs to buy, not be bought. Caterham, specifically. Get the 7 platform back, stick a few different body styles on it, done.

You can’t tell me a 7-based 3 door hatchback, 750kg (~1600lbs), 2+2, rwd, the size and price of a Fiat 500, wouldn’t sell like free popcorn.

And it would fit, too.

CCC (formerly CyclistCarCoexist) > GhostZ 11/05/2015 at 20:03

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Uhhh I think lotus has already threatened lots of relationships as they are pretty bad at paying people. Including Toyota and their engines.