re: Miata, Spider, ELAN

[James Montebello <jamesm@domain.elided>]

On Wed, 16 Oct 2002, Joe Elliott wrote:
> Of course, I can't help but think of how my best friend's parents'
> Honda Civic (clutch AND tranny at 115k, and two power window switch
> failures in the first 100k) compares to his Milano (tranny at 130k,
> one power window switch failure in the first 140k).

Hm.  You mean like the Honda CRX I had that destroyed its engine
mounts in 20K miles, and ate 3rd gear before the 30K mile mark? :-)


> The real reason I'm writing this, however, is because after all this
> discussion of the Spider vs. the Miata vs. the Elan, I have to ask
> why (besides being FWD) didn't the '90s Elan sell well?  (I have to
> admit that I don't know what it cost.)  Everyone I've talked to about
> them says they handle better than any otehr front-driver and are
> completely trouble-free, electronics included.  What's the deal?

The traditional Lotus crowd rejected it because: a) it drove the wrong
end, b) it used a cheap Japanese engine (Isuzu).  The rest of the world
rejected it because a) it was $40K for something no faster than a $15K
sporty Japanese car, b) it was sold in tiny numbers and marketed badly,
c) it was a Lotus, and everyone knows English cars are trouble.

In short, it was a good car that appealed to no one.  Function just
isn't enough, something far too many engineers who try to sell things
have never learned.  When John Bloor successfully revived the Triumph
motorcycle brand, he did so with decent bikes that didn't cost hugely more
than the Japanese bikes they competed against, and had some links to the
Triumphs people fondly remembered (they were triples, for one thing).
The Triumph fans bought them, and helped sell them when everyone else
realized the bikes were also quite reliable and did away with all of
the old English bugbears (leaky, rattlely, vibrating).

The Lotus Elan stole a good name, and applied it to a car that could
simply be said to "handle great, you'd never know it was a front
driver".  Faint praise doesn't sell sports cars, esp. expensive ones.

james montebello
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