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Lotus Exige S 240: First Drive
Go Ahead, Lock Yourself In The Trunk Of A Lotus Exige S

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beercheck
01/07/09

In reply to Lotus Exige S 240: First Drive
Dear John,

If I should, while in the passionate throes of reading one of your articles, randomly utter the name "Davey"... please just smile and pretend you like it.
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WheatKing
01/06/09

In reply to Lotus Exige S 240: First Drive
Until someone swaps an LS series motor into one of these.. they're off my list. and considering i could only afford a used one anyway.. well.. used wrecked one..

Really.. are they so horrible you can't swap a SBC into it?
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FlakJack
01/06/09

In reply to Lotus Exige S 240: First Drive
When I was seven, I thought the Pontiac TransAm with the hood-bulge labeled to indicate the "6.6 Litre" engine beneath was the height of automotive awesomeness. Especially with the nose-coney front end they put on the '79s. That was exactly what I wanted when I grew up. With the snowflake wheels, for sure.
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domino
01/06/09

In reply to Lotus Exige S 240: First Drive
why is this car not good for a date? the worst that will happen is the tight ride will make even the strongest push-up bra useless.

when i was 7 i wanted a stingray or a camaro.
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burglar
01/06/09

In reply to Lotus Exige S 240: First Drive
Who the heck is John Krewson, and why is this the the most awesomely Jalop post I've read here not written by anyone named Murilee or Liberman?
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DoctorNine
01/06/09

@burglar: I think it's the Polar Moment of Inertia...

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Graverobber
01/06/09

In reply to Lotus Exige S 240: First Drive
When I was 7 what I wanted was the Luner Rover. When I was 12 I wanted a Fiat X1/9. When I was 17 I wanted a Mustang, and I bought one.

Unrealized dreams never suffer from being varnished by the cold, harsh light of reality. Around the same time I got the 'Stang, I lusted after a cute girl in Art class. I imagined what it would be like to go with her, the comfort of knowing she was my girl, the excitement of a new romance. When I actually worked up the courage, and started dating her I found her to be cold, neurotic and a bitch. After that I could never go back to the imagined world of our relationship, where nothing bad ever happened.

NIce review Wes. The Exige is a stand-out car, really unique in today's market. I think you captured the driving experience with great accuracy and elan (no pun intended). I think I'll just fantasize about owning one, and omit the parts about creaking knees when getting in and out, as well as the outrageous insurance bills that accompany such a hoontastic ride.

Thanks man.
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John Krewson
01/06/09

@graverobber: An older, drunker, less Canadian version of De...: Nice review WES? Harrumph!
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Graverobber
01/06/09

@John Krewson: Oh shit! I meant to say AWESOME review John. Sorry man, color me red.
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Elhigh
01/06/09

In reply to Lotus Exige S 240: First Drive
When I was seven what I really really wanted was a bicycle with a banana seat and a sissy bar. I wanted a flag to attach to the sissy bar. I pondered and finally decided against streamers for the handlebars, but it was a near thing.

It was gold metalflake, and so was the seat. The flag on its fiberglass pole flipped and snapped smartly in my wake as we tore like the wind up and down the parking lots and along the biking trails. This was the discovery of a wide world, far beyond where my short little legs could go, as enthralling as the landscape could be with a wide-open straightaway and a brisk tailwind, as thrilling with the vertiginous drops and swoops of the hills and turns.

I eventually did indeed want a car a lot like the Exige. I'm entirely too large and unfortunately too old to feel the insistent push of the wind on my back as my little bike and I explored distant lands before rushing home in time for supper. But with such a stout little heart, such a ready spirit, perhaps when tipping into the engine's power I might hear that old wind, not so very far off.
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Serious Mopar Jones- Incurable
01/06/09

@Elhigh: COTD as far as I'm concerned dude.
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Serious Mopar Jones- Incurable
01/06/09

In reply to Lotus Exige S 240: First Drive
One more thing: Lotus, Mercedes, Datsun, et cetera, can fool themselves if they want, but there's only one true 240.

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Serious Mopar Jones- Incurable
01/06/09

In reply to Lotus Exige S 240: First Drive
Also, my inner 7 year old thinks this car looks like the GEM Peapod's weird "bachelor" uncle.
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Serious Mopar Jones- Incurable
01/06/09

In reply to Lotus Exige S 240: First Drive
Huh- when I was 7, I was unaware that there was a badder, radder, more lustworthy car on the planet than this one-

My inner seven-year-old still thinks so, in fact- it's only my forebrain which believes them to be overexposed.

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Das ASHloch (achtundsiebzig)
01/06/09

In reply to Lotus Exige S 240: First Drive
Isn't the Elise in the mid-40s? Just slap a Toyota turbo on that for a few grand and call it done.

Nothing against it, but like my fellow commenters, there are quite a few more robust jacks-of-all-trades at the $70k price point.
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Feds
01/06/09

@Ash78:

Exactly the point. This is a spindly Jack-of-1-trade.

As in:

"Hey, nice car, what can it do?"

"Go Fast."
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Das ASHloch (achtundsiebzig)
01/06/09

@Feds: I guess the read-between-lines part of my comment was that I could live with a single-purpose vehicle at $45k (Elise), but at this price I'd be too swayed to find something more diverse. In other words, I don't see the Exige being worth the premium over the Elise. Just an armchair assessment.
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Al Navarro
01/06/09

@Ash78:

There is a Lotus dealer in a town I drive through on my morning commute to the kids' snazzy private school. They have this kooky-ass green Exige 240 that moves between the outside lot and the glassed in showroom.

I said to my wife today while we passed the dealership that I think my fellow Se7eners would forgive me if I bought that car. But I second you that it is a pretty penny for a car that wouldn't necessarily run away from a base Elise.
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Jo Schmo
01/06/09

In reply to Lotus Exige S 240: First Drive
Screw power steering, launch control and easy entry/egress. Real sports cars are challenging and sometimes unpleasant.

"Work is not man's punishment. It is his reward and his strength and his pleasure."
- George Sand
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mr_hat
01/06/09

@Jo Schmo: You know George Sand was a chick, right? A radical, rich French one at that.
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Elhigh
01/06/09

@Jo Schmo: Ladies and gentlemen let's give it up for Karl Marx! Good luck with that hippie commune project, Karl! Don't let Stalin sneak out of his turn doing the dishes.

Philosophy aside, I agree with you.
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Jo Schmo
01/06/09

@mr_hat: French chicks can be challenging and unpleasant too
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Thrashy, perpetual Minardi
01/06/09

In reply to Lotus Exige S 240: First Drive
This car sits between a Caterham 7 and a Noble M400 on the "Thrashy Master Plan to Get Disgustingly Wealthy and Never Own a Car With More Than Two Seats."
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Thrashy, perpetual Minardi
01/06/09

@Thrashy is tired of this off-season thing: ...Good God, why are they all British cars!?
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scroggzilla raids again
01/06/09

@Thrashy is tired of this off-season thing: Because Thrashy, you are an Anglophile. You just don't know it yet. It starts innocently with their cars.....and then.....BAM!......you only want to listen to the Kinks' Village Green Preservation Society, watch Dr Who and Hull City matches on the "telly" and drink hot tea every afternoon at precisely 3pm. Soon you'll start calling your friends "blokes", women "birds", and flashlights "torches". Eventually, you'll only want to hang out with Rusty and Layabout.
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LionZoo
01/06/09

@SCROGGZILLA RAIDS AGAIN!!: God Hull City, how are they still hanging around on the standings?

Spoken from the despair of an Arsenal fan.
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Schm, enjoying his first desert winter. .
01/06/09

@LionZoo: I would say I'm a total anglophile. I really like the new Dr. Who (Thanks Netflix), I like to keep things on "sched-ule," I thought "Death at a Funeral" was one of the funniest movies I have ever seen, and I'd give a thousand pounds to meet the cast of Monty Python.
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Maymar
01/06/09

In reply to Lotus Exige S 240: First Drive
I can't remember what I lusted after when I was seven, but when I was eight, I wanted a Neon, and when I was a little younger, I wanted a Ford Aerostar. There's probably something very wrong with me.

Also, taking people on dates in an Exige sounds like a very good way to weed out anyone too high maintenance.
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pauljones
01/06/09

@Maymar wishes his car had beach assault capability:

It's okay. I wanted a Chevrolet Lumina when I was that age.
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Maymar
01/06/09

@pauljones: If we're talking the APV, there's no fronting on the dustbuster. None (seriously, at one point, I had two Hot Wheels APVs and a Majorette Trans Sport - I have no idea how that happened).
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Mad_Science
01/06/09

@Maymar wishes his car had beach assault capability: (re: dates) Or do some serious up-skirt peepage.

Pervert.
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seoultrain
01/06/09

@pauljones: Lincoln Mark VIII here. Recently, I found out about the one with the disappearing door(s), which propelled that specific vehicle back on my list.

Could be an interesting QOTD: What POS car did you like when you were too young to know anything?
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jchabotte
01/06/09

@Maymar wishes his car had beach assault capability:

if you want to weed out the high maintenance girls, your first 4 months of dating will be done in this:

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Maymar
01/06/09

@jchabotte: I've got a Cavalier, I'm working with a sample base of one, but it seems to have worked.
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Mad_Science
01/06/09

@seoultrain: Escort GT.

Something about the mini-spoiler, spiffy grille and very early-90s aqua-blue color made me think it was cooler than my dad's 5.0 GT convertible.

Also really liked the Isuzu Amigo...which isn't a total POS.
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pauljones
01/06/09

@Maymar wishes his car had beach assault capability:

Oh yes sir, we are talking the APV. I also followed NASCAR at the the time, and thought that Ernie Earnsdt's yellow Chevrolet Lumina stock car was the greatest thing in the history of ever.
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pauljones
01/06/09

@seoultrain:

Lincoln Mark VIII's are awesome. A little big on the Chinatown crack dealer image, but nevertheless cool, especially with how easily their engines could be tuned and upgraded.
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jbownsabmw- Koopas Beware
01/06/09

In reply to Lotus Exige S 240: First Drive
Once again, I need a plan to make more money...
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B
01/06/09

@jbownsabmw but still wants GM to survive: Two words. Meth Lab.
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