Mark,
I appreciate your thoughts on the Elise. It may be new to America, but here
in Europe we have been enjoying it for about 8 or 9 years now, and it's on
its second incarnation - it came out back in the days when I used to work at
Lotus (although I never got involved in the Elise project, sadly). Since
its release it has been the yardstick against which all other cars are
measured (and generally fail) in terms of handling. The chassis and
suspension guys at Lotus are absolute genius', and what's more they turn up
for work each morning as much for the love of the cars they are working on
as for the salary - I should know, I used to work with them!
Frankly, even if you could get a Spitfire to be as powerful (with
appropriate engine transplant), and about as light, it could never keep up
with an Elise. On the straight its mid-engine helps it get the power down
onto the road better, and when it comes to the twisty stuff, a Spitfire
would be in the hedge at the speeds an Elise could take them. But it would
be fun trying!!
Richard Gosling
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