Lotusyota - Toyota Yaris Forums

YarisGuy · 04-04-2007, 03:17 PM

There is actually a very well circulated and much accepted "rumor" in the Toyota MR2 world. The story goes like this:

Once upon a time (late 1970s) Lotus began work on a two seater, mid engine roadster. The car was to be a small sports car that would get good gas mileage and be able to do very well in the twisties. Lotus also wanted to go more mainstream at the time and hoped to sell a good number of these cars.

Lotus did some work on this car for a few years but was eventually discouraged when the marketing team went for demographic research. The marketing team came to the conclusion that Lotus did not have a good enough reputation at the time to sell very many of these cars in the good old USA. The costs seemed like they would not be worth it.

Instead of completely throwing all of their efforts into the trash can, Lotus went to a large Japanese company hoping to sell the idea and develop some form of relationship with a big auto manufacturer. The idea was then sold to Toyota and a few years later the first generation AW11 MR2 was released!

Nearly 20 years later, when Lotus began work on the Elise and the Exige, guess who they called to source and engine

Ofcourse high ranking officials at neither Toyota nor Lotus will confirm this rumor 100%, but there are many "sources" who have agreed that this story is not too far fetched.

Toyota and Lotus FTW

04-04-2007, 03:17 PM	#31
YarisGuy Drives: 2006 Yaris Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: USA Posts: 203	There is actually a very well circulated and much accepted "rumor" in the Toyota MR2 world. The story goes like this: Once upon a time (late 1970s) Lotus began work on a two seater, mid engine roadster. The car was to be a small sports car that would get good gas mileage and be able to do very well in the twisties. Lotus also wanted to go more mainstream at the time and hoped to sell a good number of these cars. Lotus did some work on this car for a few years but was eventually discouraged when the marketing team went for demographic research. The marketing team came to the conclusion that Lotus did not have a good enough reputation at the time to sell very many of these cars in the good old USA. The costs seemed like they would not be worth it. Instead of completely throwing all of their efforts into the trash can, Lotus went to a large Japanese company hoping to sell the idea and develop some form of relationship with a big auto manufacturer. The idea was then sold to Toyota and a few years later the first generation AW11 MR2 was released! Nearly 20 years later, when Lotus began work on the Elise and the Exige, guess who they called to source and engine Ofcourse high ranking officials at neither Toyota nor Lotus will confirm this rumor 100%, but there are many "sources" who have agreed that this story is not too far fetched. Toyota and Lotus FTW