Side ducts that
could swallow
children and a rear
end to give them
nightmares. What
is Lotus doing?An Up GTI owner
on his way to
have a vigorous
word with Jake
‘Depreciation’
GrovesOCTOBER 2019 | CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK 59
Most are still in the dealer network
and pricing starts at around £12,000
for a 67-plate car. Decently spec’d 68/19
cars are at dealers for £13,500 to £15,000.
Offer me one for trade money – or the
part exchange price of £8650 – and
I’ll donate £1000 to a charity of your
choice. I feel this is very misleading and
potentially off-putting to a buyer who
is now to believe a purchase of £15,000-
odd will be worth £8650 in six months.
Rant over. Still loving my monthly fix
of CAR.
Mark Jackson
You are completely correct. We
should have spotted this erroneous
figure when it came in from our used
price guru. Apologies. JG
It’ll be good when it’s finished
I’m sure we all agree with your enthusi-
asm for the regeneration of Lotus with
Chinese money and UK talent.
Your description of the Evija in
the August issue narrates exciting
new ideas, in particular the ‘beam’
dashboard and delightful reversing
lights emanating from the rear Lotus
insignia.
I do however struggle with the (in my
view) out-of-scale rear light surrounds
and, in particular, the side aero ducts.
Perhaps these ‘shouty’ features are
needed to make it stand out?
Overall the transition to electrical
power offers refreshing new body
configuration opportunities. This and
Opinionother, mostly unaffordable, prototypes
do attempt such an expression but I
believe this is an untapped seam of
design challenge waiting to be fully
explored fully by UK teams.
Chris LloydApartheid
As a loyal reader of CAR for nearly 40
years and a subscriber for over 20, I
must say that I’m disappointed to have
been unwittingly (and unwillingly)
downgraded to a second-class citizen.
Ben Miller’s response to Chris Grabham
in the July edition – ‘Bear in mind
that the digital edition showcases our
photography in a way our paper often
cannot’ – left me feeling distinctly
nonplussed and as a way to justify
your use of poor-quality paper is just
downright insulting.
So, those of us who only read the
hard-copy magazine don’t get the best
of it and have to make do with paper
that curls within an hour of opening?
That’s what your answer says to me.
Over the years, CAR has tried to
downgrade the paper quality several
times and has suffered a backlash each
time from those readers like myself who
value CAR as a quality journal; not just
for the excellent articles, content and
opinion but also for the premium feel of
the photography and – yes! – the paper.
As road testers you often comment
on the feel and perceived quality of
plastics and finishes of the vehicles
you test so I don’t really understand
why you would find it acceptable to
produce such a shoddy, cheap-feeling
magazine yourselves – it really doesn’t
do justice to the excellent quality of
the content (both photographic and
written) and I would urge you to have a
rethink. I would also suggest that your‘paper subscribers’ also deserve the very
best version and should be treated as
valuable readers rather than being told
to go and try a different version. I don’t
want to! It’s not that I’m averse to digital
(I work with computers often enough)
but I like to have a hard copy and I know
I’m not alone in this.
Still love the magazine (that’s why I’m
commenting really...) and the refresh
has some interesting new perspectives
but my enjoyment of it is not what it
should be right now.
Thanks for the many years of
entertainment!
Duncan FergusonDreaming of better
I agree with John McGhee in the August
edition that the paper quality has
gone downhill. Like the interiors of
American cars, a bit tat.
It is still a very good production,
though, with fantastic pictures and
text. I’ve been buying you since the late
’70s with the likes of LJK Setright and
the chap with the stammer, Mr ffrench.
Even had a subscription during the ⊲5
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