Fernandes to buy Caterham & rebrand Team Lotus?

[bot6]

Still better than:

Hot Lady: What do you do in F1?
Team Mechanic: I work for Lotus
Hot Lady: Oh? A toilet paper company in F1? Is that to prevent skidmarks?
Team Mechanic: !?? (leaves)

[xpensive]

That could very well happen I don't disagree ... but I think the Lotus brand, and its generally more widely known history, is clearly valuable enough for Fernandes to try to keep a hold off if he can. Even trivial stuff like KAR 120 C which features in the brochure today, is clearly more part of the worldwide Lotus, not Caterham, public recognition factor.
...

If the name of the game is to flash something recognizeable to the Asian public, I wonder which more classics could be recycled, Gold Leaf Team Lotus perhaps? BRM should be a no brainer and how about Brabham, who owns that moniker, MrE I guess?

Surtees is a no-no obviously, as is Cooper as someone concluded before, but how about Lola, has anyone tried to talk Martin Birrane to release the "T70" brand, holy cow what a coup! But that piece might still be owned by Eric Broadley now that I think of it, but just imagine a Hyundai Lola T70, or even meaner, close your eyes and think a KIA L&M Lola T260!

But then again, the last one was perhaps not the best of ideas.

[Just_a_fan]

For an old geezer like me, Ronnie Peterson in a Lotus 72 is as much of a heritage as you can ask for, but I doubt if those years rings much of a bell to those born post-1980? It even seems that Senna in a 97T is forgotten, anyone still remembering the man seems to place him in a red and white car, no?

As for Lotus street cars, kit-cars with doubtful reliability comes to mind. In 1992 I ditched my Porsche 944 turbo for a turbo Esprit, a trade I regret to this day, but I was completely taken by the image. Useless piece of crap outside the parking lot.

It did serve me well in the mistress department though, far better pay-off than with the Porsche I admit.

Ah, but part of the irony of heritage is that those who most seek it often did not live it first time round. In the UK (particularly the south) there is a great desire for old properties with period features. People like the idea of the past but only because they didn't have to endure it. That nice old fireplace is lovely when you have central heating at the flick of a switch - it wouldn't have been so "charming" when it was the only source of warmth in a cold, damp, draughty house...

And LOTUS does stand for "Lots Of Trouble, Usually Serious". Now you know why...

[gibells]

I did some Google research the other day- 'Google research' is one heck of a lot easier than having to go into the library and flick through those darned papery woody things- I think they used to call them Encyclopedias. Anyway, turns out Lotus in the east is a lot more symbolic than Colin Chapman's racing team ever was. A Lotus flower is, it seems, a divine symbol of purity of the mind body spirit something something something.

Could this be one of the reasons why it is being so hotly contested.

[Just_a_fan]

why not dig up Cooper and Vanwall from the grave when at it, surely at least Cooper built a street car or two way back when?

Ummm, Vanwall are still very much alive and probably not for sale.
http://www.vanwallcars.com/company.html
I think BMW might have some licensing rights for the Cooper name (with the Mini, obviously) and might be a bit loathe to let anyone else use the name...

[xpensive]

Never mind, something got in between there.

[feynman]

Again, you are listing lots of (specialist) F1 names, but I don't see how that is relevant to what is going on here.

Fernandes' F1 team was called Lotus Racing directly because of Lotus roadcars not old F1 cars, and to get from one to the other was the point of the exercise. BRM or Brabham or Lola don't have anything much to do with gaining ownership of Proton/Lotus, Team Lotus however does.

Yes the pieces got switched round on him once the game started, and maybe if doing it again, knowing what he now knows, there may have been a theoretical chance he'd have called it Tune F1, but I doubt it. I reckon David Hunt would have just got the call a year earlier.

Getting firm hold of any Lotus or Lotus related marks will be one of the keys that will be required for any successful acquisition of Proton at a later date. If the Malaysian government finally figures enough is enough, you need to be the clear, distinct and logical choice to salvage.
With the agile jumps from a revoked Lotus Racing, to Team Lotus Ventures, to now Caterham as part of Team Lotus Enterprises, he doesn't seem much minded to easily give up on those keys.

Yes it all depends on court rulings, and deals being done, and bags of money pushed around, and all that, but either way, I don't think adding Caterham to the portfolio is a bad Plan B, in fact I think it actually looks better than Plan A.

[xpensive]

I did some Google research the other day- 'Google research' is one heck of a lot easier than having to go into the library and flick through those darned papery woody things- I think they used to call them Encyclopedias. Anyway, turns out Lotus in the east is a lot more symbolic than Colin Chapman's racing team ever was. A Lotus flower is, it seems, a divine symbol of purity of the mind body spirit something something something.

Could this be one of the reasons why it is being so hotly contested.

Sacrament et Tabarnac gibells, you got it right there! Why didn't I see that, it's all in the name and nothing else, so obvious?

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Bit more info on this.

Sonangol(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonangol_Group)are going to be lead sponsors on this, and it appears a name change is in the offing too....sooner rather than later.

Interesting also that the name Teixeira is linked to Sonangol in some capacity. http://teixeiradevelopments.com/about_teixeira.html
No mention of which Teixeira, but if it is Toni Teixiera...Bernie Ecclestone will be livid.

An Angolan/Portuguese enterprise with African law on its side to keep directors anonymous if they so choose....

[feynman]

Ricardo Teixeira, not Tony.
Teixeira is a common Portuguese language name.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Ricardo Teixeira, not Tony.
Teixeira is a common Portuguese language name.

Im half Portuguese, Feynman Born in South Africa too!

My dad has told me of Toni Teixeira's links to Sonangol, via SASOL(South African oil company). Secondly, many Portuguese/South African entreprenuers are making a bundle from local knowledge and language advantages in the region, I wouldnt discount Toni Teixiera from this enterprise(Oil and Diamonds man both resources prevalent in abundance in Angola, with local knolwedge and of course the language)
And I would not be surprised if the Teixeira name, however ubiquitous it may be, belongs to that of Toni.

As an oil man, which he is, he would be camped in Angola right now(fiscally I would bet he has much dinheiro there) Who knows how many fingers he has in how many pies.

But look at this from a totally neutral perspective. B.E warned Teixeira off ever coming into F1, Teixeira, nose fully disjointed, ambled off into the distance uttering expletives quietly under his breath. His shady dealings and and reputed billionaire wealth does actually, show why he is deplored by Bernie...he reminds him of himself!!

Now we have an Angolan enterprise, founded and enriched through oil, entering F1 on the back of a naming dispute....too perfect?

[lotus7]

nevertheless the 7 is fun ,no question.

Now you're talking and even more fun to race .

[TzeiTzei]

I'd just like to point out, that it was Caterham who approached Fernandes, not the other way around. So there is no reason to start yelling how Tony is going after every legendary british sports car manufacturer in his quest for trying to ride on someone else's legacy.

[bot6]

The more I read about this whole Team Lotus - Caterham setup, the more I like what Fernandes is building here. He is riding Chapman's legacy, but he does it with respect, keeping true to the "less is more" spirit.

Makes me want to buy a 7 kit, paint it green and go racing.

EDIT: But then again, I've been wanting to do that for ages. Anybody have an extra 20K pounds?

[Scania]

The more I read about this whole Team Lotus - Caterham setup, the more I like what Fernandes is building here. He is riding Chapman's legacy, but he does it with respect, keeping true to the "less is more" spirit.

Makes me want to buy a 7 kit, paint it green and go racing.

EDIT: But then again, I've been wanting to do that for ages. Anybody have an extra 20K pounds?

looks like Fernandes is a huge Chapman fans......