The world's top sports car Lotus is coming
Wuhan's car business cards are increasing one by one
"Heard about it?" The prototype of the sports car that was sent to Mars by "Iron Man" Musk is coming to Wuhan to build a factory! ”
"Spirit!! Are you talking about Ferrari? ”
"You don't understand cars when you hear them, Lotus!"
Lotus EXIGE S_05, released in 2000 on the eve of the Autobytel Lotus Championship in Brands Hatch, was the vehicle for Bruce Willis in the film Red Flame Battlefield 2.
On the streets of Wuhan, lotus 's "visibility" is indeed not high, and the downstairs of the editorial office is the "luxury car gathering place" garden road, I have read countless cars for so many years, and rarely see Lotus's figure.
In the sports car world, Lotus is like a unique sword, cool enough to drive, explosive performance, but not ordinary people can control. It has also left countless legends: it has won the F1 championship 7 times, it was once the royal car of 007, it can go up the mountain and go to the sea...
Lotus Esprit, in the 1977 007 film series Ofwater City, is Bond's royal car, which can transform into a submarine and launch missiles in the water, which is what it has just come out of the water. The car also appeared in the 007 series of movies "Top Secret", "Pretty Lady in the Wind and Moon" and other movies.
Even the signs that ordinary people use to identify whether a car is a sports car or not: a single load-bearing body, a fixed wind wing, a wedge-shaped front, a ground effect... All are technological innovations promoted by Lotus.
Just yesterday, Lotus Technology Global Headquarters has officially broken ground in Wuhan Economic Development Zone, mainly responsible for creating ultra-high-end pure electric intelligent vehicles to the global market, according to Lotus's planning, a new ultra-high-end pure electric SUV will be put into production in Wuhan next year, and Lotus will also launch various types of products in the future.
This is also the first world-renowned sports car brand to settle in China, and settled in our greater Wuhan. It's a little exciting to think about.
01
As night falls, the A+ and beer communes on Garden Road are lit up with lights, and Ferraris and Lamborghinis are lined up in line on the road at the entrance.
At this time, if a Lotus owner passes by, the spontaneous sense of pride will most likely alleviate the boredom caused by waiting for parking spaces.
Lotus Evija, in 2019, the pure electric mass production supercar Evija was officially unveiled in London, and the body can produce an unprecedented 1.8 tons of air downforce in the drive, truly close to the ground.
After all, before Porsche had produced the "grocery cart" 911 and Lamborghini was still making tractors, Lotus's civilian sports cars were already wandering the streets.
Lotus, which is on a par with Porsche and Ferrari, has a group of die-hard fans around the world, the most famous of which is Elon Musk, the owner of Tesla, who personally treasured a 1977 Lotus Esprit, and in the 007 movie, James Bond destroyed the enemy's undersea lair in one fell swoop.
In 2018, a photo of a sports car in space swept the world, which was a Tesla Roadster pure electric sports car developed by Musk with the chassis and frame of Lotus Elise. It reached mars orbit on Jan. 10 this year and is said to be roaming through space for tens of thousands of years.
Pure and extreme is the romance of men, a feature that runs through Lotus from the first car, and is why a number of big guys, including Musk, like it.
You know, the brand name of Lotus comes from the founder's love for his wife. In 1948, Colin Chapman, then a RAF pilot, converted Lotus's first car, the LOTUS MARK I, into his girlfriend's stable. The girlfriend at the time, and later his wife, nicknamed LOTUS.
Lotus has also become the only car brand in the world to write its beloved name on the front of the car, and it is born with a romantic temperament.
The Lotus 7 model produced in 1952 was produced by Colin Chapman, founder of Lotus, and the woman on the left was his wife, Heizer Chapman.
This romance translates to the car, the ultimate pursuit of speed and drivability. In 1954, in order to win the race, the engineers took the initiative to tie themselves to the hood of the car and pull the speed to 160 km/h, just to observe the fluff movements tied to the body of the car beforehand.
Lotus EMIRA, officially released on July 6, 2021, will replace the Elise, Exige, Evora and other models discontinued this year, becoming the only and last fuel sports car sold by Lotus.
This point is exactly the same as the spirit of Wuhan people", no wonder they chose to settle in Wuhan, it seems that the hero saw something the same.
02
I still remember the 1990s, the Xiali little red car on the streets of Wuhan, which coincided with the wave of layoffs, many taxi masters relied on it to carry a home.
This is the first passenger car project in Wuhan, in order to carry the Sino-French joint venture (Second Automobile - Citroën) DPCA project, the Wuhan Development Zone officially started construction in 1991.
In 2006, the headquarters of Dongfeng Company (formerly the second automobile manufacturing plant) was officially moved from Shiyan, Hubei province to Wuhan Economic Development Zone, and Wuhan has since gained the name of "Chedu".
Lotus EMIRA
In 2021, Wuhan's "Auto people's Alliance" has ushered in a new partner, and it is also the only ultra-high-end sports car brand in Wuhan and even China, with the full name of Wuhan Lotus Technology Co., Ltd.
The total investment in the early stage was planned to be 26.3 billion yuan, of which the factory covers an area of 1526 acres. Behind this is also the support of Geely Holding Group (Geely, known as the light of domestic goods, acquired Volvo on the front foot and Lotus on the back foot. He is also Daimler, the largest shareholder of Mercedes-Benz's parent company. ）
Next year, the first pure electric SUV belonging to the future world will be driven out of the assembly line in Wuhan, and there will be a series of pure electric products such as 4 coupes.
Lotus Evija
In Wuhan's small partners, must have heard the legend of "Wuhan bus masters are F1 retired drivers", this time Lotus settled in Wuhan, it specially built a factory track, some sections of the reference standard F1 track design, the maximum speed of up to 260km / h. Lotus's goal is to create track-level intelligent driving. As long as you have a driver's license, you can beat the F1 championship.
After training like this for a few years, it is not a dream to have an F1 champion driver at the doorstep of Wuhan.
03
Remember that in 2019, the final of the China Automobile Endurance Championship (CEC) was held in Wuhan, and Zhang Zhendong, the prototype of Lin Zhendong in the movie "Flying Life", drove millions of explosive grocery shopping cars and soared at the Wuhan Sports Center.
The motor roared in the ears, looked back at Lotus's first electric supercar Evija, racing passion ignited instantly, if you mention a car in the garden road to press the road, the return rate is not to talk about, the pride is directly pulled full.
Inquiring about the price, Evija is said to be more than 20 million, and then checked, the global limited edition of 130 units has actually been robbed. I "hissed" and gasped for air, and poverty did limit my imagination.
However, I heard that Lotus's last fuel sports car, Emira, has opened reservations, estimated to be millions, and there are currently more than 8,000 global orders. The price is relatively "close to the people", the small partners reach out or there is hope, or do you bite your teeth to "ker a car"?
A friend asked: "After saying so much, when can I see the real car?" ”
The Wuhan Intelligent Factory began construction as early as 2020 and is scheduled to be completed and put into operation in 2021, with an annual production capacity of 150,000 vehicles. Friends were still worried about whether Lotus would be eye-catching when he came to Wuhan, so he could sit and wait with confidence: "When the time comes, take a ride with the brothers." ”
Since August 26, Wuhan Two Rivers and Four Banks, Zhuankou Economic Development Zone has opened a light show for Lotus.
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From the very beginning of the "Shenlong Fukang", to the later Dongfeng Honda, and now to China's only ultra-high-end sports car brand Lotus, Wuhan is different every day, and Wuhan's car business cards are also increasing one by one.
Last weekend, I went to the Economic Development Zone and found that the global headquarters of Wuhan Lotus Technology has been fenced off, and the fence reads Lotus's vision from beginning to end, "WE ARE FIRST, LAST, AND ALWAYS FOR THE DRIVERS".
The logo of the world's ultra-high-end sports car, with the blue sky and white clouds on the Yangtze River, makes me, a Wuhan person, particularly proud: "Seeing the future driving world, we start to build from wuhan!" ”