I’m Back! Apparently, All Roads Lead Back to Lotus. 🏎️

[Foosh]

Is the Honda-conversion Elise available in the US? Just curious...

Yes, engine conversations of all kinds are common in the US. Most states have exemptions from emissions inspections for older cars, limited, or no requirement at all. There is no restriction on the importation of parts, other than our now higher tariffs (sigh).

I have friends in my home state, which considered one of the stricter US states, and one has installed a LS V8 engine (Corvette) in a Miata, and another has put an LS V8 in a Cayman.

 

[AZemira-i4]

Nice write up … just curious on the Artura … how was that experience? Reliable?

 

[Six Speed Stephen]

My brother in law has the 911T and a Technica, me with the Emira. I guess the collection is still alive ha

 

[Nelumbo]

LOL. I didn't know that.

My last name is Mah, which means horse. I guess, that means I'm "Horse and Horse as one"

I too wished I had never sold my '06 Chili Red Elise. I can't believe I sold it for $25,000, and now I just saw Bring-a-Trailer sold a 2011 S3 Elise for $120,000! So much for trying to back into an Elise. But even if I did, I have a feeling that I would end up driving just one of the two Lotus cars exclusively.

Off topic, but "人馬一体" or "man and horse, one body" are the four Chinese characters used in this phrase, which is an idiomatic expression known as a "cheng yu". There are many hundreds of these expressions in Chinese which have ancient origins and are still in use today. Over the millennia, Japanese adopted Chinese writing and language, much like English was influenced by Latin and Greek, hence the Japanese pronunciation you see here. Mazda famously used this phrase in their ad campaign in the 90's to describe the FD-3, I believe.