Spotted: Lotus that looks a lot like one of the ugliest cars ever

It’s amazing what drivers can do with duct tape. I spotted this Mercedes in Mississauga.

As you may or may not know, Lotus founder Colin Chapman insisted that every car his company produced be named with a word starting with the letter “E.” There have been two Lotus Elite’s. The first, produced from 1958 until 1963, is an all-time classic. The second Elite, as seen here, was a four-seat hatchback that came out in 1974, and was killed off in 1982. At the time of its introduction, the Elite was the world’s most expensive four-cylinder car. Stephen Van Esch spotted this one near Kenilworth, Ontario.

As I studied Stephen’s picture of the Lotus Elite, I had a strange sense of déjà vu. Why did I feel like I’d seen this car before? Then I remembered the American Motors Gremlin I spotted a few years ago at Dade County Motors, in Trenton, Georgia. As you can see, there are some decided similarities. The Gremlin’s design, first sketched by AMC stylist Richard Teague on the back of an airsickness bag, has gone down in history as one of the worst of all time. The Gremlin came out in 1970 – four years before the Lotus Elite. In a recent list of ugliest cars ever, the Gremlin ranked fourth - The Pontiac Aztek took the crown. The overarching question: if you’re going to copy a design, why this one?

Kevin Roy spotted this inventively decorated NSX in Toronto.

The vanity plate on this Mustang made me wonder what the owner was trying to say. “Heart Breaker?” “Hard Braker?” Or did the owner mean something else? I spotted it in Toronto.

I spotted this big-winged Honda Civic in Toronto.

The Caprice was one of Chevrolet’s most durable brand names (It first appeared in 1965, and became the company’s best-selling model.) The fourth-generation Caprice station wagon, built from 1991 until 1996, was the last of the Caprice wagon line, killed by the rising demand for SUVs. I spotted this one at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park (a.k.a. Mosport raceway.)

Two days after spotting the Caprice wagon at the racetrack, this one appeared in my neighbourhood. For good or ill, some cars really represent an era. The 1991-1996 Caprice wagon epitomizes the early to mid 1990s.

Those 1990s GM interiors are like time capsules. Sink into those corduroy bench seats, caress the fake burled oak, and you can imagine that George H.W. Bush is still in the White House.

I spotted this company truck on Interstate 75 a while back. Until you read the fine print on the logo, you might wonder whether they’re in the pharmaceutical business.