Lotus tale

[Pottree@domain.elided]

All the bandwith about the Lotus reminds me of this funny little tale.

This was about 1972 or so.  I was working in Cambridge, MA while in grad 
school and a fellow worker who had always craved a Lotus either got a 
promotion or came into some money or something because he decided he was 
ready to buy.  The nearest dealership was in CT, I believe in New London or 
Bridgeport, which could then be as much as 4 hours or more away by car, 
depending on traffic and construction, so it was too long a ride down there 
to just pop in and hope for the best.  He phone the dealer to make an 
appointment to come look at a car, or buy a car (don't recall) and they 
stopped in cold in his tracks.  "How tall are you?" demanded the dealer.  He 
allowed he was about 5' 8" (now known as about 170 mm).  "Okay," they said.  
"Come down."  Turns out they had had some troubles with drivers taller than 
that fitting in the car in such a way as to be able to actuate the clutch 
without severe bodily harm, so they had a rule: "We do not sell a Lotus to 
anyone over 5'9"."

Now, that's exclusivity!
Not to mention independence!

Charlie
LA, CA, USA
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