Other great automotive disrupters/party poopers of the past have included the influential 1959 BMC Mini, created by Sir Alec Issigonis, which set the new small car standard and soon began spoiling the potential of other British entry family car rivals (as well as ‘mightier’ circuit and rallying racers), including the Hillman Imp, Triumph Herald, obscure Slough-built Citroen Bijou, plus even the (more profitable per unit) Ford Anglia to a lesser extent.
Although the Z-back Anglia sold more than one million units, the Mini never made life easy for the technically staid small Ford saloon of 1959. As Britain’s traditional new car market leader for decades, Ford became more uncommonly unstuck in 1982, however, when it replaced its conservative but enormously popular Cortina saloon with the adventurous Sierra. It was a technically outdated rear-wheel-drive aerodynamic hatch which initially alienated too many of the Blue Oval’s traditional loyal buyers, hordes of which turned to Ford’s arch-rival General Motors/Vauxhall with its game-changing front-wheel-drive second-generation Cavalier, more routinely styled and available as a booted four-door, three-box saloon (unlike the early Sierra), as well as a modern five-door hatch. The Vauxhall proved to be an unexpected party pooper for Ford, with Dagenham forced to respond swiftly to address the UK’s early resistance to the Sierra and topple Vauxhall from the top of the traditional family saloon sales charts.
A handful of other game-changing cars have left rivals quacking in their tyre tracks for many years, many simply unable (and often unwilling) to compete with these mighty new machines. These include notable cars such as the benchmark Citroën DS of 1955 (making French rival Renault’s uninspiring range-topping 1950s Fregate look instantly irrelevant and unsaleable for example, which it proved to be, forcing Renault to abandon this prestige market sector completely until the mid-1970s!), as well as the disruptive 1966 Lamborghini Miura (Ferrari taking some time to react) and later 1992 McLaren F1 supercar, which still remains beyond compare in many key areas almost 30 years on.
Expectations for Gordon Murray’s new V12-powered T50, the F1’s spiritual successor, are understandably exceptionally high, and I’m sure the car won’t disappoint, just as the new Lotus Type 131 replacement for the stand-out Elise will have to be quite outstanding, to say the least. After all, with the proud heritage of the Elise in its impressive portfolio, it simply wouldn’t do for underdog Lotus to be beaten at its own game by the sporting products of the larger faceless corporations. The world will be patiently watching and waiting for the release of Lotus’ latest party pooper…