I had no idea. Thanks for sharing,
Vicki

I had no idea. Thanks for sharing,
Vickip

Give it 2 minutes...

Christian
<what's wrong with Elise content tho?>

On Mon, Mar 30, 2020 at 3:02 PM Mario Baroz mariobaroz@hotmail.com wrote:

1:03  in you get to the Ducati Stuff.

On Mon, Mar 30, 2020 at 4:28 PM Christian Els ElsC@schnellpc.com wrote:

This reminds me. I should see if I can find my copy of "Truth in 24" and
watch that again.
Kevin

On Mon, 30 Mar 2020 at 13:02, Mario Baroz mariobaroz@hotmail.com wrote:

hahaha...too impatient.  Yes, that was some nice Ducati content.

thanks, Mario

From: Ducati ducati-bounces@list.ducati.net on behalf of Christian Els ElsC@schnellpc.com
Sent: Monday, March 30, 2020 3:27 PM
To: Ducati Owners Group ducati@list.ducati.net
Subject: Re: [Ducati] Unexpected Ducati Story

Give it 2 minutes...

Christian
<what's wrong with Elise content tho?>

On Mon, Mar 30, 2020 at 3:02 PM Mario Baroz mariobaroz@hotmail.com wrote:

To get the links and updates on all today's Ducati news:
http://www.ductalk.com/
and
https://www.facebook.com/ducnet

Ducati mailing list
Ducati@list.ducati.net
http://list.ducati.net/mailman/listinfo/ducati_list.ducati.net
Mailto: mariobaroz@hotmail.com

Back in the day, before we left the west coast in 2006, we attended the
Auto Show downtown at the Convention Center.

At that time, while considering what to do after retirement from the IBEW,
I had a bad jones for the Lotus Elise. During that period, the price wasn't
my idea of a king's ransom. Somewhere in the 30k range, if my memory serves
me.

So at one point after we had seen most all we wanted to see on the main
floor, we headed to the area of the exotic sports cars. What we found was a
large group of show goers standing in front of the Elise display. It was
much larger than I expected, as they had several cars on display, as well
as the naked chassis and all of the bodywork mounted on a tree like display.

There was a fellow in a sport coat handing out brochures to the crowd and
as he got near to where we stood, he ran out of them. I got his attention
and asked if he had any more. He said he would bring one to me in a few
minutes. True to his word, a little while later he returned with the
brochure and we began to talk about the car. At one point in the
conversation he asked if I had ever driven or even sat in one. I said no,
but look forward to it someday. At this point he parted the velvet ropes
and invited Jenn and I to come inside. This was a first for us.

He showed us all around the display and we talked about our passions for
things mechanical as well as Jenn and my Ducati addiction. He said the
Elise was sort of like a 4-wheeled motorcycle in how it responds to the
driver's input and how much he and his wife enjoyed going on holiday with
one or two small bags of belongings in the tiny trunk.

He invited us both to sit inside anything we wanted. All I can say is, it
fit me like a glove. No other vehicle I've driven or merely sat in ever
gave me the sensation that the Elise did. We spent about 20-25 minutes with
him and graciously thanked him for all of his time and the opportunity
explore the Elise up close and personal.

That man started with Lotus as an assembly line worker in 1966. He worked
at Lotus for 44 years and 7 months before retiring. He passed away in
February of 2017 at the age of 71. That man was Roger Becker, Project
Engineering Director for Lotus and the man ultimately responsible for the
way a Lotus road car feels when driven.

Meeting and speaking with him was a big treat for me and I will never
forget that day. I still don't own an Elise, but who knows what the future
brings?

R.I.P., Roger.

Jack Ward
Knoxville, TN, USA

On Mon, Mar 30, 2020 at 2:30 PM Paul March pjm911@gmail.com wrote: