Kidney transport in the Lotus Eclat
09/30/2011
For years, the Automobil-Revue test team occasionally transported valuable organs on behalf of the Inselspital in Bern. This was a good combination with the aim of gaining as much experience as possible with the test cars.
One of these calls came sometime in the seventies. Two kidneys were ready to be transported quickly and safely from Bern to Freiburg im Breisgau.
It was a beautiful Sunday evening, the AR tester grabbed the Lotus Eclat that was available for testing purposes, took delivery of the goods and drove leisurely to Fribourg, where he delivered the kidneys safely.
So far so good. On the return journey, the open highway with no speed limits tempted the driver to enjoy the performance and the Lotus accelerated up to its top speed of around 220 km/h. Suddenly, however, the coupé slowed down, the oil pressure dropped rapidly towards zero - and then there was a loud bang from the engine compartment. After a courageous step on the clutch pedal and an immediate stop in the emergency lane, the damage was investigated. A connecting rod had taken on a life of its own and was cheekily "peeking" out of the engine block - no question about it, major engine damage!
The car was then towed to customs, where the Swiss importer, who was not exactly pleased about the problems, was able to pick it up. The previously written test report on the Lotus Eclat never appeared in Automobil Revue.
It was later discovered that the oil supply with continuous full throttle on German highways at high outside temperatures was apparently not sufficiently dimensioned, which was subsequently improved.
