LOL!!!

My car can lock me out while I still have the key in hand but the trunk still opens with the key. If I don't have a key on me the fiberglass is flexible enough that the trunk lid can be lifted on one side enough to to reach in and pull the internal release that is there in case you are locked in the trunk. Or so I have been told, have not been brave enough to try that yet.

But the special key is a rubber door stop to wedge the window open and a bent up welding wire that will reach in and grab the lock knob and allow it to be pulled up. Of course the whole time you are doing this the alarm is howling so ear plugs are not a bad idea either.

Here is a picture of the car in case you ever need to break into one,



That is the space shuttle Atlantis in the background a week or two before it's last launch. And Susan the car is shown in its actual size. Parked next to the Suburban you drive it looks like the spare car that came with your truck.

Very nice car! I was just talking to someone about the Tesla Roadster a couple days ago so that's what I immediately thought of. Your car bears a striking resemblance to a Tesla, but then I noticed the air scoops on the sides. Tesla roadsters don't have side vents, although Lotus ones do.

Yeah, I don't think I could bring myself to pry open the trunk, if I owned that car. Unless I was parked dangerously close to the launchpad of the Space Shuttle just before take-off and I needed to drive away in a hurry or be vaporized by the rocket blast.

Your logic is inescapable, Sue! LOL

Thanks Arney. The Tesla rolling chassis is made by Lotus so the cars are very similar. The body panels for the Tesla are made in France if I remember correctly. But they still look alike, and the first Tesla that I saw, at first glance I thought it was an Elise. Here is a photo of the Tesla,



I should mention that it's my photo but not my car.

With the cost of the replacement electronic keys these days, it's probably cheaper to send your whole family to locksmith school.

Many cars don't have knobs or buttons that can be easily manipulated with a coat hanger or wire. I've become pretty good at using the door stop and a coat hanger to retrieve the keys through the door, rather than work the locks.

Last winter my daughter locked her keys in the Grand Cherokee. Of course it was around 20*F and dark. I got there and called AAA to send someone out. But I managed to fish the keys out with a coat hanger before AAA arrived (less than 15 minutes).

Funniest thing was several months later we discovered that the rear hatch lock didn't work, probably came that way when we bought it (used). We could have just popped open the rear hatch and crawled inside to get the keys in a minute or less.

Of course the Wrangler is a whole 'nother story. Unless the hard top is on for the winter, a quick zip zip and I'm in through the soft top. Locking the doors -- when they're on -- is just a deterrent, and a weak one at that. Stupid thing is that most thieves cut the soft top to get in, either not realizing or not caring that unzipping is just as easy.

Cute car! But I can't see from the angle shown... does the suitcase handle fit flush into the roof?

What kind is it?

Sue

Suitcase handle? Susan don't you know that is where the wind up key goes.

It's a Lotus Elise and it's made in England. And what you would really like about it is other than the crazy alarm system that is installed on it to meet federal theft deterrent guidelines it has relatively little electronics on it. Granted it does have the engine management computer with ABS and traction control along with AC and power windows. But it doesn't have power anything else.

Oh, a Lotus! I think the only Lotus I ever recognized was the Elan. Saw one a couple of weeks ago, a surprise!



I always thought they put the windup key in the back, between the rear wheels.

If it doesn't have a suitcase handle, how do you carry it into your hotel room with you???



If it doesn't have all that regulated crap on it, how is it allowed/sold in the U.S.?

Sue