Hethel, England- Lotus's new Elise and even newer boss, Rod Mansfield, are covered elsewhere in the issue, so there's no need to hash them out again. What isn't said is why the ever-entertaining Romano Artioli sacked Mansfield's predecessor, Adrian Palmer. Anonymous sources inside Lotus now claim Palmer (and fellow-sackee Andrew Tempest, the firm's former finance director) had been planning a management buyout to wrest the company back from Artioli's Luxembourg-based holding company, Grandes Marques Groupe. (Those Italians are so touchy....) Meanwhile Palmer and Tempest, say the same tattlers, are preparing a $1,150,000+ lawsuit for wrongful dismissal.- Ian Adcock

Clearly, the Stock One's Too Slow

Leonberg, Germany- Predictably, Porsche's hyperfast 400+ bhp twin-turbo 911 is just too dull for some people, specifically the overmuscled lads at TechArt. Thus, take a standard 993, supercharge the engine to 462 bhp, take about 60 pounds out with Kevlar doorskins, add uprated brake cooling, seats, aero tweaks, wheels, lowered ride height and assorted other backyard goodies and you've got the TechArt CT3. Good news: Turnkey prices are more or less on par with a factory 911 Turbo. Bad news: Even TechArt's claims for 0-100km/h acceleration can't match our own results with the stock car (4.2 versus 3.9 seconds). Top speed is up a reported 15 mph, though....

The Night the Lights Went out in Campogalliano

Milan, Italy- It came as little surprise to anyone in the end. On 28 September, the fairy-tale rebirth of Bugatti was apparently brought to a close with a work-stoppage order handed down by an Italian bankruptcy court. Some 20 insistent creditors joined the suit against Bugatti, believing no legitimate financial savior was in sight for the company. Possible "partners" such as Mercedes-Benz, the Benetton consortium, Elf and others have been suggested in the past, but none proved realistic. The latest resurrection tale - in which the savior takes the form of a mysterious Indian conglomerate-therefore fallen on deaf ears.

- In the face of mismanagement charges by his foes, Bugatti boss Romano Artioli offers his own view of the closure: "Bugatti is an international company in a fiercely competitive market. It may well have been in someone's interests to see us go down." The company-which has built 150 cars at most - is deeply in the hole, but even its principals may not know the exact damage. Financial reporters choose $100 million as a nice, round number.

- While the future seems decidedly un-rosy for Bugatti's 140 employees, sister company Lotus - which is owned by the same holding company but run as a separate entity-has so far been un-affected.- Joanne Marshall

Mercedes Top Gets Swapped

Frankfurt, Germany- It's no secret the current Mercedes S-class has been a sales disappointment. Benzasaurus rex came

to the party in black tie and tails just as everyone else was getting in the mood for a weenie roast. Anyway, that's why the old barge will be scuttled earlier than expected: In 1997 a lighter, rounder design with more aluminum, less stodginess and more efficient engines will debut at Frankfurt. Production should begin the following year.

- Along with the usual ballast of power eyebrow pluckers and automatic skivvy de-wedgers will be M-B's full arsenal of active and passive safety devices: front and side airbags, traction control, deformable chassis beams and Bosch's Electronic Stability Package, a.k.a. the Sherman McCoy Device. Also debuting will be a new family of modular V6 and V8 engines with 3-valve heads. Mercedes' current V12 will be a goner, and there's great debate about whether or not to replace it; the nod might go to a twin-supercharged V8 instead.

R, Matey (Again)

Stuttgart, Germany- Now that M-B dealers are already taking deposits, Mercedes figures their customers deserve a name for what they're buying. So forget about the SLK - the showcar's moniker doesn't fit with Stuttgart's new nomenclature system. From now on call it the R-class, as in "Which one of you little hoodlums threw a dead skunk into ______?" Thus, mit the C-class' upcoming 2.3-liter Four, your deposit just bought you a new R230. In about another year and a half, that is.- Jerry Traeger

Stealth Bombs

Auburn Hills, Michigan- You know how Wile E. Coyote steps off a cliff, takes a second to realize there's no more ground underneath him and then plummets straight into the canyon? So does Dodge's Stealth. The Mitsubishi-built sports car sold almost 18,500 units in 1991, but it will be lucky to break 5000 for 1995.

- That wimpy performance - along with Dodge's own revamped product line, its desire to quit offering captive imports and the arrival of the Viper-means the Stealth will die an ignominious death after handful of 1996 models are sold. An AWD, 300-horse Avenger could be offered in its place. by 1997.- Jerry Traeger

Bugatti Fireflight

Carmel, California- The special guest of honor at Concours Italiana 1995 was legendary stylist Giorgetto Giugiaro, founder of ItalDesign. When Mr. Giugiaro's son Fabrizio asked if I wanted to come to the Monterey airport with him to greet his father and mother, I accepted immediately. That's when Fabrizio let me know that he and ItalDesign test driver Franco Mazzon wanted to surprise his parents by picking them up in the Bugatti EB112 that had just been uncrated for the big Italiana/Historics/Pebble Beach weekend.

- Well, surprise them they did. My rented Dodge Caravan followed the EB112 into the airport's loading zone, where we parked and went inside to greet Mr. Giugiaro, his wife Maria Teresa and their various travelling companions. Kisses and hugs were exchanged, bags picked up, and then everyone headed back outside. But instead of being pleased to see the Bugatti, Mr. Giugiaro could only blurt out, "My God! It's on fire!"

- Thick smoke was indeed billowing out of the windows. Thinking quickly, Mazzon pressed through the gathering crowd to open the door, grab the trunk release and disconnect the battery. Of course, opening the door also turned the smoke into flames! At last an anyonymous hero came with a fire extinguisher - non-halon, I might add-and completely hosed down the Bugatti's beautiful leather interior. By now the wail of a fire-engine siren could be heard in the distance, and we pushed the Bugatti into a rental-car company's parking lot.

- Rolling with the punch, Fabrizio loaded his family into the Caravan and shuttled them back to Quail Lodge while Franco and I stayed behind to locate a flatbed trailer. While we waited, Franco paced and chain-smoked, saying "Molto problema, molto problema.... Oh, Signor Mandarano, molto problema!"

- The flatbed carried us back to Quail Lodge by around 11:30 that evening. Dejected, we headed across the street to the Baja Cantina for a bite - and found the entire Giugiaro entourage enjoying drinks, laughing, eating a good meal and seemingly oblivious to what had just taken place. Mr. Giugiaro even toasted the rechristened EB112 - now to be called the Bugatti Fireflight! Impressed at their casual attitude but sorry that the Bugatti would now not be shown, I went to bed.

- When I awoke at 5:30 the next morning, what should I see but Franco Mazzon in the parking lot working on the Bugatti. He was everywhere at once - in the rear, under the hood, in the trunk, at the front. To my great surprise, by noon Fabrizio and I saw the EB112 drive by with Franco at the wheel! Amazing: In less than five hours he had single-handedly fixed the car. Thanks to him, the EB112 was shown on the upper lawn at Pebble Beach on Sunday, and was one of the hits of the show.

- Sure, the Germans could have pulled it off, too, but they would have flown a team of experts in with a Lear Jet full of spares, lights, generators and bratwurst, then worked around the clock to a precision-timed plan all night long. The Italians, on the other hand, enjoyed a friendly dinner, got a good night's sleep and, with a simple set of hand tools, got the job done in the parking lot - all while Mr. Giugiaro played 18 holes of golf!

- Oh, and one more thing. After Sunday's concours, while the Chrysler, Ford and GM showcar handlers lined up to remove their dream machines from Pebble's upper lawn and load them into $300,000 moving vans, the Giugiaros simply climbed into the Bugatti, fired up the engine and drove out to the Carmel gate. That, my friends, is the essence of Italian style!- Francis Mandarano