We’ve all come across these in our endless perusings of the world wide web, gaining more knowledge about the cars we love: Ancient sites that are still in operation.
You know, sites that could’ve been made as far back as calling the internet the “world wide web” and “surfing” it when it was commonplace, and not written ironically like yours truly. Sites where it loads up and you see all of the various images and gifs pepper in over the course of a second or two. These web artifacts could’ve been Geocities concoctions or something that someone spent a healthy amount of cash on to have a comprehensive site built and hosted from scratch. No matter its origin, it’s impressive and kind of wholesome that such records have sustained years of active existence. I’ve encountered a few of them over the years but just came across something special that inspired me to celebrate this funny subgenre of websites.
Recently, I happened upon a brilliant Lotus Esprit resource, LotusEspritWorld.co.uk. The site’s a treasure trove of information about all years/generations of the beloved and beautiful little mid-engine British sports car, which was produced between 1976 and 2004. From buyer’s advice to publications’ reviews, parts provider referrals, news, DIY repair resources, and more, this site has it all. I could click around for hours. The news bit is proof that it’s still being somewhat updated: there’s genuine Lotus news still being blogged about in its pages! Well, actually, most of these updates are embedded tweets. But still, new material is new material.
The site alludes to a lot of material not being touched since the late-’00s, and the copyright itself dates back to 2009. My, how far ago that year seems. But again, stuff is still being added to it. There’s also a sister-site that’s presumably run by the same folks, albeit it doesn’t seem to get a whole lot of eyeballs: Esprit4Sale.co.uk.
I love finding stuff like this, and I’m not poking fun -it’s legitimately impressive and commendable. Heck, I even get a little sentimental thinking back to the internet in the aughts. I feel like I should go play some old Half Life games.
What are some of your favorite old-fashioned internet car sites that are still in operation and being updated? Drop ’em below in the comments!
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