THE ELAN HIGH MILEAGE CLUB

[1964 S1]

As a guy who's put a lowly 40 or 50 thousand miles on several Elans over 30 + years (and a few amusing tales,) I'd love to hear owner's stories concerning their high mileage Elans... especially involving romance, dependability or the police.

[triumphelan]

I did`nt think " romance "was posible in an Elan

[reb53]

It is.......

Ralph.

[M100]

Not Elan related but on the subject of romance (well lust but it's close!)

Apparently on the rear engined Skoda's you could easily unscrew the gear lever for better access. How you managed to get the target of your affections into the passenger seat though remain a great mystery.

[RotoFlexible]

My family bought a used '66 S2 (with a US65 serial number prefix) in 1967, with about 19K miles on it. My father drove it from Buffalo NY back home to Stamford CT, noting along the way that filling the fuel tank resulted in a robust leak from the bottom of the filler neck. I didn't drive it then since my license was brand-new.

Within a week, the starter failed and I had my first experience of Lotus repair. (Not the last...)

I still own the car, 39 years on. It has about 115K miles on it now. In that time, it has been a daily driver, an autocross warrior, off the road for five years with front-end damage, and a fair-weather toy - its current role.

It has had a new chassis (courtesy of a raised manhole cover in a sewer project), lots of engine work, a new front clip, a custom roll bar, and many other odds and ends, but for the most part it is original. I would say that it has been fairly reliable - it bends but tends not to break, rarely stranding me.

I cannot report any romantic episodes (although I've been told that a warm hood [bonnet] makes a suitable venue) nor police encounters.

[stuartgb100]

Blast it,

When I saw "RotoFlexible" was posting............. well, I thought I we were getting to the romantic 'nub' of things Elan!

Disappointed again.

Blimey! That's what she always says.

Regards.

Stuart.

[mrob]

My 64 Elan S1 turned 100,000 miles on 6/75. It has had about 5,000 miles since then. No romantic stories to tell.

[hatman]

My S4/Sprint's done a total of 180,000 miles now but as I've had it for only four years I'm not resposible for too many of them, nor can I claim any part in whatever carnal activity may have occurred therein, more's the pity.

Some of my own more nefarious doings were, however, undertaken in a Fiat 500, which made an Elan look positively cavernous by comparison. As for how such things could be possible, all I will say is that, when the sap's rising, eager, lustful youth will invariably find a way.

But, to return to rather more salubrious considerations, when asked how many miles the Elan's done, I usually respond with 'Depends which bit you're talking about - the gearbox has done about 50K, the chassis about 80K, top half of the engine the same, drive shafts 3K', etc etc etc.

[steveww]

I have only looked after my Elan for about 3 years and still looking forwards to many more. No romantic stories here but in my younger days an Alfa Romeo Sud 1.5ti was my set of wheels......

I have taken my Elan to France for Classic Le Mans and on a regular holiday. Each time making the most of the empty French N and D routes, but managed to keep out of the way of the law, just

My favourite story comes from last summer. I was out having a hoon along some local back roads I know, they are a popular Sunday morning run with other petrol heads. I passed a modern BMW 3 something to which the driver took exception to and gave chase. Childish I know but I responded to the challenge and increased my pace. I would gain a bit through the corners and he would gain it back on the longer straights. Breaking for the corners I could here his ABS chattering away while praying he would not run in to the back of me. There is a great down hill right hander that you can see right through for at least a mile. Arriving at this corner I could see that nothing was coming the other way. So using all the road apex to apex I guided the Elan towards the apex, no brakes required. The rear end swung out, keep the power on, a little bit of opposite lock and drift out to the exit curb On the straight I check my mirrors to see how much space that has given me over the BMW and see him bouncing along the verge and in to the hedge Naturally I went back to make sure he was OK. He was fine and not too much damage to the car but one very confused driver.

No matter how many clever electronic systems you have, you can't change the laws of physics

[Hamish Coutts]

Nice one Steve.

On a much lesser scale I enjoy doing similar things to the local young lads in their mega lowered fiestas/saxos particularly at country roundabouts and through tight corners on the quieter country roads around where I live (SE Scotland). They always seem amazed to see and old guy (57) going round corners so fast in an 'old' car (1973 +2 S130).
Makes me feel 20 years younger.

Also, how the hell is romance possible in an elan? On an elan yes but in? Maybe it was a soft top - with the hood down. It looks hard enough in a +2 never mind an elan!

Hamish.

[hatman]

Just a thought but shouldn't this thread be re-named 'The Elan Mile-Highage Club'?

[twincamman]

romance in an ?lan?---maybe for very flexible dwarfs---- ed

[1964 S1]

And Highage I must be.

The police have only pulled me over once, (in an Elan.) It was 1978, a purple coupe with a sunroof I'd imported from England, in a very small town in southern Ohio, the cop tried to give my girlfriend a ticket for not paying attention only to realize after stopping me that it was a right hand drive car and she wasn't the driver! That was 30 minutes after a crash where 16 year old Dixie Lee Swackhammer (I'm not making it up) hit me by turning left, with perfect timing, in her Ford F150 pickup truck.

....and then there was that late night years later, after too many beers, and letting my best friend drive, he put a different Elan into a guardrail on a curve on I-71. We panicked, jumped out, we jumped back in, me in the driver's seat, took off and never looked back. . .

[gjz30075]

Here in the US (a key point here) about twenty years ago, a good friend of mine had a RH drive S2 in which we blasted about frequently. One day, while coming down an on ramp to an expressway, with vigor, we saw the infamous lights behind us. We pulled over and my friend, who was driving, got out of the car and the officer told him to stay where he's at. He came to my side of the car and wanted to see my license. I objected slightly and told him I wasn't driving. He insisted and I lowered the window some more and showed him the space in front of me: " Look, no steering wheel". His jaw dropped and with a slow "What the..." and then looked at my friend, who just shrugged. At that point, the ice was broken and we all laughed about it. He let us go with a warning.

[sk178ta]

Despite impending decreptitude and in no way a participant in dogging, I can assure the forum (not the magazine) that "romance" is entirely possible, indeed recommended, in an Elan. Whereas, in an Elise you have to have one door open.
Jim (nastic)