1967 S3 SE

[jimj]

No Sarah, we can`t afford to buy you a horse, and no, I don`t believe that all the other girls in your class have got one. You can have a horse when I get a Lotus Elan. She`s 31 now, about 10 then, and, luckily, she has forgotten, so shhh! We bought our `67 S3 S/E in 2004.
?Why an Elan?? funnily enough, on the 2013 London to Lisbon rally a bloke with an MGB asked that very question. I fixed him with a steely glare and asked him why he`d bought that shirt. The real answer, setting aside the rationale that it`s just the best car for the money by a huge factor, is just human nature. We all have an affection for some marque from our own past. Maybe a car we`ve owned, or an uncle`s car, maybe a neighbour`s, even Emma Peel`s ! In my case, after the inevitable Mini as first car then an MGTF which was 13 years old at the time, I moved upmarket, so I thought, with an MGB.
After the TF it just seemed lacking in character so after studying such august tomes as Haymarket publish and after 6 months frantically saving I spent even more money on an older car, an S1 Elan. It was in dubious condition and despite the high regard early Elans are now held in, on the debit side, it was a bit mmm, you know. On the credit side it was expletive, explosive. I could suddenly and clearly see what all the fuss was about . Another 2 years and I move up to an S3, a great car with an unusual 60s colour! then a used Sprint in my favourite monotone Lagoon Blue. In `73, just before purchase tax was abolished, I bought my first brand new car, another Sprint in the same lovely colour, in kit form. We didn`t build it in time to go to the pub on Sunday lunchtime, not that Sunday or the next but I was hooked, still am hooked, and if you aren`t then you should be. Gordon Murray, Jay Leno, me?.. we all have that in common (nothing else). I could mention Jim Clark, Jenks, Peter Sellers, etc. but I mustn`t. Marriage, the need for furniture, kids, food and stuff meant that I was Elanless for 30 years.
Still horseless, we`re just loving have an Elan and lucky in that we have quite a few good friends who live locally who also own old cars so we often go off together on rallies, tours, or just outings where one of us has organised an interesting tulip route or whatever. Then there`s Goodwood or the Silverstone Classic or somesuch. Buying the Elan was one of the best things we`ve ever done, it`s an interest you can share with (or escape from) your wife (not me, of course) and you go to places and meet people you wouldn`t have. We`ve made firm friends with like minded people from all walks of life, who really don`t talk about cars all the time, honest. From Princes to paupers, Fiats to Ferraris, ordinary working blokes to Lords and Ladies, I find I prefer the Ladies. I was gratified a couple of years ago as I looked around an eclectic, and somewhat expensive, entry on some rally and realised that there wasn`t another car there that I`d rather own.
In the 9 years we`ve had the car we`ve done a little over 55,000 miles, from Ireland to the Czech Republic, Sweden to Italy, on various classic tours. We`ve competed in, I`ve just counted, 18 competitive rallies where the car has been a huge success, unlike the crew who haven`t. Our most notable result was the team prize on the Three Castles 2 or 3 years ago. We formed a team of 3 with a rally prepared DB5 and a lightweight DB4 GT (the people you meet, eh?) on condition I could name the team; ?2 Astons and a Fast Car?.
The car has been no less or more reliable than any other car from the sixties. This year, on the London to Lisbon, plus a week in Portugal, we did 4100 miles door to door with no issues whatsoever. Unlike the bloke in the MGB with the awful shirt.
Jim

[jimj]

I entered this into Jeff`s fabulous contest. It`s been moved here, I don`t know why but it seems a bit showy offy out of context here on it`s own. If so, my apologies.
Jim

[jcocking]

Yours is just the first. As more members start their topics, yours will fit right in.

jeff

[Elanconvert]

jim
excellent post ....great stuff..
I think you should win on merit..!!
fred

[Quart Meg Miles]

jim
excellent post ....great stuff..
I think you should win on merit..!!
fred

And that for the quality of the English, if nothing else.