From Street to Race to Street: 45/8439

[abstamaria]

I thought I should write down for posterity the history of my Elan, which I bought when I was not yet 30 but remains with me now that I have retired.

I bought 45/8439,a 1969 Series 4 DHC, in 1977 in Mahwah, New Jersey, at La Monza Motors. The owner, Joe, said he was formerly a mechanic with the Ferrari team. Indeed, he had a very large black-and-white photo occupying a showroom wall of a pit stop early 1960s, complete with Enzo.

It was not easy to find an Elan then, and my search took me up and down the East coast. New Jersey had a lot of snow when I first saw the car, sitting outside next to an XKE and unable to move because snow had piled up around it. It seemed very original though, so Joe and I agreed on $3,000. A few days later. a friend and I drove the Lotus to their small weekend home in Brown's Mills, New Jersey. They had a garage I could keep the car in. I was a very happy young man.

45/8439 had been resprayed black with gold bumpers - JPS colors. I learned later the original color was yellow.

Here is a 1977 photo, showing the car in Brown's Mills.

[CBUEB1771]

Small coincidences bring a smile to my face. I bought my +2S in Boston in the summer of 1977 when I was 26. Retirement is nowhere in sight, however. La Monsa Motors was a familiar name throughout the Northeast at that time.

[elancoupe]

Me too. Tony Francica from Lamonsa used my car as personal transport before selling it to me in 1980.

BTW, he is now a car salesman at a metro NY Lotus dealer.

[abstamaria]

That made me smile too, Russ. I was 28 when I bought the Elan. And it's still with me, too. But you have an Elite, too, I see. I would love to have one.

Tony must be Joe's son, Mike? I imagine Joe must be retired now.

Andy

[elancoupe]

I believe that Tony and Joe are brothers. I would suspect that Tony is near retirement as well.

[abstamaria]

I drove #8439 when there was still snow on the ground around Brown's Mills, often with the top down. When the weather improved, my wife and I drove the Elan quite a bit, going as far down as Atlanta and also up to Cape Cod. There were times when I went on trips alone, sleeping in a tent in campgrounds. I was pulled over in Virginia once, traveling at over 100 mph, but the trooper let me go. I had a foreign license and told the trooper he was very lucky to live in such a lovely state. I meant it.

All in all, I covered over 4,000 miles in that first year. The Lotus never missed a beat. It was completely reliable and a joy to drive.

In December of that first year, I delivered #8439 to a forwarder to be shipped to Manila. Then my wife and I left for Europe for vacation. Along the way, we stopped by Lincolnshire in England to visit Vegantune, then well-known for its work on Lotus twincam motors. I wanted Webers onstead of the Strombergs on my car and had ordered a new motor from them. They showed the completed engine, ready for shipment, and the dyno sheet. It put out 148 HP.

Expecting to restore the car when I got home, I ordered Silentbloc bushings and other parts to be shipped with the motor. Early the following year, we arrived in Manila. Not too long after, the Lotus arrived. Customs couldn't classify the car and kept asking what make it was. i said the engine was basically a Ford, so they said "there you go,"

[abstamaria]

Within a year from its arrival in Manila, I stripped the Elan and drove it, with the doors tied shut with string (as I had removed the door mechanism), to a friend's place for a respray. We fixed a bad repair to the left-rear corner and sanded the body down, removing the black-and-gold paint. Some of the original color - yellow - appeared. I had much earlier decided on BRG with a white belly, so that is what went on the car.

That's me next to the Elan with my wife Felice. This was 1978.

[abstamaria]

Exhaust tips have always been a concern for me - they have to look good! Here I am in 1979 at a local muffler shop, wondering if dual pipes would look good.