Strangest Elan?

[dunclentdr]

Just came across this on the Elan Registry - wow - the strangest Elan ever?

It's a S2 if that isn't obvious.

[elancoupe]

Actually, many SCCA racing Elans here in the US looked quite similar, years ago.

[CBUEB1771]

And it is one of our own:
lotus-elan-f19/racer-t14383.html

[wbmoore]

Check out the Kelvedon Motors Mod sports from Way back.

[StressCraxx]

There is nothing strange about this Elan.

Dave Vegher exploited the SCCA Production Rules in 1982, 83, 84, He beat Porsche out of making 10 straigt years of winning D Production the SCCA Runoffs national championship. The SCCA put him in GT3. The he beat Nissan in GT3 out of making 10 straight years of championships as well. SCCA rewarded him by punting him into GT1 with Corvettes and Porsches. Dave did everything you see on the car below and more. He did it the same way Colin did, by reading and exploiting the rules to his advantage. I tried to find a photo of his car, but could not find one on the internet.

Lotus rewarded him with a cigarette lighter and using his car on the rear cover of Autoweek for an ad for the brand. An article about his efforts:

http://articles.latimes.com/1985-02-21/sports/sp-770_1_national-championship

[dunclentdr]

My eyes are opened to a whole new world, thanks.

[nomad]

There is nothing strange about this Elan.

Dave Vegher exploited the SCCA Production Rules in 1982, 83, 84, He beat Porsche out of making 10 straigt years of winning D Production the SCCA Runoffs national championship. The SCCA put him in GT3. The he beat Nissan in GT3 out of making 10 straight years of championships as well. SCCA rewarded him by punting him into GT1 with Corvettes and Porsches. Dave did everything you see on the car below and more. He did it the same way Colin did, by reading and exploiting the rules to his advantage. I tried to find a photo of his car, but could not find one on the internet.

Lotus rewarded him with a cigarette lighter and using his car on the rear cover of Autoweek for an ad for the brand. An article about his efforts:

http://articles.latimes.com/1985-02-21/sports/sp-770_1_national-championship

Thanks! as soon as I saw the first pic I wondered how well the car has done.

Kurt
26/3754

[lance54]

SCCA C-Production Elan 1965 style......26R Bill Young 1965 ARRC Daytona

SCCA C-Production Elan 1970 style.......26R banned from SCCA racing.....Bill Weir at VIR.....stock body.

SCCA C-Production Elan 1975 style.....fender flares allowed.....Clark Lance at Mid-Ohio.

SCCA D-Production Elan 1982 style.....Dave Vehger.

Vegher 1982.jpg (24.75 KiB) Viewed 3271 times

SCCA GT-3 Elan 1983 style.....Dave Vehger.

Vehger 1983 RunOffs.jpg (12.79 KiB) Viewed 3271 times

SCCA Elan GT-3 1984 style....Dave Vehger.

Vehger 1984 RunnOffs.jpg (35.8 KiB) Viewed 3271 times

From there it only got worse as SCCA GT Class Tube Frame cars appeared like the one at the lead of this post.

Thank God for vintage racing where 100s of Elans are being raced in their original form all around the globe.

[pharriso]

Let's not forget a certain P.L. Newman raced an Elan in C Production in 1970...

[StressCraxx]

SCCA C-Production Elan 1965 style......26R Bill Young 1965 ARRC Daytona

1965 ARRC B. Young3.jpg

SCCA C-Production Elan 1970 style.......26R banned from SCCA racing.....Bill Weir at VIR.....stock body.

Bill Weir at VIR.jpg

SCCA C-Production Elan 1975 style.....fender flares allowed.....Clark Lance at Mid-Ohio.

MidOhio 1977.JPG

SCCA D-Production Elan 1982 style.....Dave Vehger.

Vegher 1982.jpg

SCCA GT-3 Elan 1983 style.....Dave Vehger.

Vehger 1983 RunOffs.jpg

SCCA Elan GT-3 1984 style....Dave Vehger.

Vehger 1984 RunnOffs.jpg

From there it only got worse as SCCA GT Class Tube Frame cars appeared like the one at the lead of this post.

Thank God for vintage racing where 100s of Elans are being raced in their original form all around the globe.

Lance,
Thank you for posting the photos, particularly of Vegher's car. He did a brilliant job of building and driving that Elan! It may not be "original" or a "26R", but it was a well engineered and well constructed piece. Dave is also an excellent driver and continues to be the class of the field in Vintage. His shop turns out some absolutely beautifully restored and prepared cars.

Regards,
Dan

[gentry74]

Does anyone know if the Bill Young mentioned in this thread is...
1. the same Bill Young who who owned "Bill Young Sports Cars" in Montrose CA?
2. and is he still alive?

I ask because my dad bought my elan from Bill Young in 1968 at his dealership in Montrose.... and it was Bill's car for 6 months or so (5000 miles worth...) before my dad bought it. I've tried to do some googling on him... but the name Bill Young is pretty common...

[Rdracer]

Hi all,
Just to add to the list,this was one of my race Elans in 1987.It was a GT car with a highly modified Lotus chassis,using March formula 2 suspension,and a 2 litre twin cam,with 220bhp.Sold to someone in Denver,around 1990.I miss that car.
Roy.

[2mAn]

Everything in this thread makes me happy.

[lance54]

Regarding the questions about Bill Young I suggest you contact the staff at Dave Bean because Dave owned and raced the 26R that Bill Young used in 1965 to win the C-Production race at the SCCA RunOffs at Daytona. Dave owned that car for many years and likely knew Bill Young or his family.

Another possible resource could be Victor Avila who currently owns and races the 26R that Bill Young raced late in 1964. He too may have known Bill Young or his family.

You can probably reach Victor Avila via CSRG.

https://www.csrgracing.org/

In period the 1964 car carried "La Canada SPORTS CARS" sponsorship. Don't know what affiliation Bill Young might have had with that dealer or any other dealer(s). I believe the 1965 car carried similar sponsorship in period.

Good Luck.

[gentry74]

thanks! that is great info. Dave Bean passed away... but I am in frequent contact with Ken (due to my ongoing Elan restoration)... so I will definitely ask him about it.

thanks again
Gentry