New Elan Book by Brian Buckland - Initial Impressions

[Galwaylotus]

Bought mine directly from Brian earlier this month. I spoke with him by phone as well. What a true gentleman! The book is superb. In spite of all the accolades on this forum I was unprepared for just how good it is.

[martinbrowning]

Wil,

You can contact Brian : elanman AT blueyonder dot co dot uk
0117 9049549

I also thoroughly recommend the book and particularly in association with the workshop manual and Miles Wilkins book.

Regards

Martin B

[WilST]

Wil,
You can contact Brian : elanman AT blueyonder dot co dot uk
0117 9049549
I also thoroughly recommend the book and particularly in association with the workshop manual and Miles Wilkins book.
Regards, Martin B

Martin,

Thanks much for info on Brian, I have sent him an email. Miles Wilkins appears to have just the one book on Lotuses (Lotii?), the "Lotus Twin-Cam Engine", right? I guess they're out of print, they're really dear. I'll suck up the gut and get one, it looks like the proper engine bible.

One other thing if I may, I think you are referring to the factory shop manual, not an aftermarket one (Chilton, Haynes, etc.). Do you know if they are still available somewhere? Thanks again.

Kind Regards,
Wil

[paddy]

Miles Wilkins appears to have just the one book on Lotuses (Lotii?), the "Lotus Twin-Cam Engine", right?

He also has a book on fibreglass body repairs but it's not specific to the Elan.

Paddy

[fasterbyelan]

WilST wrote:
Miles Wilkins appears to have just the one book on Lotuses (Lotii?), the "Lotus Twin-Cam Engine", right?


He also has a book on fibreglass body repairs but it's not specific to the Elan.

Paddy

_____________

And paintwork - both were published in the mid '80's as part of Osprey Restoration series of books of which there are at least 15 volumes. They occasionally appear on ebay.

[WilST]

Thank you all for the information.

Brian has gotten in touch with me and given me the name of his distributor in the US. The distributor has a website at http://totlanebooks.com where he sells lots of different books including Lotus.

Regards,
Wil

[martinbrowning]

Hi Wil,

Yes,I am referring to the Lotus factory workshop manual. Available here in the UK from many specialists,including Paul Matty Sportscars. He has a good web site. Ocassionally seen on EBay.
The Wilkins book,as you correctly guessed,is the twincam engine book. I used to live a few miles from him and remember seeing loads of the books on a shelf in his office (poetic licence!). So glad I bought one at the time. Once again these books do come up every now and then on EBay.

Kind regards

Martin

[summerinmaine]

Thank you all for the information.

Brian has gotten in touch with me and given me the name of his distributor in the US. The distributor has a website at http://totlanebooks.com where he sells lots of different books including Lotus.

Regards,
Wil

Glad to hear.

[fjcoopelan]

I just received a shipment of Brian's mammoth Elan work "Lotus Elan Addendum Engineering Workshop Manual".

It hasn't been generally available in the US for a while (yes, I know you could get it from England). Originally sold for $145 plus shipping, it is now available for $120, including priority mailing, to US addressees. People elsewhere please check with me for the shipping cost.

If you buy a copy, Brian is willing to answer related questions via email. This alone is worth more than the cost of the book!

I will have copies at LOG if I don't sell out before then. I only have 20 copies left. If you want a copy, either buy one pre-LOG, or reserve one to be brought to LOG. However, money speaks loudest and copies will be sold to payers, then to those who reserved them, if I have any left. I will order more copies so it is unlikely that you won't be able to get one, but unless I sell out these 20 in a matter of days, I doubt that that I'll have a new shipment prior to LOG. Immediate payment almost assures you that you'll be the 1st on your block to own a copy of this fabulous resource.

Send your checks to:

Foster Cooperstein
Tottenham Lane Motoring Literature
16 Madoc Street
Newton Centre, MA 02459
http://www.totlanebook.com

Also, I have almost all of the books that have ever been published about Lotus - Such as the Wilkins' twin Cam and Fibreglass books. I also have lots of other Lotus related stuff and lots of book about other marques, drivers and racing.

Thanks,

Foster

[fjcoopelan]

PS:

I own the Elan Sprint pictured in the center of the US M100 Elan sales brochure.

And 2 Type 14 Elites and a JPS Europa!

And over a thousand Lotus models from 1/200 - 1/8 scale.

And ....

Get the picture?

Good enough Lotus pedigree??

Foster Cooperstein
Tottenham Lane Motoring Literature
www.totlanebooks.com

[stugilmour]

One other thing if I may, I think you are referring to the factory shop manual, not an aftermarket one (Chilton, Haynes, etc.). Do you know if they are still available somewhere? Thanks again.

Kind Regards,
Wil

Wil:

Another very good source of the various recommended Lotus books is Bruce Brammer. I even got an owners manual from him. I don't believe he has the Buckland book though. Worth a look through his site to see what is available.

http://www.lotus-books.com/

Here is some accolades:

elan-f15/tip-the-hat-book-supplier-bruce-brammer-t15985.html

Foster, glad you posted. Will definitely follow up. Having a distributor in NA is good to know.

[tonyselan]

Brian can be contacted at:[email protected]
My copy was waiting for me when I got home from work last night. I didn't put it down until I went to bed.
I fully agree with the other guys, Brians done great job!John

I tried contacting Brian at the above email address, it came back as "undeliverable", and the various bookstores I've searched don't have it in stock. I really would like to obtain a copy of his book "The Rebuilding of a Lotus Elan". Can someone tell me how to get in touch with Brian or be willing to sell me an extra unneeded copy?

Thank you,
Wil

Brian contacted me recently after I posted something similar to your query. If he doesn't within the next few days, let me know and I'll make sure you get in touch. He does have copies available.

So - here's calling Brian! Could you PM me your contact details please.........really would like a copy of your guide and Amazon is sold out.

Ta,
Tony.

[WilST]

Wil:
Another very good source of the various recommended Lotus books is Bruce Brammer. I even got an owners manual from him. I don't believe he has the Buckland book though. Worth a look through his site to see what is available.

Stu, thanks much for the recommendation, I shall go have a look. Leslie very kindly sold me a copy of the OEM WSM, now the hunt continues for an OEM Parts Manual. Don't have the car yet though--missed out on the eBay one, grumble, grumble, mutter .

[skelteanema]

Hi all,
I agree with all the comments posted here regarding Brian and his Elan manual. I bought my copy a few years ago, dealing directly with Brian. He was a pleasure to deal with, and was sympathetic to the horrendous mailing charges associated with sending a book of this size and weight to me in the antipodes. He volunteered to share postal costs with me (which I gladly accepted) and promptly posted the book. On arrival, I spent hours just thumbing through the book. Although the entire book is exceptional, I particularly enjoyed the section on "buying the car" (you bought what???). I have found the section on obsolete parts extremely useful. Although the workshop manual is a must, this book also essential as it deals with the resoration aspects that the manuals just do not cover.

Anyone who doesn't have the Buckland Book should seriously consider getting one.

On the workshop manuals, I have found the Type 26 workshop manual and the Series1/2 and Coupe parts list (both downloaded from here) to be considerably more detailed and useful than the later manual that tried to cover all Series.

[Bahamayellow]

Looked for the book everywhere can't find a copy all suppliers are out of stock.

Mike