Conversion from Fixed Head Coupe to Drop Head Coupe

[Frank Howard]

My 70 Sprint ragtop is (reasonably) quiet at speed (80/90mph) and has never leaked, ever.

"Reasonably quiet" and "never leaked" are hard enough to believe, but I'm having a real problem with "70 Sprint".

[elancoupe]

Proper sports cars shouldn't have roofs. Lots of FHC's have been converted, successfully. Lotus used to do it themselves. Get the wind in your hair!!
.

I always thought the original Elite was one of the ultimate sports cars.... I guess it's not "proper'

It used to be trendy to chop the roofs off of Ferrari Daytonas, in retrospect that was bad idea, to put it mildly.....

It's not like their are no DHC's for sale. Good grief, don't hack up a car that was produced in such limited numbers. Sell the Coupe to someone who wants it and buy a real DHC.

[Elanintheforest]

OK, so the financial argument is only partially convincing, with the beauty, originality and rarity viewpoint being right on the button. But here?s the clincher.

Driving along in the Coupe, people will watch the car approaching, admire the lines of the car along the bonnet, up the windscreen, over the roof, and down the rear wing, and they will smile as it disappears down the road. A very positive experience, and a vision of automotive beauty that will stay with them for a long time, perhaps forever. Mention Elan Coupe to them in the future and they will smile fondly. The driver is invisible.

Driving along in the convertible with the hood down , people will watch the car approaching, admire the lines of the car?.along the bonnet, up the windscreen and .............

OH GOD, some fat bald middle aged bloke with a bulging eyes and a manic grin?..they quickly look away, slightly embarrassed and desperate to rid their memory of this horribly conflicted image.

So if you?re over 30, or are just plain ugly, you?ll be doing the Elan Marque a big favour by keeping the car as a Coupe. You can enjoy driving the car just as much as you like, safe in the knowledge that not only are you driving something that is faster than it?s convertible brother, but most importantly that you won?t be ruining the experience for innocent bystanders.

Mark

[Frank Howard]

OH GOD, some fat bald middle aged bloke with a bulging eyes and a manic grin?..they quickly look away, slightly embarrassed and desperate to rid their memory of this horribly conflicted image.

Mark,

Exactly where and when did you see me?

[jimj]

Oh dear! Mark, being over 30 and aesthetically challenged, where can I get a kit to convert a DHC into a FHC? Or would it just be cheaper to put a bag over my head?
Jim

[GrUmPyBoDgEr]

Right on the nail Mark.

I think my DHC blushes when I sit in it.
When I had an Elite I used to hide around the corner until the crowd of it's admirers had vanished before I dared to return to it.
And then I even had all of my hair

I don't live on memories, tomorrow's another day
John

[Elanintheforest]

As I bought my first Elan in 1975, it?s easy to determine on which side of the fence I lay. It?s a balaclava and goggles, Jim, the paper bag will just blow away.

But yet more weight to the argument has been provided, as if it were needed. Rohan?s just posted up some great pictures of his car at Sandown.

http://www.lotuselan.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=17486

Take a look at the third picture. The Elan looks gorgeous, and even the following pair of MGBs look good. Then there are a couple of things following behind which seem to have scaffolding poles sticking out everywhere. Not exactly beautiful, are they?

Compare any car that has been made as a coupe and as a convertible, and the coupe always comes out on top, because the design is complete. It?s very hard, when the roof is chopped off, to have a profile anything other than a flat slab with a windscreen sticking up. The E Type coupe, MGB GT, Triumph GT6, Aston DB5 /6, early 60s Corvette split screen and Ferrari Daytona are prime examples of the Coupe winning hands down over it?s convertible sibling.

And the Ferrari 250 swb along with the Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato are recognised as the most stunning SPORTS cars ever built. I don?t think that anybody tried to take the roof off one of those.

Mark

[GrUmPyBoDgEr]

Other classic ghastlies that fit the bill are VW Beetle & WV Golf. Niether particularly pretty but as dropheads ugly as sin.
The E Type coupe was really something to behold as Mark says,
but the +2 version

On the other hand I do rather like the +2 Elan chopped version.
But niether would I chop an Elan Coupe



"In the eyes of the beholder"

A runaway race for Rohan I would think; no real competition there

[trw99]

Hang on guys! What about the wind in the hair, at 'one' with nature, flies in the teeth experience that is open air motoring. The smells of the countryside as we blast down a favorite lane, our feelings alive and a broad grin on our face!

It's a drophead for me and bugger what everyone else thinks of me - at least I know I am enjoying myself

Tim

[GrUmPyBoDgEr]

O.K. Tim, very poetic; nevertheless something I can sympathise with,
but "Wind in your hair"
You must be takin' the pi55

Yours
Follically challenged

[robcall]

[GrUmPyBoDgEr]

Errm,

the thread's called Coupe to drophead
not Toupe to Skinhead.

The likeness is however remarkable, particulary the abject fear of "she who shall be obeyed"
Got rid of mine a long while ago Still got a "Lotus problem" though.

Yours
Folically challenged

[Elanintheforest]

Well, chaps, it's always a controversial subject. Tim, you've put up a robust, and in so many ways, convincing argument. However, consider the following.

Here he is, the well known Jeremy Clarkson. He's no oil painting, but he doesn't scare children when in his normal and rested state...as he would appear driving a coupe.........



And here he is driving a convertible......



quod erat demonstrandum.

[billwill]

That doesn't seem to BE a car?

Is he driving a bridge?

[robcall]

aerial atom