26/R: the quest

[twincamman]

Geez Taco if I had had that kind of money behind me in my race time you would have read about me in the news ....one way or another. I would have been big time not just SCCA or. CASC ??we had a lad come in whose parents left him 4 mil when they died , he went in the 924 series and when he left 3 years later he had 500 000 left ?as an aside when these cars were raced they were entered as Elan or Lotus not 26R that affectation came later and was used to drive the prices up..ed

[elanfan1]

PostPost by: twincamman ? Thu Jul 16, 2015 9:33 pm
....the good thing is the government health plan pays for the Cannibus forthe pain .ed

Was going to ask a serious question but maybe the above answers so many questions.

Your views appear to be

you think Elans are junk.
you don't believe that people in the country of their origin can unearth old documents from ex Lotus employees (and which verified as genuine by the current archivist) and everyone who has is unscrupulous,
you say you have a genuine 'shape craft' 26r which you would NEVER race despite being a racing driver

This last point would seem at odds with most racers but besides that why do you bother if you think the cars are junk, seriously. You appear to only want to wind good folk up and create discord

Why do you bother ? You just seem to enjoy the discord you create? A straight answer would be good if possible?

[twincamman]

oh yes the poster here is on my ignore list so anything he says is not interesting enough to bother with ,,ed

[collins_dan]

Tuco,
Good luck with your search. Please let us know how you make out. As you will see from some of the other posts on the forum, long stories of restorations, pursuits of barn finds... have a lot of interest.

You probably now have realized that 26/R's generate a lot of passion, and unfortunately dredge up long ongoing disagreements. Please don't let that discourage you from seeking opinions. There is a lot of knowledge here, even if it doesn't always agree.

All the best,
Dan

[Certified Lotus]

As a former track rat, you never worry about the cost of the car until you wreck it. When it's Completely totaled, you wonder what the He_ _ was I doing. If you have a sizable bank account no issue. If you don't......... Well I would say very poor judgement.

Fiberglass race cars with light chassis are very expensive to repair. We won't even talk about the cost of building TC motors.........

I know.

[twincamman]

well Taco when it comes down to it opinions are like Aholes ?..everybody has one??... in the long run its your money and your life ?..if you want to race an Elan have at it and enjoy ,,,good luck ??.there are a few here who know their stuff and will help you out if needed and some who have the ego and little knowlege its up to you to sort that out , I have . ,but some times it s like a comitee building a horse ..it resembles a giraffe when done ?also having built my car up from a bare chassis and boxes boxes of parts [ few of them resembling my buddys early Elan ] I am aware of the weak points of the car and the parts REAL parts in a 26R.Though I have never revealed this before .my race career ended at 71 before finishing the car as you cannot race here if you are taking blood thinners .?.as vintage racing isnt a fierce as I have been used to, you will hopefully be ok as long as the competitors show respect for each other on the track that is the most important thing ?one more thing?. remember ..its usless to apply the brakes when the car is in the air . ...ed

[bigvalvehead]

Only just picked up on this thread and I see Ed is giving his opinions again.

so this is my opinion penned some time ago but not posted.

WHAT DO YOU KNOW ED?

The 1st 26R to leave the factory left on 25/2/64 (not 63 as you regularly say) The last 26R S2 left on 23/7/66 much later than you say again.

I KNOW at least 3 people with a list that details information regarding the correct chassis nos for all the 26R?s produced both Series 1 which had chassis numbers in the format 26-R-* and the series 2 cars which had chassis numbers in the format 26-S2-* note in the series 2 chassis number there is NO R involved whatsoever. All these lists mysteriously have the same information which would lead most people to conclude they were not compiled ad hoc.

The list was actually compiled from the original cards that were used by the production dept.
These cards have been confirmed as being the same as used for the 23B production by the current archivist.
see att'd pic
Peter Broad was the archivist during the 80's and the list I have has been taken directly from the cards and hand written by him.

So where exactly does that leave us with 26R-s2-33 which is a left hand drive race elan with a nonconforming chassis number and many parts that racers in the day fitted to all manner and make of race cars. The car in question claims to have been manufactured in 1964 and my list (and the other lists by coincidence? ) happen to place the genuine 26-S2-33 as having been manufactured in 1965.

I think that your constant whinging regarding anything to do with 26R?s, Shapecrafts, the money someone chooses to pay for the correct oil warning light etc etc should end.

You should drive your car and enjoy it.

Let other people who are interested in the history and whereabouts of these fantastic vehicles have their say without unnecessary bitching.

Dave Hughes

[jimj]

I couldn`t agree more. Taco please don`t judge Lotus Elan.net on the ravings of one. I`m sure we are all very interested in your quest, so keep posting. Good luck.
Jim

[tuco]

Folks
as my first boss used to say " I am un-offendable"
But Please my pseudo is Tuco aka The Ugly like the vilain in the Sergio leone masterpiece The Good, the Bad and the Ugly... ..... not TACO

I want an historical racing elan!
first choice is a 26/r, collectible value is interesting and very very interesting car to race......

I am very pleased and happy with all your piece of advices, they are very valuable for me

I am trying to sort out the history of the car, as i want the proof that car is a genuine 26R and that the one i found is not a clone

If you have any docs (Dave if you read me related to this car it would really cool

Waiting for a return from Tony Thompson, as he is abroad until next week (talked to his son)

Cheers

[elanfan1]

Dave,

What is interesting in that document is the misspelling of Duchess as Dutchess. If these documents were faked you'd make damned sure that it was spelt correctly. You can picture someone reading out the cards for Peter to transcribe and you'd probably spell Duchess as Dutchess as they sound exactly the same.

Irrelevant? Probably!

Steve

[trw99]

'Fraid so Steve. The correct spelling is Dutchess, not misspelt.

Tim

[el-saturn]

................didn't you folks see goodwood? a 26R or a 23 are almost like skid-row rides compared to most of the jewels they showed LIVE on motors tv (a month ago??) sandy ------------- my 36 is even the hobo version on skid row!!

[CBUEB1771]

It was said the best Lotus drivers were completely devoid of any engineering knowledge .

I don't think John Miles fits that description.

[elanfan1]

'Fraid so Steve. The correct spelling is Dutchess, not misspelt.

Tim

Fairy nuff I was convinced it was Duchess as I've seen that spelling a number of times but there you go

[billwill]

'Fraid so Steve. The correct spelling is Dutchess, not misspelt.

Tim

Fairy nuff I was convinced it was Duchess as I've seen that spelling a number of times but there you go

Ah, but in this case it is part of the name of a firm, so the spelling may differ from the spelling of the word in normal usage.