Elan Transformation Through The Years.

[ceejay]

I first fell for the Lotus elan mystique at a very young age (About 17 I think) gawd, that's a long time ago, It was on the list of must have cars by the age of eighteen.... but wouldn?t you know it, $5000.00 was a tad out of my reach back then.

A couple of decades later, an advert appeared in the weekend car sale columns that caught my eye, a quick phone call, and a 2.5-hour trip the next day ended up with the elan loaded onto the trailer for the trip back home again.

I wont go into the trials and tribulations of the three-year rebuild as anybody who has rebuilt/restored an elan or two will know what that entails. The photos tell the story better.
Col.
PS
All these photos are out of whack now, sorry about that.

[SADLOTUS]

I love these stories! More pictures!

You made me dig my old pics out.

[alaric]

You're an inspiration to us all. Wish I knew more of the history of my +2. I've often considered contacting previous owners but never actually done it.

Regards.

Sean.

[ceejay]

Thanks Sean, I guess if I was confronted with the same car again today I would think twice about tackling the huge resto job, but having said that, once you have done one elan, you learn a lot about how to go about the whole process, plus all of the rebuild tricks along the way.

But there is something about the lotus elan that makes it a very special & desirable sports car, I know blokes who have spent 100 grand rebuilding Big healeys, E types etc, and other classic sports cars, but very few of them come even close to the elan when it comes down to the chassis dynamics & driver reward that the elan can give.

The larger more powerful sports cars (Healey, E type) might be better out on the freeway, but the true test of a sports car is on twisty winding roads in the alpine country.... have you ever noticed just how quick you catch up to other traffic on mountain climbs, several times I have experienced other drivers hit the brakes and pull over to let the elan through, and other times they try to tail you???

I was fortunate to obtain the original log books of the car when it was raced, the owner at that time nearly threw them in the bin. But what I should have grabbed when I bought the elan was the all steel Hart tuned twin cam the bloke had sitting on the floor... the price $1200AU, this was in 1982.

But would you believe, I found an engine six months later for $250.00AU, yes, that's the honest truth, a bloke had the twink in his Cortina, and wanted to put a pushrod four back in.... I was only to happy to pay the replacement engine cost of $250 in exchange for the TC, a stroke of luck... I think I was just in the right place at the right time.

So yes, there are heaps more stories I could tell you about restoring the elan. But I have almost sold the car on about three occasions, but when push came to shove, I could not sell it... cause she's my little mistress.
Col.

[dougweall]

You're an inspiration to us all. Wish I knew more of the history of my +2. I've often considered contacting previous owners but never actually done it.

Sean,

I made contact with some of the former owners of my Elan, found out it had been neglected for most of it's life, before being passed around with a bit more done by each owner. Then I got my paws on it, back on the road after 17 years off it, it is a nice feeling.

So try and contact your car's previous owners I am sure you will not regret it.

Doug.

[alaric]

I'm seriously considering it. The worst that can happen is that they've passed away. From the docs that I have it appears that the car was in good nic until about '86, and by '97 was off the road for a chassis replacement that turned into a restoraton. I acquired it in '02, and it should be back on the road soon, I hope.

All the best.

Sean.

[Elanintheforest]

What a great series of pictures, Col. It makes the restoration even more worthwhile. I bought my S3 in ?75 and it looks exactly the same now!

I am one of those blokes who have restored a Healey and a couple of E Types. The biggest problem, genuinely, is that I had an Elan first.

I had wanted a Big Healey since I was a kid, and finally bought an old dog and restored it to perfection. Once on the road, I thought there was something horribly wrong with it, because it felt slow, didn?t handle and didn?t stop. I took it to John Chatham in Bristol, one of the Healey specialists, who took it out for half an hour, checked it out on the ramps, and pronounced it one of the best Healeys he had seen or driven. I tried very hard to get used to the car, but couldn?t, so it had to go. After 1500 hours of my time and over ?35k on restoration?and 30 years looking forward to getting one, it was a very big decision. The Elan experience had ruined my Big Healey dream!! Still think they are one of the most beautiful cars ever made.

Then I bought an E Type, but this time, not a rusty car, but a rust-free Californian beauty. The mechanics were totally shot, but the bodywork, under the Ford yellow paint was perfection. That cost very little to restore because it was a sound base on which to build?and Jag mechanicals are pretty cheap in the UK. And I love it to bits. It?s the next best thing to an Elan to drive?bigger, heavier and not as chuckable, but almost as rewarding on the twisty bits?well, 80% ish! Another E Type has joined it and that is nearly finished.

A few years ago I fettled the S3 back on the road and rediscovered just how good Elans are?so much so that a few Elan projects have joined the fleet, and I?m having a load of fun getting them back into shape. Too many projects, not enough progress, but I?m never at a loss for something to do.

My original S3 has a lot to answer for, but I would highly recommend an E Type as the perfect stable mate.

Mark

Just putting the picture up is upsetting 10 years after I sold her!!

[ceejay]

Mark.

I can understand how you feel about the Healey after spending all of that time, money and effort on the project, and then being disappointed, but I agree, that is one nice Healey, I too was like you, I was always fascinated by the Big Healey mystique. I have a mate who has been bitten deeply with this, and he is in the middle of a ground up resto, (BJ7) it is looking great, but costing big bucks, he imported a LHD rust bucket from the states through the Healey Factory in Melb.

I don't ever regret being spoilt by the Lotus magic.... I try to tell people what it's is like to drive a lotus quickly, and to tell you the truth no matter how you tell it they don't understand.... I saw a Harley rider going down the road one day with the following message on the back of his T shirt: "If I have to explain, you wouldn't understand", and I reckon that pretty well applies to lotus elan also.

I built my elan up from a couple of trailer loads of parts (Junk) way back in '81, over three years, and there have been times when it has nearly been put on the market, but then I ask my self "Why?.

The past few years have seen several mods and upgrades done to the elan, the end result is that the last three summers have been the best ever in lotus driving for me. I have also had people wanting to buy the elan, I tell them, sorry, not yet, I am having too much fun.

After I watched the youtube vid with the elan and M3, I now send that link to people who want to know what a lotus elan is like to drive at speed.
Col.