lotus excel

[rdssdi]

I do not think any Excels were sold in the U.S.. It apparently had the "Esprit" engine. How did that differ from the Lotus 907?

Bob

[nebogipfel]

I do not think any Excels were sold in the U.S.. It apparently had the "Esprit" engine. How did that differ from the Lotus 907?

Bob

Don't know, don't care

Sorry Bob

[theelanman]

thought that by the time it had developed from the eclat to the excel the drivetrain had morphed and was using toyota stuff.......

[theelanman]

oh.....you might want to try here

http://www.lotusexcel.net/phpbb/

[rdssdi]

Was offered an Elite. Looked like an Excel as it had the rear spoiler.

I was told that the spoiler was on late Elites. The forgotten lotus. I know little of them. It is available at a very low cost. I guess no one wants them.

thanks

Bob

[AussieJohn]

It's a real shame that they are looked down upon, a lot of owners have other Lotus cars but still keep the Excels, they are a good car and one day will be sought after. Years ago I had a DB6 Vantage which I bought for ?1,000; no one wanted them then, everyone wanted E Types but look at the prices now!

[theelanman]

Was offered an Elite. Looked like an Excel as it had the rear spoiler.

I was told that the spoiler was on late Elites. The forgotten lotus. I know little of them. It is available at a very low cost. I guess no one wants them.

thanks

Bob

bob
think that was the eclat....the elite had a 'vertical' rear end/tail gate..the only space for a spoiler would be on the roof.....
cheers
g

[theelanman]

[rdssdi]

You are correct the person has revised the description. It is an Eclat but looked like an Excel to me.

I wonder which transmission is in the car. I know the later cars had ZF and Toyota Supra transmissions. Certainly better than the Lotus 5 speed box which I assume is the same as used in the Elan +2S. That +2S box would certainly make the car less desirable.

One of my favorite Lotus is the original Esprit. I prefer the styling over the later "door stop" look.

If this car is in one piece and priced right I may purchase it. Maybe we could add a sister web site for orphaned Lotus models.

Thanks to all. I appreciate the information. Considering no Elan content.

Bob
1969 Elan +2
1968 TVR Vixen
1963 Jaguar MK2 3.4

[AussieJohn]

Hi Bob, its nice to see you are also a "Trevor" owner, I have a +2 and a Griff; also an Excel minus an engine which may end up with a Lexus V8 in [ just to niggle the purists!]

[pauljones]

AussieJohn,

Strange you should have that idea, I remember reading about an excel in New Zealand that had such a fittment. Not sure how it goes round corners with a bigger engine up front, but i bet its quick in a straight line.

Closer to home, My dad has a toyota based late model that he is looking at putting a twin turbo espirt engine into.Good luck

Paul

[AussieJohn]

That bloke in NZ got me thinking but whether It ever happens to mine is anybodys guess, cheers, John.

[elansprint71]

Elan.Net.... posted in "Things in Common".... ? Five gears.....? You should know better. Shirley shome mishtake?

[Esprit2]

I wonder which transmission is in the car. I know the later cars had ZF and Toyota Supra transmissions. Certainly better than the Lotus 5 speed box which I assume is the same as used in the Elan +2S. That +2S box would certainly make the car less desirable.

The Excel was a development of the Eclat with all the bugs worked out. The 2.0 907 was replaced by the 2.2 912, and later a hotrod 912HC with 180 Bhp. The transmission was the Toyota W58 5-spd from the Supra of that period. The earlier Eclat used a Lotus 5-spd that was basically the +2S 5-spd with a longer tailshaft housing. Same but different. 4-wheel disk brakes replaced the Elite-Eclat rear drums. An upper lateral link was added to the Europa-esque rear suspension, relieving the halfshaft of suspension duties. Then Lotus generally dipped pretty deeply into the Toyota parts bin for a variety of bits & pieces.

The Excel was one of the best developed cars ever produced by Lotus. It had genuine Lotus handling that was arguably better than the Esprit's, had better utility, was economical, and carried four adults. Not bad. Supposedly Chapman preferred the Elite-Eclat-Excel's handling (arriving in style... sideways), but liked to be seen in the Esprit.

No Excels were officially imported to North America, but a few snuck in... 4 or less. There used to be a red one in an auto museum in Utah (offered for sale not long ago) and a pearl white one in private hands in the northeast. I heard rumors of a couple others, but I know no details.

Supposedly each of the major US auto makers brought one in for evaluation. Such R&D cars are supposed to be destroyed afterward (or exported), but apparently the cages weren't locked too securely back then.

Regards,
Tim Engel

[MikeC]

Tim,

you've heard of 4 Excels in the USA? I only know 2, the Utah one and one in let's say the south of the north-east USA. Patrick Peal's old list of Lotus production did show 1 Excel in "US" spec, but if it existed it's neither of those.


On the handling front I can only say that my Local Lotus Dealer, ex-racing driver and current motor-cycle race school instructor Peter Day, could get my Excel round Snetterton about 1.5 secs faster than his own Esprit with the same 160bhp engine spec.

And, sadly, about 1 sec faster than I could get my Excel round....

.... on the Bright(man?) side that means I'd beat him driving his Esprit



Mike