Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Had my S4 couple 17 years, drove it today.
Owned an S3 coupe back in the 80's. It was a classier car than the S4 I feel
Dave

trw99 wrote:

Bill wrote:Hi all!

26/0538 Elan 1600.

Purchased new from the factory on Dec. 20th, 1963 (I guess thats about 47 yrs / 7 months) Had it shipped by sea to Vancouver canada. there were no North American dealers at that time and I beleive it was likely the first direct shipped to NA. I have the origional factory invoice.

Drove it today on this beautifull Vancouver Island summer day.

Keep your stick on the ice.

Wild Bill

Hi Bill

I have a factory sales sheet with records of cars that indicate 'Autosport Equipment' of Canada as an importer, around April 1964, presumably about the same time as your car hit your shores. Of course, they may have just been general car importers, not Lotus dealers.

Elsewhere in North America, Ecurie Shirlee and Duchess Auto Co were importing Elans from the start, having previously been involved bringing over the Elite.

It's great that you still have such an early Elan, brilliant!

Tim

Bill

Sorry, I was confused by your use of your chassis number as opposed to your unit number. I'll go back to sleep now.

Tim

May 1969, so that's about 42 years now.

Did anyone else buy their present house to suit the car !

I wonder if Lotus Elan owners are unique in this characteristic of keeping (or belonging to) their cars for over 30 years.

Oh well the best I can hope for is to be the mean/median/mode of the ownership distribution curve . I have had my car since September 2000 which makes it just under 11 years, and its been a blast for most of that time.

Twenty three years of ownership next Wednesday, the day after debt limit day here in the US. Not sure how those two are related.
Ten or eleven years as a daily driver.
Ten or so years mostly idle in the garage collecting laundry, etc.
Last couple years getting it out more and more.

TIM

My Elan arrived in western Canada in early March '64, the dealer was established in Toronto about 3000 miles from here after I had placed (paid for) my car order. No dealer in Canada at the time altho I don't know about the states.

The factory provided a workshop and parts manual and basically left me on my own. I 'spose I'm a self taught Elan mechanic as well as the owner.

I had a nice drive again today - we finally got summer on our wet coast.

Bill

It will be 1 month of Elan ownership tomorrow.

It's been quite a rollercoaster already.

I've had my S2 since 1968; the car was 2 years old then.
Long history together...

carlos guerra

Let's see, 26/5074 has been in my care, rebuilt, repaired, and enjoyed by me for the last 32 years. This car was originally from Bob Challman's Ecurie Shirlee in Manhattan Beach, California and I am the third owner. It is very original with the exception of Panasport wheels and the engine performance enhancements. 25 years since the engine/gearbox/diff rebuild. runs great but now leaking oil a bit from the engine and I'll pull that and reseal and while I am at it I'll toss the crap cast pistons and renew with forged pistons/contemporary piston rings.

5 years 3 months and only just put the car on the road last week

45 / 7389 have been partners since July 4 1981, just over 30 years.

the story goes that she was initially purchased by a Hamilton, Ontario radio announcer, who painted her yellow with green bumpers and wheels.. sold to the fellow I bought her from, whose wife was very disappointed that their mortgage was not going to get paid down due to the BMW R75/5 that he took in trade..

installed a roll bar mostly to provide something between me a a pickup truck that couldn't stop (never tested, but the Jetta I had was and proved the point to have it installed ).. she's now white (my wife of 28 years choice), w/panasports and CV's, and the original VERY tired interior, and is beginning to ask for another engine rebuild..

For the last three year's her top has not been up and she has been my daily commuter here in San Diego, I skip the rainy days ( ~10 a year).. did pop the #4 plug out one day, but drove her home kinda loud and low on power...

it's been a great relationship.

webrest wrote:Had my S4 couple 17 years, drove it today.
Owned an S3 coupe back in the 80's. It was a classier car than the S4 I feel
Dave

Boy does my basic arithmetic need work.
It should have read 24 years. (1993 - 2017.)
Dave

It was correct when you posted, - time flys!

45/7279 Elan Super Safety DHC.
Since May 11, 1979.

My father bought the Elan in spring 1967, so 50 years more or less. I was the primary driver from day one with my brand new license - the Elan and I both survived, neither of us entirely intact, but survived.

[edited to correct year of purchase]