Somebody Buy this car!!

[Ross Robbins]

There is a very nice S1 on Bring a Trailer today. Somebody in North America needs this car
http://bringatrailer.com/2011/07/31/bat-exclusive-2-owner-1963-lotus-elan-s1-1600-2/#comment-240127

[trw99]

Is it me or have those arches been lightly flared?

Nice car for someone though.

Tim

[billwill]

Again a waste IMO to have such a car all this time & only do 22K miles.

Why did it need a major renovate after only 15K miles?

Malcolm Ricketts had done 39K in mine in the first year before he sold it back to Ian Walkers and I then bought it (early 1969) and still considered it almost brand new. Total mileage now over 190K.

[trw99]

Bill

Look at the mileages of nearly new second hand 911 Porsches; often very low. Same for Morgans. I guess two main reasons. When bought new it is probably by folk who tend not to drive much anywhere (London, for example!) so the mileage just does not rack up like it does for others. The other reason I suspect is that they are dream cars and once bought, the realisation sets in that the car is not such a dream to own in the real world.

Of course, your comments about 'what a waste' are made with the benefit of hindsight and as an enthusiast. Plenty of people who bought new E Types in the 1960s didn't like them much but now look at the rose tinted specs come out! I know, there were also plenty of people who loved them, or at least their image....

Tim

[Mazzini]

Bill

Look at the mileages of nearly new second hand 911 Porsches; often very low. Same for Morgans. I guess two main reasons. When bought new it is probably by folk who tend not to drive much anywhere (London, for example!) so the mileage just does not rack up like it does for others. The other reason I suspect is that they are dream cars and once bought, the realisation sets in that the car is not such a dream to own in the real world.

Of course, your comments about 'what a waste' are made with the benefit of hindsight and as an enthusiast. Plenty of people who bought new E Types in the 1960s didn't like them much but now look at the rose tinted specs come out! I know, there were also plenty of people who loved them, or at least their image....

Tim

What are you saying exactly?

[trw99]

Sorry, I should have been clearer.

As above, Bill wrote "Again a waste IMO to have such a car all this time & only do 22K miles." His 'again' I believe referred to his comment in the thread on the white FHC on eBay "What a waste.., To have such a car and only do 5867 miles in it."

My point was thus that there are a number of reasons certain cars have much lower than average mileages. We might see that as a waste of a good car, indeed we probably all do, but other owners clearly had a different perspective. More of an observation than anything else.

Tim

[terryp]

If only it was a bit cheaper!
Terry

[Mazzini]

Sorry, I should have been clearer.

As above, Bill wrote "Again a waste IMO to have such a car all this time & only do 22K miles." His 'again' I believe referred to his comment in the thread on the white FHC on eBay "What a waste.., To have such a car and only do 5867 miles in it."

My point was thus that there are a number of reasons certain cars have much lower than average mileages. We might see that as a waste of a good car, indeed we probably all do, but other owners clearly had a different perspective. More of an observation than anything else.

Tim

I was pulling your leg about E-type owners I thought you might have noticed and I'm not the only person on the forum with one (or two).

[trw99]

Yep, well you got me there!

I nearly said something about Mark and his E Type affliction in that posting, but thought better of it! Going off topic a mo, have you read Robert Croucher in this month's Octane on his retrospective E Type road test. As I was, I kept thinking - you could write the same thing about the Elan, you could write the same thing about the Elan, you could write the same thing about the Elan....

Tim

[billwill]

Sorry, I should have been clearer.

As above, Bill wrote "Again a waste IMO to have such a car all this time & only do 22K miles." His 'again' I believe referred to his comment in the thread on the white FHC on eBay "What a waste.., To have such a car and only do 5867 miles in it."

My point was thus that there are a number of reasons certain cars have much lower than average mileages. We might see that as a waste of a good car, indeed we probably all do, but other owners clearly had a different perspective. More of an observation than anything else.

Tim

I was pulling your leg about E-type owners I thought you might have noticed and I'm not the only person on the forum with one (or two).

When I bought my Elan back in 1969 I was in two minds as to whether to get an e-Type Jag or a Lotus.

The clincher was when I found out that an eType has a 43 foot turning circle & I would never be able to get it out of some of the location that I went to for Scuba diving. So I bought the Elan instead.

[Mazzini]

Yep, well you got me there!

I nearly said something about Mark and his E Type affliction in that posting, but thought better of it! Going off topic a mo, have you read Robert Croucher in this month's Octane on his retrospective E Type road test. As I was, I kept thinking - you could write the same thing about the Elan, you could write the same thing about the Elan, you could write the same thing about the Elan....

Tim

I haven't read Octane, I find this forum far more interesting and entertaining

[Mazzini]

Sorry, I should have been clearer.

As above, Bill wrote "Again a waste IMO to have such a car all this time & only do 22K miles." His 'again' I believe referred to his comment in the thread on the white FHC on eBay "What a waste.., To have such a car and only do 5867 miles in it."

My point was thus that there are a number of reasons certain cars have much lower than average mileages. We might see that as a waste of a good car, indeed we probably all do, but other owners clearly had a different perspective. More of an observation than anything else.

Tim

I was pulling your leg about E-type owners I thought you might have noticed and I'm not the only person on the forum with one (or two).

When I bought my Elan back in 1969 I was in two minds as to whether to get an e-Type Jag or a Lotus.

The clincher was when I found out that an eType has a 43 foot turning circle & I would never be able to get it out of some of the location that I went to for Scuba diving. So I bought the Elan instead.

I've got to ask, how did you get your scuba tanks in to the Elan?

[Elanintheforest]

I think that they would have to be armoured personnel carriers or mobile guns rather than tanks....there's no way a Chieftain or a Challenger would fit into an Elan.

I would be absolutely delighted to come across a one owner 5000 miles from new Elan that's been tucked away for 40 years! Certainly isn't a shame, but an absolute delight for the next generation. It's like calling the customers of Capability Brown's gardens and parks selfish for not having a garden that they can enjoy, but instead have something that can only be appreciated 100 years after their death!

I haven't come across many folks who had E Types in the day who didn't like them. The E certainly had the reputation of being a bit of a flash git's car in the late 60s, when a runner could be had for ?200. But Jag folks could see the 'D' Type DNA in the E type, and it came through in the end. I now know about 20 folks who have Elans and E types, both are stunning cars in a different way, but both seem to be appreciated by the same folks.

Mark

[Mazzini]

I think that they would have to be armoured personnel carriers or mobile guns rather than tanks....there's no way a Chieftain or a Challenger would fit into an Elan.

Mark

I added 'scuba' just to annoy you.

[billwill]

>I've got to ask, how did you get your scuba tanks in to the Elan?

They fit quite easily in the boot actually. I think I've had at least three tanks in there along with wetsuits etc and camping gear, the trick is to only use soft bags for packing things and to squeeze them into every available corner, including all the space behind the seats. Lead weights usually go in the passenger footwell to bring some of the weight forward.

My usual tanks were a pair of 5 inch diameter ones instead of the more general 7 inch ones which made it a bit easier.