Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

An apology is in order. I hadn't realised that there is a recent thread on this subject. If I had known I wouldn't have started this one. Sorry chaps and chapesses.

There have been times when I thought Elan was just another one of those 4 letter words............

Rob Walker
26-4889

I will re-iterate an earlier post I made on this subject.


"Baby" sounds like a smaller version of the best, or correct, one.
First came across it years ago, ( pre Interweb), in a Christopher Neil catalogue.
Took a while to figure out what the hell he was on about......

Ralph.

stevebroad wrote:An apology is in order. I hadn't realised that there is a recent thread on this subject. If I had known I wouldn't have started this one. Sorry chaps and chapesses.

Oh but then we wouldn't have had so much fun.
(It was a slow night at work yesterday)

ardee_selby wrote:Was this Dave Brodie Elan one of his "Run Baby Run" editions?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12078476@N07/2685483311/

Cheers - Richard

Yes that's the Brode's Baby Elan... which, as any fule kno, was the British Vita Elan, before it was downsized.

Now; about the Dadio Elite...

stevebroad wrote:An apology is in order. I hadn't realised that there is a recent thread on this subject. If I had known I wouldn't have started this one. Sorry chaps and chapesses.

No problem really...just another form of "Quantitative Easing"

Richard

ardee_selby wrote:

stevebroad wrote:An apology is in order. I hadn't realised that there is a recent thread on this subject. If I had known I wouldn't have started this one. Sorry chaps and chapesses.

No problem really...just another form of "Quantitative Easing"

Richard

Ouch

So is there a "Papa" and "Mama" Elan?

There is the +2 (A Mama Elan, but more likely a younger sister, as she was born after the Baby), the '80s Ford Thunderbird Elan (The fat younger and distant cousin), and the '90s M100 Elan (The illegitimate younger brother sired by General Motors). There is, of course,the KIA Elan (Stolen by Gypsies and sold to an Asian billionaire) and the MX-5 (More or less an homage to the original). Also the 2013 Elan which became the 2017 Elan (So far out on the branches of the family tree, it is hard to place).

I didn't come up with names for the 26R, Series 1 through 4, Sprint, SE, Coupe, and others. Any suggestions?

Lotus14S2 wrote:So is there a "Papa" and "Mama" Elan

I didn't come up with names for the 26R

Clone..............................s

Did I just type that?

I can't believe I wasted time reading all that.

I don't hate "baby Elan", but I don't think it necessary or clever. I find "just 2 Elan" clever, but cumbersome.

Call it what you like. Mine is a bright eyed ballerina and not a baby.

Rob
1969 Just 2 Elan DHC

Lotus14S2 wrote:I didn't come up with names for the 26R, Series 1 through 4, Sprint, SE, Coupe, and others. Any suggestions?

26R = Premie Elan?.... (underweight)

Since the baby is concidered the last one born then the M100 is "The Baby Elan". However, if we are only talking about the 60's and 70's versions sharing the same drivetrain then the +2 is "The Baby Elan" or should I say "Big Baby Elan"

As I have always understood the term, it refers to size rather than age and used to differentiate between the Elan and the Elan +2. I found the term very useful when talking to non Lotus experts as they tended to confuse the cars. They usually knew there were two and one was bigger than the other but often thought that the bigger car was called an Elan (with no +2 suffix) so my saying I had the baby Elan solved this problem. Worked then and works now.

Maybe 'baby' users should restrict its use to non Lotus fans so as not to upset the sensitive ones among us?

stevebroad wrote: As I have always understood the term, it refers to size rather than age...

Surely, when Elans have earned the "Giant Killer" epithet, it has meant exactly that...but maybe the emphasis was on the small engine capacity. Whatever...maybe a word for the opposite of giant would have been more acceptable than b*by.

(But having looked some up maybe not! )

Richard

Nothing to do with engine capacity, as the Elan and +2 have the same basic engine, as we all know It was, as still is as far as I am aware, simply a term to separate Elans from Elan+2s, especially when talking to non-Elan people. Nothing more, nothing less.

Now that my brain has had a little time to kick into life, I seem to recall the terms 'big brother' and 'bigger brother' being used by +2 owners many years ago