Winter Walk Reveals Barn Find Sprint

[elansprint71]

Yikes, this is incredible; now on the same patch a Shapecaft/26R Elan has turned up.
I hope Tim will let one of us know about that one & share his good fortune because I'm sure he won't give anything other than a Sprint a sniff!
What an incredible piece of breaking news!

Cheers
John

... and it is the only recorded left-hand drive 26/R with matching serial number too...

[rgh0]

Come on guys its a good funny post and you dont need to get stuck in about a certain shapecraft topic no matter how tempting it is.

Given the history it is not really that funny

cheers
Rohan

[512BB]

The vultures are circling Rohan, no doubt awaiting the return of the prodigal son.

Leslie

[Spyder fan]

[trw99]

As I walked away from that barn, down from the top of the hill toward a small village in the valley, I kept churning through the questions in my head. The vision that dominated my thoughts, though, was of an orange Elan, gleaming in the summer sun and with the roof down, rushing from one country lane corner to another, the driver with an huge smile lighting up his face.

By the time I had returned to my study at home, time had tempered the vision and answers were forming to some of the questions. For a number of reasons there were impracticalities around having another car in my own garage. Business was taking a disproportionate amount of time and likely to be doing so for the next few months. I steepled my fingers, pursed my lips and thought hard.

The next Sunday saw me navigating the four wheel drive up the track toward the farmhouse. I hoped that an unannounced visit to the farmer on his day off may be more fruitful than one when he was busy during the working week. As I parked up by the front door, my eyes were drawn to the barn on the other side of the yard. A sheep dog appeared from the back of the farmhouse and began to bark at the strange car. I got out and spoke softly to the dog, giving it a friendly pat. It looked sideways at me, not quite sure.

The front door was opened by an elderly gentleman, dressed in dark brown corduroy trousers, a worn-looking crimson sweater and be-patched tweed jacket. The burst veins of his complexion and bulbous nose spoke of either many years toil in the outdoors, or a lifetime spent supporting the Scotch whisky industry. His grey hair was roughly brushed across his pate and his eyes looked suspiciously at me. I stated my purpose for imposing on his day and he invited me in to the warmth of his hallway. A long case clock stood sentinel in one corner. In another leant a crook and sundry other sticks. A couple of decent hunting oils hung from the walls. On a low table to one side was laid a battered cap, some unopened mail and a Farmers Weekly magazine. We started to talk.

It emerged that the Sprint had belonged to the wife of one of the farmer?s brothers. He had died and she had decided to leave the country to live in Canada with a neurosurgeon she had met. This merry widow had asked the farmer to look after the Elan until she decided what she wanted to do with it. That was back in 1979, since when the car had sat in a couple of barns. The farmer?s son had spent a summer holiday from school attempting to freshen the car up, but had run out of knowledge and enthusiasm following a romance with a visiting cousin. Was he still in touch with the lady, I asked of the farmer. It had been quite a number of years since the Christmas cards had dried up, apparently. I indicated that I could be interested in freeing him of the burden and space the car affected on him. There was a long silence, broken only by the clock?s methodical cogs.

The suggestion, when it came, was a surprise. But then most farmers are canny businessmen.

[john.p.clegg]

James Bond has the record with twenty-two sequels...

John

[ken ob]

Is the surprise the fact that the farmer wants you to restore the car for his son and his girlfriend aka Heathcliff and Cathy?

[billwill]

Love it.

Is this the beginning of a publishable book, I wonder.

[types26/36]

Love it.
Is this the beginning of a publishable book, I wonder.

............and will it have a happy ending with the Sprint driving off into the sunset....or will it turn out to be one of those ebay scams ...........
.....this is gripping stuff

[Spyder fan]

Tim had second thoughts about the Sprint after meeting the farmers son...and his toolkit!

ardee_selby
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[elanfan1]

We started to talk. I indicated that I could be interested in freeing him of the burden and space the car affected on him. There was a long silence, broken only by the clock?s methodical cogs.

The suggestion, when it came, was a surprise. But then most farmers are canny businessmen.

" I'll swap you for the woman wearing the headlamp!!"

Now there's a dilemma for you Tim

[skelteanema]

So TRW99, are we going to hear the end of this story? April 1st has come and gone, and I am still waiting to hear what the farmer suggested!!

[robertverhey]

It's so obvious, I mean HELLOOOO!

Tim is the widow's long lost love child. She died a decade ago and the will leaves the elan to Tim, should he ever re-emerge

Now get on with the resto!

[trw99]

We sat down at a table in what the old boy euphemistically called his study. In fact it was an homage to a bygone agricultural age, one where good order and neatness clearly had no place. In addition to piles of papers, most yellowing and gathering dust, there were books, discarded magazines and various implements that probably had something to do with artificial insemination or the delivery of lambs, as well as a shotgun. The walls were hung with dim black and white photographs of Hereford bulls at bygone shows, rosettes attached to their halters, family groups, a large old house and many of good looking large hunters.

I declined the alcohol I was offered and we started chatting. The Sprint was indeed taking up space that the farmer could more usefully utilise, as was the dinghy. He knew that classic cars could fetch a pretty penny these days. I indicated that the condition of the car was hardly pretty and would involve much hard work just to get back on the road. He countered that his inclination was to hand it to someone to do up on his behalf. When I told him how much that was likely to cost him, he harrumphed and mentioned something to do with rear ends, which I didn?t quite catch.

Calmly taking out a pocket watch from his jacket, consulting the time, replacing it and then blowing his nose on what might have been a long distant Christmas present of a handkerchief, he offered to sell me the Sprint, once he had his sister in laws permission, on condition that I cut him in on the deal, since he knew she would want the money herself. I gained the impression he had not really got on well with her. In that case, I proposed, why not tell her that he had sold it for less than the amount we agreed and he could keep the extra for himself. So that?s what we did, shaking hands on a deal that got me the car at a price I was more than happy with, left him in pocket but a gap in his barn and kept the merry widow in Canada happy.

It took some time for the farmer to track down and communicate with his sister in law. It took me some time to borrow a trailer for the Elan. But six weeks later I was again pulling up outside the barn in my four wheel drive. After greeting the farmer he led me to the barn and opened the door fully. He moved some of the odds and ends that were stacked in the way whilst I loaded the doors and other kit into the Sprint cabin. Between us we managed to manoeuvre the Elan out of the barn and then up onto the trailer. I secured it with tie down ratchet straps and pulled a cover over the entire car, tying it down with bungee cord. I handed over the cash to my farming friend along with a receipt for each of us to sign, though with the amount he was going to send to Canada. He smiled for the first time as he waved me off.

When I got back home I wheeled the Sprint off the trailer and into my garage. I was then able to get under the car to look at the state of the chassis. It was not good and would clearly have to be replaced if I was to get the car back on the road. Closer inspection of the bodywork revealed some rather alarming cracks in some rather alarming places. This was not looking quite as good as I had hoped. I went inside, poured myself a stiff whisky and started to review my purchase. It had been at a good price; in fact, a bit of a steal. I didn?t have the time or space to start restoring the car myself. It would turn me a nice profit if I merely sold it on to someone with the inclination to do more with it.

I picked up the phone and got through to my friend Mark, who lived with his Elans in a forest. We chatted through the options and ended up with him agreeing to buy the Elan off me. I had made a decent bit of money for myself, I had saved Mark the hassle of finding the car in the first place and he had got another project to keep his hands busy. When Mark arrived a couple of days later to recover the Sprint to his place, he told me with a degree of glee about his plans for it.

Which is why over the coming months you should keep your eye out on e-Bay for a load of hard-to-find Elan parts, including a signed Chapman steering wheel, a pair of chromed door/window frames, five actually rather good condition original Elan steel wheels, a Tudor windscreen wash bag, a dashboard top crash pad, original Smith combination water temperature and oil pressure gauge, a full set of rocker switches, two Elan seats with their original vinyl covers, a headlamp vacuum switch, a Girling brake servo and all other parts you might need for your own restoration.

[GrUmPyBoDgEr]

OMG that Forrester is just going to love you

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