Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

A summary of Jay Leno's heavily-modified Elan build, compiled from expisodes from 'Jay Leno's Garage' - Elan blog...

http://www.autoblog.com/2014/03/31/jay-leno-goes-old-school-1966-lotus-elan-26r-video/

Academically, it's interesting to see what can be done to an Elan with an unlimited budget. It's obvious that it's one of his favorites.

Gary
'71 Sprint FHC
Miami, Florida

the white elan looked so much better before they butchered it into that hot rod.

we have lost a nice original car there forever.

they should have left it be.

I'm not sure much of the white car went into it, other than the serial number. Isn't it a new body, sub-frame, suspension, engine, transmission, wheels....

I agree its really a new Elan built from scratch to a whole new specification. A nice upgrade in a lot of ways but i certainly would have done a few things a little differently for a road car.

Thinking back through the build videos I cant recall a single original item off the white car being used - maybe the door handles?? It should be out there somewhere still I would guess.

cheers
Rohan

you can see in the last video that the chassis was blasted and re-used.

the chassis plate of the original car is on the bulkhead.

I suppose it is very good workmanship but strikes me as more money than sense.

Ken

A beautiful car but I couldn't stand the sound of that chaff-cutter transmission!

Personally, I much prefer maintaining a stock Elan, but I think this is an interesting experiment.

Gary
'71 Sprint FHC
Miami, Florida

Could he not have just built this thing without wasting ANY original Elan parts?

Sorry Jay; I know you are, conveniently, dyslexic but perhaps you could pay someone to read my message to you?

This is a great tribute to Lotus , It's an interpretation, a very personal one.
They've added lightness in spades, whilst also adding a smart interior.
Did I hear that right, they cast a bespoke block ???

85 watt alternator

And where does Bugatti come into it?

> we have lost a nice original car there forever.
Well, there seems to be no shortage of original cars out there. Although one could make a strong case that we've only lost the chassis and the chassis plate from this one.

Personally, I like it a lot. Given that Jay decided to mod it, Jim did a fabulous job. Jay voted with his wallet (although it's just chump change to him) and he followed his muse (or at least Jim Hall's) and did something semi-unique, a 26R for the street.

There's room for both the originalistas and modders in the Elan fold. When a restoration or a restomod is done nicely I think that the culprit deserves kudos for a job well done.

Best,
Jon