1965 26R Elan "Re-creation"

[craig chima]

As many on the forum and the US motorsports community know, over the course of the past 8 years, I have built four ground-up 26R vintage race car "re-creations" (sometimes called GTS cars in Europe, I believe) for customers of mine. During that time I sought to create the ultimate road going Elan for myself, using essentially all new parts (mostly Tony Thompson). I believe that I succeeded in doing that but now it is time for another project and I have regretfully decided to sell my Elan. Longtime readers of this forum may recognize this car as the ex-Andy Dijak car and that is indeed the case. The car has been completely disassembled and rebuilt since in my ownership and has was built using the following Tony Thompson parts:

new chassis
new lightweight 26R body
complete suspension (upper and lower front a-arms, and lower rear arms - all nickel plated)
shocks all around - (adjustable ride height coil overs with street valving)
springs all around
front anti roll bar
front and rear axles
alloy radiator
alloy fuel cell (fits in stock location under the wood rear floor)

The car has a Quaife limited slip diff with 3.9 final drive, CV joints, close ratio synchro gearbox (2.5 first gear), and freshly rebuilt twin cam with probably under 1500 miles on it. Twincam has Dave Bean cams with mild head porting, is 10.5:1 compression so still runs on premium pump gas and should make about 145bhp. The car is on 14" Panasports due to the poor availability of 13" street rubber in the U.S. but sits at stock ride height and got new rubber in 2014. Purists may cringe, but I had the interior and trunk area completely carpeted in the close loop black carpet that they did British cars in during the 60's and I really like the look as opposed to the original rubber mat and it really cuts down the interior noise. Car has stock seats that were re-covered 2 years ago. The windshield glass and side windows are perfect, and the soft top assembly has maybe been used 2 or 3 times in the past few years. The car is not for everyone (absolute purists) but is probably the best driving Elan anywhere. If you've every priced Tony Thompson stuff, you'll know that I am serious when I say that I have close to $75K in the car, not counting any of my labor.

As for pricing, I really don't know but figure that $48,500 is a good starting point. The car is gorgeous and needs nothing and is as nice as any early Elan as you will find and certainly drives better than any Elan you have ever ridden in. And if you ever wanted to build race car, as much as I hate to think about it, this car makes all the sense in the world because a full-on TT build will cost you north of $120K USD with all the right bits and this car gets you 75% of the way there (you'd need safety equipment, race seat, proper wheels and tires, stiffer springs and different shocks, uprated motor, and maybe a few other small bits).

Serious inquiries only please. I'll try to get a few pix posted as soon as I can or email me and I'll be happy to send you as many pictures as you like. Craig Chima, CC Motorsports, Akron, OH USA [email protected] or 330 807 0742

[craig chima]

Sale pending.

[pharriso]

Geez, didn't even get to see a picture...

[tvacc]

This car is in my garage. Very little miles since it was bought from Craig. One of my best friends (Woodcock on this list) bought it and I bought it from him. A Bean cartridge water pump has been added. The plastic covered headlights have been added. I have put LEDs in the headlights but have never driven the car at night to test them. Is anyone interested in the car before I sell it elsewhere? Pictures are from a bit ago but the car is the same. I can get new photos if someone is interested.