BDA Engine Elan Plus 2 For Sale

[Elanintheforest]

Many of you will probably remember me advertising my Elan Plus 2, fitted with a BDA engine in the early 1970s, for sale on here back in 2018. I sold it to Kevin Whittle, well known in Historic Lotus circles as an author and hill climber in a variety of Lotus Cars.

He bought the Plus 2 to have a bit of fun as a fast road car and to compete in the occasional hill climb. He had the car fully refurbished both mechanically and electrically and re-built on a galvanised chassis over a 2 years period.

With his passion for the Plus 2 re-kindled, he wrote a book on the model, and that features some 27 pages on the restoration of the car.

He managed a couple of hillclimbs to shake the car down, but sadly passed away early last year.

I've been speaking with his wife Julie over the past couple of months and she has decided to sell the car at the Classic Car Auction auction in Warwickshire at the end of September.

The guide price is £20k to £25k. Given the historical significance of the car, the full history from new along with the extensive renovation work Kevin had completed, this really is a very attractive proposition.

This is the auction with photos and description of the car. ....

https://www.classiccarauctions.co.uk/19 ... 999&pp=100

If you want to discus any further details just send me a PM.

Mark Kempson.

[661]

That is just the sort of car that could make me get into the +2 side of the forum

[Elanintheforest]

It is something very special Graeme, and the odd burst up to 8000 rpm with the BDA gives a really spine-tingling soundtrack!

Julie offered me the car back a couple of months ago, but after spending the last 4 years restoring a few other cars, the old back is taking a long time to get sorted and I know I wouldn't use it very much for the next year or two. Kevin must have spent most of the guide price on the cars restoration, so it really deserves to be used and enjoyed.

It has a fabulous history file as well from day one, with hand-written notes from the original owner who ran Dave Smith Engineering, and he had the BDA popped in to show-case what they could do.

About 6 months after I sold Kevin the car, I found an original copy of the Motoring News from June 1973 where the car was tested...and it broke a Rotoflex of course! It has a 3.55 diff fitted for cruising, so with a higher numeric diff it would absolutely fly. The original owner did take it up to 140mph at 8000 rpm on a Spanish Motorway with his wife asleep in the passenger seat, but he did say it was a bit scary as the steering went very, very light, and the wind noise, combined with the engine noise, was deafening.

The car is a one-off, but the modification is contemporary and was completed in period, so the car does have Historic tax status. It looks just right under the bonnet as well.

[jono]

What a fabulous car and such a tempting prospect.

...I recall drooling over this when you had it Mark!

If I hadn't recently bought another project I'd be seriously interested - hopefully it goes to a real enthusiast.