My Response

[Frank Howard]

Yesterday, I was waiting at a light in my Elan when a guy pulled up next to me in a brand new Civic sedan and yelled, "Hey, is that a Fiat? My response was, "Hey, is that a Yugo?

[Old English White]

At least he get an answer keeping him lying low ... With me , sure he still ll be waiting .
Christian.

[garyeanderson]

Fiats are a pretty rare site today in rust belt climates, I see a few 124 spyders around but thats about it. He may have been genuine in his querry. That said I wound not have handled the scituation as well most likely. Most times when asked what the S2 is I tell them it a "Lotus Elan S2" and their responce is "is that Italian" and I have to continue that it was made in England. I don't like to be a smart mouth about this as they may be a potential customer some day or may spread the word of what a "cool" car they saw to someone else. This is coming from someone (me) who takes most comments the wrong way. Most folks have never seen an Elan before, there are not that many on the road today, even 35 years ago they were a rare site. Please spread the word in a positive way, my retirement is counting on it.

Gary

[Frank Howard]

Gary,

Actually, the rest of the story is that he chuckled at my Yugo question and then immediately asked if it was an Alfa. I decided that at least he was making progress so I told him it was a Lotus.

Anyone who drives their Elan on a daily basis is well aware of the constant barrage of questions that come with driving the car. Last week while filling it with petrol, I answered questions from three different people at the station. When I drive the Europa, the questions come at an even faster rate. That's one of the reasons why I prefer driving the Elan. I do my best to answer politely but some times the questions are just plain rude. Last week a guy came up to me and out of the blue he asked me what the Europa was worth. He didn't care what kind of car it was, how old it was, where it was from, or what kind of engine it had. He just wanted to know what it was worth. I can't imagine walking up to a total stranger and asking what his/her car is worth, just like I can't imagine asking what their house is worth or how much money they have in the bank or what their income is. It can't be a cultural thing because the people asking these questions are Americans and I'm one as well. In retrospect I guess I should have responded by asking him what his watch was worth. I patiently answer questions about the cars on a daily basis. I give sarcastic answers to questions that I consider to be rude and/or to be borderline insulting. I felt the Fiat question fell into the latter category and he got my point. Anybody else out there have similar experiences? By the way, I sold Fiats for 28 months and owned a 128 for 9 years.

[paddy]

Driving out of the car park at Goodwood yesterday a boy called out "look, Daddy, it's a toy car!"

Paddy

[andyhodg]

When picking up my daughter after a sleep over. I went to the door and rang the bell. Unseen by me the mother or the house looked out of the window, saw my Britsh Racing Green +2 and asked my daughter "does your Dad drive a black Aston Martin?" Not only ignorant in regard to cars but colour blind as well!

My daughter thought it was very funny but was to polite to correct her.

Andy

[Boston-Sam]

Driving my s3 near home, passing a group of teenage girls, I heard a loud clear voice say "WHY DON'T YOU GET A BIGGER CAR"

Most of the time I hear "cool car" or other positive comments - but this one made me smile too. They have no idea how much fun it is.

[msd1107]

My girl friend and I were approaching the FHC Elan to return home. I noticed a group of people standing around. One of them said "I want to see you get in that car".

I responded that not only was there room for two, but for a picnic basket for romantic weekend trips, luggage capacity for a two week trip, and sufficient space for several cases of wine on the return.

Another time, we went to a weekend event for Ferraris. People came over to look at the Lotus, not the Ferraris. In Beverly Hills, Ferraris are a dime a dozen, Lotuses a rare sight.

David
1968 36/7988

[stugilmour]

The Fiat comment brought me back to the seventies. My friends that had Elan's at the time got asked this a lot because of the similarity to an 850 Fiat Spyder. The classic answer was "yes", followed by rapid acceleration from the stop light!

Cheers!

[RotoFlexible]

Driving my s3 near home, passing a group of teenage girls, I heard a loud clear voice say "WHY DON'T YOU GET A BIGGER CAR"

The proper response to that one - although it might get you thrown in jail or worse, in that situation - is a line from a movie: "Big car, small d__k."

(Whew. I tried Googling that line to identify the movie. I failed, and I don't recommend that you try it.)

I have had many enthusiastic and pleasant questions about the Elan, and a lot of people know what it is (the "Lotus Elan S2" badges at the back might help). Some used to have one or have a relative who had one - or had a Europa. People enjoy the car, and kids love it. My granddaughter was a star at day care this summer because she was dropped off and picked up in the Elan.

[reb53]

""Big car, small d__k."

Maybe just, " I don't need a big car", with emphasis on the "need" would make the point, ( no pun intended).

Comments I get are always positive and, interestingly, have increased over the years. Probably as cars have become more like one another.

They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery so we should all be happy that for a few years there was an MX5 running around here that was painted up in Sprint colours complete with "Lotus Elan" on the sides.
Got quite a few comments about the other " Lotus".

Ralph.

[robertverhey]

First time I took my sister for a drive in my newly restored +2 back in the '80s some bogan crossing the road in front of me snarled "rich c*#t" at me. If only he knew.....

[CBUEB1771]

Driving out of the car park at Goodwood yesterday a boy called out "look, Daddy, it's a toy car!"

Paddy

I am sure he thought you were driving an S2 Elise or Exige with (toy)ota power.

[alexblack13]

I dropped my Daughter off at T in the park in the Elan on a very nice day. I discovered she was a bigger poser than I. We were directed into the VIP drop off area and I was well chuffed. I thought the car had brought that result. It was a letdown to discover Darling Daughter(as she calls herself!) was wearing all the right passes. She was taking photographs for News of the World!!.

Bugger!!

Alex B....

[types26/36]

She was taking photographs for News of the World!!.)

Not more of Max Mosley I hope