Are 60's and 70's lotuses finally getting the recognition...

[GrUmPyBoDgEr]

Alan,
Get your post count up for a 3rd Gear & you could then set your Red Line at a less risky 7500 RPM

Cheers
John

John,
I have been waiting all week for someone to notice the new signature quote..... trust a fellow zetec owner to be first! I like to think that a screaming Lotus Elan +2 on the public roads can only raise the profile of the marque to the benefit of all, and it certainly gets some recognition. BTW the crank is good for 8000 all day long.

Regards

Is that a standard Crank, rods etc.?
If so I'll move the soft cut on mine up a notch, especially for the Tunnel drive throughs.
As you say, it's certainly an attention getter although I'm not certain about how the "Grumpy's" react.
(Errm, & my Signature change?)

[Spyder fan]

John,
Rapidly going off topic but I think the North American moderators are asleep

It's a standard crank and rods yes, but the whole engine is balanced and blueprinted. Normally the cut off would be 7500 with the soft red line coming in at 7250, balancing etc allows a little bit of leeway, the standard crank is pretty tough as are the rods. Tunnels and Grand Prix starts are the only times I really use the revs, the tunnels for obvious reasons and the short 1st gear is the other reason. Apart from 1st to second there's totally no point revving above 6250 as thats where peak torque and peak power literally cross over and it falls off after that.

Cheers for this question and the PM's, hope to speak Zetec again soon, I did notice your parachute quote, I'm keeping an open mind now!

[Elanintheforest]

This will help train your newly found open mindedness, Alan!

Just ?37,000 for a bog-standard Lotus Cortina.

http://www.classicrallies.com/blog/inde ... ction.html

Just goes to show that some 60s and 70s Lotuses are getting the recognition they deserve.

I'll get me hat...and parachute.

Mark

[plus2OK]

I have a theory......ah humm .....and this is my theory... ah humm....
Lotuses are beautiful( in the most part) and in this boring automotive age where every car looks the same ( to my eyes) a lotus Elan plus 2
is a refreshing change from this monotomy.
Did I read/hear somewhere that the Elan was number 4 in the most beautiful car in the world poll? One would have thought that the price one could command
would reflect this elevated position.......... I think that this anomolly is now beginning to be addressed.
I would hazard to predict that this is only just the start, there is a long way to go before the correct level is achieved.

[andyelan]

Hi everyone

For what it's worth, here are a few thing I think I've noticed

Intrest in sports 2+2s generally seems to be rising. A few years (months) ago cars like the Ferrari 250GTE, Lamborghini Islaro and Maserati Sebring were a fraction of the price of their equivelent 2 seaters and would have almost been within reach of ordinary enthusiasts, not any more though. I wonder if this trend which is being repeated to a lesser extent with Lotus. To me though the odd thing with the Lotus Elan Plus 2 is that although demand seems to be huge, and rising, it doesn't seem pushing up the prices

Although it's tempting to think older cars don't appeal to younger enthusiasts I havn't noticed the price of vintage cars collapsing, so demand for these must be comming from somewhere. Thing is, these cars don't really seem to be advertised. If you want, say a 3 wheel Morgan, then it seems you need to move in the right circles and let it be known what you're after. Similarly how many genuine Lotus 7s has any one seen advertised for sale recently. If you want one then it seems you need to know someone who knows someone.

Finally, did any who went to the NEC think that there were a lot of E Types for sale at really quite reasonable prices. Could it be many of these were bought as investments and now, because of the resession, they are being dumped on the market so depressing values

Don't really know if any of this means anything really, it's just a few thoughts I had. Whatever, I can't see me ever selling my Lotus, it's just too good a driving machine

Andy

[msd1107]

Spyder fan wrote

No...... 60's and 70's Lotus definitely don't get the financial recognition they deserve. They are expensive to restore and are not worth the cost of their restoration in financial terms.

True, true. But what car is "worth" the cost of their restoration? Take a look around at the true cost of equivalent restorations of other '50s, '60s, '70s cars. We may feel bad about cranking in 10K, 20K, 30K gbp or more but try to do the same bringing back from the dead task on a MG/AH/TR/356/Jag/etc.

And a well maintained good daily mileage Elan is definitely going to be modest in running cost when compared with many of our contemporaries. Over 40+ years, the per mile costs of my Elan have been less than the sedans we have owned during the same period. And guess which car is worth more?

The way I look at it is, no matter what the cost is in "restoring" the car, it is roughly equivalent to purchasing a new car. In 10 years, the new car has little value while the Elan probably has lost no "value".

Awhile ago I had the opportunity to go through the maintenance records for my first Elan. Purchased from Bob Challman and maintained at his shop for the first 36+K miles, there was no maintenance bill over $100, with some "A" services in the $30 range. Try that with a modern sedan, even with 7500 mile maintenance intervals!

In that respect, if you can stand driving the car on a daily basis, the least expensive car to own and drive over the long term is one of our beloved Elans, and has been for decades.

Just my point of view.

David
1968 36/7988