Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

The present thread discussing the choice between an S3 or a Sprint has thrown up some interesting stuff about the differences between the two cars.

Heaven forbid, but it made me think!

I know it's been done before in books on the Elan but I don't recall a thread on here that chronologically lists ALL of the changes made with the various Elan model changes & the reasons for those changes.

Here, I think, is the reason why the changes were made would make a LotusElan.net listing
"The Guide" to Lotus Elans.

It's clearly apparent that the membership has that knowledge to develop a new thread dedicated to just that subject.

I think also that references to information sources must be "a must" with each piece of information in order to reduce the possibility of creating a new set of "Folk Lore" on the subject & eliminate "here say"

I don' know if it is possible to start a thread where the information could be added chronologically without jumping from S1 to S4 then back to S3 etc. but maybe that's not so important.

There will without doubt be different views or different sources of information that could provide interesting/controversial discussion.

So why not kick it off with maybe the change from S1 to S2?

Cheers
John (clueless on History)

Done...

http://www.type26register.com/spec_changes.html


Mark

Elanintheforest wrote:Done...

http://www.type26register.com/spec_changes.html


Mark

Abracadabra-------Whoosh!!
Way to go Mark; what a great start

And S4 to Sprint: http://www.lotuselansprint.com/index.asp?pageid=41823

It is something we will be able to do on the Club Lotus Elan Section site.

Tim

Tim has done the S4 to Sprint, and Sprint evolution:

http://www.lotuselansprint.com/index.asp?pageid=41823

Mark

Edit....so good we had to put it in twice!

Yes guys, that's the best way to do it without the fear of thread drift; it wouldn't be manageable on here

John

This is a good idea John, but as you rightly say the information has to be accurate for it to have value as a reliable resource for researchers and restorers.

I have yet to find the oft quoted Robinshaw and Ross at a sensible price but would that be a good source to fill in some of the gaps?

I don't doubt, when it comes to Lotus history there will be some distinctly muddy areas

Ross and Robinshaw is certainly the place to start, and Brian Buckland's book has some excellent originality definitions as well. The parts list is probably the definitive listing of what replaced what and when, but of course, even that has errors and omissions.

Tim and I spent about 6 months putting the S1 / S2 list together, using the above to start with. It took maybe 5 days to do 90% of it, and the rest of the time to do the odd little factoid to fill in...and it's still not complete!. It's the stuff that isn't defined in any of the books that takes a huge amount of time, talking with original owners of cars (rare now for the Type 26), looking up contemporary road tests, press photos, brochures, price lists, colour charts...etc.

I've spent the last 12 months doing this for the Lotus Cortina, and I doubt I'm half way there yet....but as there is no book written on that car, it's all fairly virgin territory.

It would be a very difficult thing to manage on a forum, as all the basic stuff would be put up quickly, and then it would go off into debates of 'my car has an Anglia engine fitted, and the PO told me is was always there'! A forum is for discussion and debate, and inevitably floating off subject, because that's what happens in debate. What is needed alongside the forum is a library of information....but that has already been debated to buggery!

Mark

Elanintheforest wrote:Ross and Robinshaw is certainly the place to start, and Brian Buckland's book has some excellent originality defitions as well. The parts list is probably the definitive listing of what replaced what and when, but of course, even that has errors and ommissions.

Tim and I spent about 6 months putting the S1 / S2 list together, using the above to start with. It took maybe 5 days to do 90% of it, and the rest of the time to do the odd little factoid to fill in...and it's still not complete!. It's the stuff that isn't defined in any of the books that takes a huge amount of time, talking with original owners of cars (rare now for the Type 26), looking up contemporary road tests, press photos, brochures, price lists, colour charts...etc.

I've spent the last 12 months doing this for the Lotus Cortina, and I doubt I'm half way there yet....but as there is no book written on that car, it's all fairly virgin territory.

It would be a very difficult thing to manage on a forum, as all the basic stuff would be put up quickly, and then it would go off into debates of 'my car has an Anglia engine fitted, and the PO told me is was always there'! A forum is for discussion and debate, and inevitably floating off subject, because that's what happens in debate. What is needed alongside the forum is a library of information....but that has already been debated to buggery!

Mark

I agree entirely, as mentioned in my original post, this subject would be impossible to manage on a forum & prevent the discussion going off on numerous tangents.

The listing of the evolution would be a great source of information to all.
The S1/S2 & S4/Sprint lists so lovingly compiled by you & Tim were exactly what I had in mind & would find their "proper place" on somewhere like "Elan Section" as a definitive that could be updated as more information becomes available; including the Anglia engined Elans.

I hope that this thread does not give people cause to go mad researching & typing their individual findings onto it because it could go out of control & that information belongs on a proper list, not here a discussion forum.

Thanks & Cheers
John