Looking for my first Elan DHC

[Mazzini]

I've bought two former UK RHD Elan's from the US, both were low mileage cars that had been spared winter use, as most US Elan's are, I have no regrets - I'm sure you'll be happy with your car, by the way Is it a red over white RHD UK car from the NE of the US?

[Elanintheforest]

George, it will take you a while but you will get used to the fact that the Elan won't rust, so you can use it in the winter, even after salt has been put down. Next to the old 2CV, the Elan is the best car I've driven in the snow!!

Mark

[Type28]

I have finally got a Car! - A 1972 Sprint DHC . I thought I would find a car locally, but no luck.
This is my first purchase of a car from abroad. My car is on its way from USA and should be here by mid-November.

the British Sprint in Vermont that was for sale?

by the way Is it a red over white RHD UK car from the NE of the US?

The Elan world is a small place

Picture of car on transporter heading for the dock, state side.

[Mazzini]

Congratulations! That's a great car! I was seriously thinking of buying it, but I have too many cars.

Did you use Schumacher for the shipping? They are superb.

Looking to seeing more photos when the car arrives

[Spyder fan]

If you can find out the name of the ship transporting the car you will be able to track it online.

I use marine traffic http://www.marinetraffic.com/ on my smart phone as well as on my PC, it's essential kit at the beach house so that we can name the ships on the horizon as they track West in the channel (can't see the East bound lane it's over the horizon).

[trw99]

Alan

And I thought train spotters were sad!

Tim

[Type28]

it will take you a while but you will get used to the fact that the Elan won't rust
Mark

After years of rusty old Fords it will

Not sure who is shipping the car. I am using an agent in UK who a friend recommended.

[Type28]

Picked up my car on Friday, but have not had a chance to drive it as I will have to get a MOT for it.
The car is good- maybe not as good as described by the seller who missed out a few faults, but for what I paid for the car it is good value. When I look at the car I have to keep reminding myself I didn?t pay ?45,000 for it and that I will have to put up with the imperfections just now.
The car is a genuine DHC sprint with lower owners and history, it appears to only have been painted once in its life and has had a lot of good quality mechanical work carried out on it. The paint work is fine from 4 feet away, but doesn?t stand close scrutiny.
I think the car is going to be a lot of fun and can?t wait to get out on it.
Pictures of car below- will post better pictures when it is cleaned and has a MOT.

[Type28]

Well that?s the Elan registered and on the Road.
This is my first venture into Elan ownership and so far it is living up to some expectations and exciding others.
Last week I took the car my wife and me a little trip up the West coast of Scotland, some of the best roads in the UK. The weather wasn?t great, but the roof was down when possible, and even in the torrents of rain I only had two little drips of water from the soft top. I didn?t want to push too hard on the wet roads as it was my first time driving an Elan and didn?t know what to expect, also in the back of my mind was the fact the Elan had done hardly any millage in the last ten years. The trip was a leisurely 280miles with a couple of overnight stops.
Last night I took the car for a run around the Scottish Borders, down to Duns, past the Jim Clark, room, roof down, 150 miles great weather, dry roads and pushed the car a bit harder, I now know what all the fuss is about! - The car handles like a dream and the grin was still etched on my face when I went to bed last night.
So Living up to some expectations- what were these- The driver?s window fell down three miles into the West Coast trip, the wire had snapped, so it is propped closed with some wood. The horn started to sound continuously in the heavy rain, so is now temporarily disconnected.
Exceeding expectations- the Driving experience around the Scottish Borders last night, such a great feeling, sounding, handling car, which makes you want to forget about trivial things like windows and horns!
Some pictures from last nights trip
Well that?s the Elan registered and on the Road.
This is my first venture into Elan ownership and so far it is living up to some expectations and exciding others.
Last week I took the car my wife and me a little trip up the West coast of Scotland, some of the best roads in the UK. The weather wasn?t great, but the roof was down when possible, and even in the torrents of rain I only had two little drips of water from the soft top. I didn?t want to push too hard on the wet roads as it was my first time driving an Elan and didn?t know what to expect, also in the back of my mind was the fact the Elan had done hardly any millage in the last ten years. The trip was a leisurely 280miles with a couple of overnight stops.
Last night I took the car for a run around the Scottish Borders, down to Duns, past the Jim Clark, room, roof down, 150 miles great weather, dry roads and pushed the car a bit harder, I now know what all the fuss is about! - The car handles like a dream and the grin was still etched on my face when I went to bed last night.
So Living up to some expectations- what were these- The driver?s window fell down three miles into the West Coast trip, the wire had snapped, so it is propped closed with some wood. The horn started to sound continuously in the heavy rain, so is now temporarily disconnected.
Exceeding expectations- the Driving experience around the Scottish Borders last night, such a great feeling, sounding, handling car, which makes you want to forget about trivial things like windows and horns!
Some pictures from last nights trip

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Home after dark

Car to bed!

[Elanintheforest]

Good stuff George. Next time you drive the Cortina you'll think that the steering box has become disconnected! I don't think that I've ever come across anybody who isn't really impressed with their first proper drive in an Elan, and like most oldies, they just get beter with use and familiarity.

A couple of things really worth doing on the Elan if it's not been used much in the past 10 years. Replace the tyres, and check the Rotoflex couplings very carefully. But perhaps the most important think is to overhaul the hydraulic systems. I've had several complete brake failures in the past few years, due to age of system, and a mate lost his Elite a couple of years back due to the complete failure of his brakes when he really needed them...they were overhauled properly 12 years earlier. The workshop manual suggests a complete overhaul at 5 year intervals!

So what's next in the Twincam stable? Plus 2? Escort? Europa? Seven?

Mark

[JC33supreme]

Hello George,
Congratulations on getting the car back to the UK and registered so efficiently.
And what a fantastic trip to christen the car, your story has kindled memories of what it is like to drive an Elan (mine hasn't moved for over 30 years) . I'd love to do that in an Elan, especially as I am such a fan of Jim Clark.
I would second Mark's comments about overhauling the brakes - when my calipers were pressure tested a couple of weeks ago, one exploded.
I wish you a most enjoyable summer.

John

[Type28]

Thanks guys for the comments, I have overhauled the brakes whilst I was waiting on DVLA, so fingers crossed that they will be ok.
Mark- what's the next car? - I have been looking for an Escort Twin cam for a while, but a tired one needing taken to bits and rebuilt- think I have a job on my hand to find one like that?
John- if you are ever up near Edinburgh and you want a run around the a borders with a stop at the JIm Clark room give me a shout.
Looks like a nice morning for a run in the ?lan - so am off now

[Elanintheforest]

George, very few 'barn find' Escort Twincams have come onto the market in the past 5 years or so, and the one or two that have were almost completely rotten. Where the Lotus Cortina was bought as a family sporting car, and maybe 10% bought for competition, the Escort was sold primarily for competition, and maybe 20% were bought as a family car.

So many were 'used up' in period, mainly in club rallying, and I have heard that Ford sold almost as many service shells for the Twincam as the total number of cars made, with many cars having several shells in their short life.

That said, there are quite a few good ones about that managed to avoid the forests, and also some good ex-club rally cars that survived with very good service shells.

What seems to be coming available now are cars that were restored 10, 20 or more years ago, and have been very little used for the past few years due to lack of interest or the owner getting on a bit. I bought one of these 3 years back, where the owner had died just as the restoration was completed some 20 years earlier, and it wasn't shaken down properly or used, so needed a fair bit of sorting to get right.

You need to know exactly what you're looking at when you do find one, and membership of the AVO club is a must. The Twincam Registrar is a really helpful friendly bloke who had owned over 30 Twincams, and knows most of the cars left in the UK....the good, the bad and the very ugly! Obviously cars that have been re-shelled or created from an old identity is a big issue, but they can usually be easily identified with a combination of forensics, information on the register and the car's provenance.

If you haven't already got it, do get a copy of Dan Williamson's superb book on the Mk1 Sporting Escort. It does help understand the production changes and what originality looks like....and it has some 20 photos of my old Escort Mexico inside!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Factory-Origina ... 1906133220

Here's my old car. I took it to the AVO National day last year for folks to see it for the first time, and lined it up with 10 other Twincams, including two ex-works XOO cars, a London - Mexico car. and 2 fresh restorations. I didn't realise they were being judged (not done in the Elan world!) and wondered why others seemed to be cleaning their cars and getting off the squashed flys. I left mine as it was, bonnet up, and wondered off to see the other cars. In my absence my car was judged to be 'Best Twincan 2014' which surprised me...and a couple of others in their gleaming cars!

Mark

[Type28]

I like your twin cam Mark- very nice

[pharriso]

Every time I see the original air cleaners on Twin-cam Escorts & Cortinas I have a chuckle, they must have had some exhaust boxes left over

p.s. They fetch silly money now because everyone removed them in the day...
p.p.s. Beautiful car Mark...