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PostPost by: Grecoalley » Sat Mar 18, 2017 5:32 pm

Hello All,

My name is Art Johnson, and I have recently obtained a 1974 Elan +2, model S 130/5, VIN #73121862L, It is a RHD car and had several English owners before it was imported to the U.S. I live in Lancaster County Pennsylvania where we share the roads with Amish and Mennonite horse drawn buggies. Until a year ago or so, I was a diehard fan of BMW's and Porsches and spent nearly 3 decades fooling with 60's. 70's and 80's models. For reasons which remain obscure, I bought 1977 TVR 2500M in 2015, and immediately became a fan of lightweight cars with modest horsepower. After assimilating the TVR, I began to search for a Lotus coupe of some sort, and investigated Elans, ?clat/Sprints, and Esprits. Elan +2 73121862L showed up nearby and it followed me home a week or so ago, I have only driven it about 150 or so miles thusfar, but can say that the driving compares favorably with the Porsches and BMW's of the same era.

There is a thick stack of receipts accumulated by the car's 7 or 8 owners, and it seems like a lot of money was spent to keep the car on the road for what seems to be 108k miles. The motor has good compression, and the driving has been clunk- and rattle-free so far, and I haven't found very much that needs tidying up. I like original cars, and so I'm not thrilled by the color (which was changed from Sable, L19), but many other aspects of the car seem to be original or OEM replacements. I expect I will find out what is original and what isn't as I read your posts. So while it was a roll of the dice, I'm happy to have it. I have driven RHD cars in Scotland, Ireland, New Zealand and Aurtralia, and haven't found the transition to be very difficult. I would like to get a mirror for the left side of the car however.........I look forward to reading about your cars and what you have done with them, and it seems likely that there are some former owners of this car on this website, and I especially look forward to hearing from you..



Cheers
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PostPost by: Spyder fan » Sat Mar 18, 2017 9:05 pm

Art, welcome to Elan.net.

I can't quite see the mirror on the RH side of your car but I think it's door mounted and similar to the Tex pattern, follow this link http://texautomotive.com/classic_exterior_mirrors.html maybe you will find a match to what you have already. You will need to mount it further back than the mirror on your drivers side, but don't worry, that's normal and no one will notice :D

Originally your car was Sable, but that's a colour that was fashionable for a few microseconds and I would think it a harsh judgement to detract originality points from your car by saying the Yellow ( Norfolk Mustard? ) is not original.

I hope people on here can point you towards the cars history.
Kindest regards

Alan Thomas
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PostPost by: mbell » Sat Mar 18, 2017 9:14 pm

Welcome, nice choice!

I knew my 130/5 couldn't be the only one in the country! Not come across another until now.
'73 +2 130/5 RHD, now on the road and very slowly rolling though a "restoration"
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PostPost by: KevJ+2 » Sat Mar 18, 2017 10:34 pm

Hi Art, and welcome.
That's a really nice looking Plus Two you've got there!
I've been to your neck of the woods a few times and used to love seeing the Amish 'vehicles' on the roads.
Hope you enjoy the car. Mine is just about finished after a 3 and a half year total rebuild, so getting to the nitty gritty of the final bits...like getting the ?#$!# to run nice :lol:

Regards,
Kev.
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PostPost by: SENC » Sun Mar 19, 2017 2:11 am

Welcome from NC - great looking +2!
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PostPost by: TeeJay » Sun Mar 19, 2017 10:33 am

Hi Art, welcome to the forum.

You will find the forum very helpful.
Apart from searching the forum, or asking questions, the forum has a ?Wiki?, although it?s currently under construction. But if you click on the link at the top of the page, then below ?The Shop Floor?, you will see a link ?Plus 2 Parts List?

Also the following USA website has useful links, as well as supplying parts. http://www.rdent.com/
There are several other supplier Websites, some of which, now have photos of the parts.

Enjoy your Lotus.
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PostPost by: pharriso » Sun Mar 19, 2017 11:56 am

Welcome Art, I was also interested in Bill's car - it's extremely nice! The timing was just wrong for me.

You have a very rare car here in the States, you have the UK interior in Oatmeal (never sold here) with the 5 speed gearbox (never sold here.)

Someone has already mentioned Ray at http://rdent.com, which is within driving distance for you.

Happy motoring & let's hope Spring will be here soon.

p.s. Here's a shot of the mirror the other side of the car:
3951123-1974-lotus-elan-2-130-5-std.jpg and
Phil Harrison
1972 Elan Sprint 0260K
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PostPost by: tedtaylor » Sun Mar 19, 2017 1:23 pm

Art,
please join LotusPALS (Philadelphia Area Lotus Society). Your previous two owners of your car were members and you can find out more of its history in this group.
"www.LotusPALS.ning.com"
I followed that car down to LOG34 in Asheville, NC when Kyle and I drove down together.
Hope to see you at one of our social events.
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PostPost by: Europatc » Sun Mar 19, 2017 2:08 pm

Welcome art from Blighty
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PostPost by: collins_dan » Sun Mar 19, 2017 3:37 pm

Welcome, Art. Please drive the hour down to Hunt Valley Cars and Coffee some Saturday morning. We have a hill climb S3, my restored S4, a completely original S2, a couple of Sevens, Esprits and Elise's, but NO Plus 2's. it would be a welcome addition and important education for those attending, which includes many newer Porsche, BMW and Lamborghini loving youths as well as classic car fans that may have never seen one in person. All the best, Dan
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PostPost by: RockingChairMotors » Sun Mar 19, 2017 6:35 pm

Alan,
Congrat on your newly acquired Lotus Elan +2S 130/5.
As it was my car up until you bought it, I offer you the opportunity to learn anything I may have learned during the time I owned the car.
I can be reached at [email protected]

Bill Petro, Allentown, PA 18102

Ps The brake booster is not original to the car, but the one on it now is better.
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PostPost by: rgh0 » Mon Mar 20, 2017 9:30 am

Looks great.
My yellow Plus2 S 130/5 was made a three months before yours and a couple of hundred plus 2 earlier than yours. It surprised me they made 200 Plus 2 between your December car and my September car.

I literally know every nut and bolt on my Plus 2 having owned it and worked on it for 30+ years so happy to help if you need to know something

cheers
Rohan
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PostPost by: Grecoalley » Mon Mar 20, 2017 2:25 pm

Thanks to all for the nice welcome and good information. I hope to make it to the Hunt Valley cars and coffee gathering in the near future.

Art
Live Boldly. 70 BMW 2002, 73 Datsun 240Z, 74 Elan +2, 75 Porsche 914, 77 TVR 2500M, 80 BMW M535i euro, 81 BMW M535i euro, 81 Puma GTI, 83 Porsche 928 euro, 85 BMW M635CSi euro, 85 Porsche 911 euro, 86 BMW M5 euro, 90 BMW M3, 95 BMW M3, 07 BMW Z4 M coupe
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PostPost by: The Veg » Fri Mar 24, 2017 11:32 pm

Welcome Art, from a fellow Plus 2 guy down in Georgia!
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PostPost by: seniorchristo » Sat Apr 08, 2017 11:20 pm

Hi Art
I used to live in Lebanon, PA and currently live in Whitehall (Allentown). I owned a Dark Green +2 soon after college and currently own a '67 S3 Elan. I am sure I saw your car being driven by the previous owner in my area 6-7 years ago. Seeing Lotus's on the road is such a rarity they are hard to forget! Welcome aboard! :)
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