Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Hello fellow Lotus people. My name is Chris and I'm from Brisbane, Australia. I'm in my early 30's, work as a mechanical engineer for Shell and have recently purchased a nice little 1967 Elan +2. Chassis number is 50/0245.

I've been a lifelong petrol head and had a few different toys. 2 4AGE powered corolla's, NA 300ZX, 300ZX slicktop with a V8 conversion and then a heavily modified twin turbo V6, a Evo 7, a M3 CSL and currently have a 2005 S2 Supercharged Exige with a bit of work done to it. Unfortunately it now has to find a new home (or I do! )

I must say I wasn't intending on buying the Elan, but saw it at the Motorclassica show in Melbourne and registered to bid on the off hand it went cheap. I didn't even know it was in the auction! Much to my surprise (and my lovely girlfriends annoyance) I was the winning bidder It was under estimate, though the more I poke around I'm not sure if I have overpaid for it...

I had it trucked up to my place in Brisbane and it arrived on Monday night, unfortunately I had to fly back to work on Wednesday... Bodywork seems quite good with a very recent respray (wasn't until after I bought it I found that that is not always a good sign) and an original interior. Engine is original and appears to start and run well and inside the cam covers is squeeky clean. Only a few oil drips. All it needed was a new thermostat. Clutch is horribly heavy, so I assume that the incorrect slave has been fitted at some point in the past. Chassis appears to be original, though I haven't had it up on stands for a proper look as yet.

I don't know a lot about it's history other than it was UK car sold as a kit (I have the original owners name at home in a letter from the factory) and ended up in Australia at some point. It was owned by Spencer Bates -
apparently a founding member of the Lotus Club in Australia in the 70's and was sold to the current owner in '96. Exactly when Spencer got it I'm not sure. If anyone has any information I would love to hear!

Wiring under the dash is a mess and the actual dashboard appears to be a little cracked. I also can't get the glovebox open (no handle or lock) - any tips there?? I've tried pushing, pulling, gently levering with trim removers all with no luck.

I've got a couple of other questions, so I'll put them in the relevant sections. Will probably start a little thread on the progress

Anyway - here are a couple of pictures

Flash ones from the auction site:






First photo I took of it at the show in Melbourne


One at home after its 1000mile journey and it's first bath


Tucked up in the garage next to it's grandson


And another one of the Exige because I can

Welcome Chris from a Plus 2 guy up in USA! Gorgeous car!

G'day Chris, you are very welcome here.

Looks like you have bought yourself a pretty little car and you are correct re the recent paint job. You will / may not know if it was painted correctly for some years and many miles.

If you just leave the car in the garage the paintwork will stay exactly as it is now, probably forever. But if you use the car and subject the bodywork to flexing and heat over 2 - 3 years, maybe longer, that will tell you how well the body was restored.

Enjoy

Leslie

Welcome, certainly looks nice car.

The glove box is a push release mechanism do probably stuck, I'd be trying to posh it in rather than pull it out to free it.

mbell wrote:The glove box is a push release mechanism do probably stuck, I'd be trying to posh it in rather than pull it out to free it.

I finally retired my glovebox push catch last year, after fighting with it for 30 years. I replaced it with a small magnetic cupboard catch. I also made up a glove box which I can drop from the front without removing the dashboard, to access the area behind. Finishing touch was the pull knob on the door, using a very expensive ivory and pearl guitar button

Thanks everyone

How exactly is the push latch supposed to work? I had previously read about it in an original review when new.

It all seems a bit stuck...

Its just a furniture style latch. You push in until it clicks then realise and the door should drop down.