bluesbrother30 wrote:Would like to get some idea of how many Loti are left that were purchased from or serviced at the Southern California Lotus Dealership of Bob Challman's Manhattan Motors.
I would love to get my hands on a Manhattan Motors license plate frame if someone has one and would part with it.
Mike Summers
Nor Calif
Sorry Mike, no luck here. I think they read "Manhattan Beach Imported Cars" on the frames as I recall. There were some that said "Ecurie Shirlee Corp". You might check with Mike Ostrov or Dennis Ortenberger about a license frame.... They are probably your best resource.
Reminds me of Challman stories...
I remember visiting his dealership in Manhattan Beach in 1971. He was a curmudgeon. Would not let you test drive a car unless you bought it. He might take you for a ride though if he liked you or thought you were "worthy". He would not sell you a car if he did not think you could afford to keep it, or simply if he didn't like you!
My friend Dave J bought his S3 DHC Elan in England direct from the factory. It was the third one off the assembly line after Colin's and Jimmy's. After returning home from touring Europe, Dave took his Elan to Challman for its checkup. Challman exploded when he saw the car. He refused to touch it until he received a commission on the sale. The telexes flew between SoCal and Chestnut until he had his cheque in hand.
He threw a young Cal Poly graduate engineer, Dave Bean out of his dealership. Twenty years later, Challman walks into Dave's dealership in Santa Barbara. Dave recognizes him and says "Get the hell out of my dealership!"
During the 1992 West Coast Lotus Meet, I had the privilege of driving him through the Sonoma wine country, then over Oakville Grade to the Napa Valley, stopping at some of the smaller wineries on Silverado Trail.
He pronounced to the dinner crowd "This fellow here, drives badly and smells even worse!!" He was pointing at me.
Sorry for the lack of a caboose on this train of thought.....
Regards,
Dan