How many convertibles

[roger.h]

Recently I helped a friend of mine change his Plus 2 to convertible. I have a CN convertible so we copied this. Everything went very well and we are pleased with the result. During the process I emailed Club Lotus to suggest they post a question in their magazine asking for information about the number of "chopped" Plus 2's that now exist, whether CN or not. Unfortunatley they never even printed the article----
Is it possible to find out this information thro' these forums? I know that CN converted over 50 cars, but other companies also did some. Any way of finding out?? It would be nice to talk to other owners.
One advantage of the convertible (for old folks like me) is that it is much easier to get in and out of the car!!
Apologies if this subject has been raised before.
Best regards Roger.h

[ardee_selby]

"During the process I emailed Club Lotus to suggest they post a question in their magazine asking for information about the number of "chopped" Plus 2's that now exist, whether CN or not. Unfortunatley they never even printed the article----"

Triffick!

However, did you make note of the couple that have been on ebay fairly recently? (One of which had suffered a fire)

Good luck with your quest.

Cheers - Richard

P.S. Here's one:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Lotus-Elan-2-Cabr ... 3f07a6c430

[stugilmour]

Hi Roger, welcome to the forum. Here are a few links to one's in the US, Canada, and Hong Kong. Also a targa design.

elan-photos-f18/new-elan-130-cabriolet-owner-sdk-434l-t21371.html

http://www.kmrestorations.com/Lotus/Elan+2rhd.html

elan-plus-f13/restoration-1973-130-convertible-t21242.html

elan-photos-f18/targa-topped-t20525.html

I don't think the registry identifies the convertables separately, but you may find some additional owners there. Is your car added?

http://www.elanregistry.org/

HTH

[Unibrain]

I don't think the registry identifies the convertables separately, but you may find some additional owners there. Is your car added?

http://www.elanregistry.org/

Go to the registry, List Cars, hit "Search" on the upper left, on Variant pull down and select DHC or Roadster and hit Query

or go to the Statistics page and see the counts
http://www.elanregistry.org/stats.php

Model Count
Unknown 96 (These are plus 2's)
DHC 138
Federal 8
FHC 18
FHC-airflow 47
FHC-preairflow 38
Race 1
Roadster 158

[kstrutt11]

I also have one, I converted it myself 14 years ago using parts from CN plus plenty of self fabricated extras.

Personally I was not happy with the scuttle shake as converted so I developed a tubular frame to go behind the dash (Links door pilars to tunnel) and boxed in and foam filled several other areas, it now drives much the same as the coupe.


Kevin

[terryp]

Roger
We have 6 to our knowledge in France, that's out of a total 50 or so "known" Elan +2 cars
Perhaps 10% of total +2's?

Terry

[stugilmour]

I don't think the registry identifies the convertables separately, but you may find some additional owners there. Is your car added?

http://www.elanregistry.org/

Go to the registry, List Cars, hit "Search" on the upper left, on Variant pull down and select DHC or Roadster and hit Query

or go to the Statistics page and see the counts
http://www.elanregistry.org/stats.php

Model Count
Unknown 96 (These are plus 2's)
DHC 138
Federal 8
FHC 18
FHC-airflow 47
FHC-preairflow 38
Race 1
Roadster 158

Thanks for that Jim. I should have been a bit clearer; I meant I believe for the Plus 2 the registry assumes it is a FHC by definition? May have that wrong though. Appears from your summary the Plus 2 does not have a "Model", or it is Plus 2S, Plus 2S130, etc.?

Thanks again for the registry. Note I am not suggesting a change to it.

[1964 S1]

Is it time someone cuts the roof off and saves it as a removeable hardtop? I've got an original '69 and would love to make it a roadster but....
Let's forget about the ugly convertible rag top conversions.
Keep the hardtop and let's design/engineer its on/off conversion here on elan.net...
Sorry, I'm de-railing this thread....
I'll guess there's about a hundred +2 roadsters.
Eric

[kstrutt11]

I did plan to do this when I converted mine, but it was not going to be easy, the main problem being the DHC hood tray which sits outside of the normal B pillar and rear window line, meaning the roof would have to go even further out, to do this so it looked reasonable would mean re-profiling most of the rear of the roof. I also found the soft top to be fairly weather tight anyway (even when I used for most of the winter a couple of years ago) so gave up.

Kevin

[john.p.clegg]

The best I could manage was to fit a sunroof,but I would dearly love to have a removeable hardtop...

John

[Sargasso]

My 70 +2s was done by a small outfit called Classic Transport near Wolverhampton.

I recently had a new top made hear in Canada that fit perfectly.

[keith]

Eric I did save my +2 hardtop. Actually made the thing break into 4 sections so i could take it along before i made the soft top. I am a new member - really enjoy you guys - thanks keith.

[Hethel_Haus]

Anyone know if Christopher Neil kept any records for vehicle ID's for the cars that they converted? Also wondering if anyone has ever seen any posters similar to this attachment? It would be something nice to have to display with the car at car shows.

Cheers!
Steve
Appleton, WI
'73 Elan +2S 130/5 Cabriolet

[Didi]

Here in Belgium, there is as far as I know only ... 1.
And this is mine
You can see my CN Convertible here
At the moment I'm restoring the Plus2

... Also wondering if anyone has ever seen any posters similar to this attachment? ...

Sadly I only have a copy of the leaflet as you have. I've never seen another .

[vernon.taylor]

Well, there'll be one more in France soon - I just bought a very nice and expensive one from Paul Matty:



4-speed 'box to be rebuilt (included in the price, thankfully) and Wiily to get married before it makes it way to daddy.

@+

Vernon