Rhubarb

[gordonlund]

Anna, Nice cars, what's under the blue sheet?
Sorry I got your name wrong. Hope the pic of EMA doesn't upset you too much. It upset me I can tell you. The trucker was in the first lane on the M6 motorway I was in the second. Traffic was nose to tail in a 40 mph limit. Trucker was behind me then he decided to change lane where I was but he did not see me. He collided with my rear left & spun me off his front end, complete 360 deg then pushed me into the Armco where I came to a stop facing the direction I was first going.

There was not a straight panel left, chassis bent, front suspension and steering bent and twisted. You can see from the wheel the impact it took. Luckily I walked away from it ok but very annoyed. I had good witnesses to the accident so eventually I got full insured value for the car. I didn't have the heart to rebuild her as it would have not been financially viable and it would not have been the same car afterward.

Still I have the veritable +2 which is well on the way to 250,000 miles. Like the family heirloom axe, they can go on forever as long as you don't hit anything really big.

See you at Donington on the 17/18 March if you can make it to the Lotus Show.

Gordon

[Emma-Knight]

...poor EMA... I understand Your point about "never the same car again". Ken Adams, who designed all those special Aston Martin devices didn't do it for "James" but because he was so annoyed about peoples driving habits, especially against small sportscars.

There is a nice TR4 right hand, a GR8 SHAG on the left. Second floor holds some Ford A and an Adler dhc. Also, there should have been a yellow Elite but it will be a fhc Elan instead.

Anna

[Pastapesto]

Hello Anna & Gordon
Just been following your chat & looking at your pictures.

Anna, your S2 looks really nice in those colours, normally I prefer original colour schemes but I really like the colour combination & wheels. What is on the silver stripe through the middle? It's probably solid but sometimes I have seen people here put things like "Lotus S1,2, 4 or 4" or just "Elan"
in a similar type style as "Elan Sprint". Can we see more pictures, such as interior & under bonnet please? I am in the slow process of rebuilding an early S3 coupe which will stay it's original colour of Red (not quite sure which shade but it will be the one it left the factory in if possible). Anyway just wanted to say the S2 looks great. By the way, Is that your garage or a shared one? looks massive (I feel garage envy comming on)
Are you going to Donnington with the car?

Gordon, always a pleasure to see Rhubarb (& in the past custard) at the shows. Yes I have the book & it's one of my favourites.

I hope to see both cars at Donnington

Regards

Adam

[Emma-Knight]

...no need for garage envy - its all shared. The silver stripe is a plain rimmed one. Wheels look nice but I will go back to Lotus KO's. They're just too tight at the back and won't fit an S3 - we tried! I will do some more pictures - what from (details)?
(there is a nice site: Unibrain - about an S2 coupe restoration - very detailled before and after).

Anna

[Jens]

Anna,
Just noticed something...
You are located in Berlin with a Lotus - varrying a british license plate? Strange...
Hope my fhc will look as sharp as your dhc once - but there is still a lot of work to do on it. Basically not a screw has been topuched since the car came out of the factory.

//J - filled with sound envy

[Emma-Knight]

...shot 2004 on location in north London close to...

Good to have everything original - so nothing fussed. Its easier to start with original than trying to get missing pieces together or rebuilding badly treated threads!

Anna

[Jens]

Aha.
I see. But nowadays running in Berlin I guess? I saw some temporary licenseplates from Berlin in the background on one of your pictures.

Ofcourse it is nice to have it all original, but it also makes the process of getting the car in really nice shape a little bit more awkward. Apart from my thoughts concerning Mikuni carbs for the few track days I might want to attend (bolt on - and of as soon as possible... )), the goal is to keep the car in original state and not making a museum piece of it.
This also in a way means that all the development that Lotus didn't manage to incorporate in the car maybe shouldnt be incorporated - or is that too puristic?
Anyhow, it will for sure take a lot of blood, sweat and tears (not to mention bust knuckles) before my baby has half the appearance of yours.
The colour scheme you have is brilliant, really cool.


//Jens

[gordonlund]

Rhubarb at Donington having a whale of a time.

Hope all who got there had a great time. A bit cold on Sunday but these girls kept the blood circulating.

Gordon

[Emma-Knight]

....ooooh Austin - behave!

Anna

[gordonlund]

Just to let you know that we now have less than 3 weeks before we set off touring France again in Rhubarb. Last minute maintenance this weekend just gone. One day on the garden to keep Jo happy then a whole Sunday on the +2. Son number one came round for a play with his S2 Esprit (I'm going to finish soon dad, honest)

Between us we set up the exhaust with a new pipe clamp and readjusted everything so that we have less risk of grounding on the cross channel ferry ramps. While she was up on stands I set about oiling the trunnions and regreasing the front wheel bearings. A final top up of gear box EP 80 and thats it. Finished. I did all the other maintenance work over the Winter months, cams/ bucket clearances, ignition, oil & filter change and brakes. All the essentials for the MOT which she passed with flying colours. Even the hand brake worked!! Well we did cheat and fitted a differant hand break tree out of a later model +2 while we were changing the diff to the 3.54 ratio.

The next weekend should see a final shakedown then off we go.

I'll post some pics on our return. "Somewhere in France" as the war correspondents used to say.

Gordon

[gordonlund]

Some pics of our annual trip to Perigord, France and all points of the compass. 12 - 26 May 07.

A 3 day event and we spend 15 days over it, so why not. A zig zag through the centre of France, a Chateaux or two take in the Rally, then over the Pyrenese to Sans Sebastian. A vine yard or two, then Rochfort to see the Napoleonic Frigate the Hermionie, then on to the St Nazaire submarine pens.

2,423 trouble free miles apart from my leaky heater which I blanked off (no bother until we came home to wet & cold Blighty).

Cars featured.
Elan +2 (Gordon & Johanna Lund), Elan Sprint dhc (Phil Gaskell & mate Alan), Elan S4 dhc (John Orton & Yvonne & last but not least, Europa S2 (Roger & Linda Aughton). You don't see an old Lotus for years then there's a herd of 'em, like a No 23 bus.

Best Regards

Gordon

[dougweall]

Hi Gordon,

Good to see you had Rhubarb enjoying a little sunshine in the Lakes last weekend, sunday to be precise.

I passed you as I turned right towards Bowness, we were out for the weekend in our new to us silver Elise.

Next time we go to the Lakes we might take our Elan instead, just love the place.

Only saw 2 Elise all weekend which was a bit disappointing, but hey you guys don't know what you're missing. must admit the weather was grand this weekend for a change.

Doug.

[gordonlund]

Thanks Doug,

Just a quick trip around Coniston Water, up around Ambleside and back through Windermere for what was a Grand day out. Started off going north up the M6 from Preston and following the sun what there was of it. Followed the coast to Grange-over-sands, then over to Holker Hall for a cup of tea. Motor museum is now ?10.50 a head so we gave that a miss. Seen it many times before. Coniston is such a glorious area and not as busy as the mainstream lakes tourist traps. Great Lotus driving country especially out of season.

Good job my electric fan was working as we hit the jam on the M6 home. Quite a few modern cars were stopped on the hard shoulder!!

Old Elans are made better for being used and a good thrash around the Lakes is as good as any. I love it and so does Jo my wife who always appreciates a good run out. I always give a nod to other Lotus drivers but most Elise owners just don't recognise old Elans. Most were not born in that era. Nice to meet one who does.

Best Regards

Gordon
Rhubarb & Custard

[gordonlund]

Love the lakes. Had another last fling around Windermere and back over from Hawswater then the car ferry to Bowness. Johanna poses by Rhubarb prior to driving onto the ferry. The heater now works so we don't have to dress like wombles any more.

Had a good time at Stoneleigh and met a lot of nice people.

Gordon