Elan +2 owners near Maidenhead

[Matt Elan]

Hi there

I live in Fleet, Hants - 30 mins away from Maidenhead. You are welcome to pop over to see my brace of Plus 2's - one an early Plus 2, the other a Plus 2S. Check out my restroration threads. The early car is pretty much untouched apart from a rotton chassis and no interior (its in the shed), while the later Plus 2S has its body off and almost stripped ready for some repairs and repaint while the completely reesored rolling chassis is in my garage - useful to take a look at both I think to get an idea of what's going on under the skin of the car!
PM me on the board - I've recently retired so am around most days.

Regards

Matt

[vincereynard]

I'm not sure that originality is as important on the +2 as the Elan.

It might be considered heresy but I looked for a +2 with a Spyder chassis as I consider the original to be marginal at best.

Whilst it was a year ago, when I enquired about vetting a particular +2's at Barry Ely, his first question was has it a replacement chassis. There was no distinction which type, just not original.

[Grizzly]

Well ironically until recently having a replacement chassis was seen as a good thing but when you look into it a little more it's only cars restored by Lotus Specialists that get a chassis as a matter of course....... Any other restoration shop restoring any GRP bodied car will try to retain the chassis if possible as thats the aim of the game to restore a car rather than replace.... Now Lotus is a bit of an odd one because the Chassis was almost a consumable item so the amount of cars with the original chassis under them (in good condition) is rare and anything rare usually increases the ???

I work allot with Jaguar restorations and in the last few years the game has changed quite a bit, the Collectors that once wanted immaculately restored Concour cars are now pay big money for the Immaculate un-restored cars (unicorn cars) and the closer you can get to 'as factory' the more desirable they get (it's why we do mad things like paint cars in Enamels and Cellulose to replicate the original finish)........ Numbers matching might be looked at funny by Lotus owners but in the Classic car world it's a huge part of the value of the car.

So depends what you want?? if you want to use your car and not bothered about resale value a spyder chassis is the way to go but if you have an investment in mind then i'm not so sure, +2's might not be as fussy right now due to the market being so low but you can use 2 seaters as an example of what will happen when the values start to creep up.

[Sea Ranch]

I agree with Chris. Restore parts, rather than replace parts; that's my mantra.

No question there is something unusual about the Lotus Elan and Plus 2 market (even compared to other vintage Lotus models).

Been said before, but for the sake of the continuing existence of Plus 2s, we can only hope the market interest goes up, as that is the most powerful encouragement for owners to care for, maintain, preserve their cars.

Laugh, if you like, at the sometimes peevish attitude of Jaguar owners regarding stock/original configuration and quality work, but it's hard to argue with all the beautifully restored, preserved Jags around.

Randy

[phunter121]

Chris, may I just ask about something you said in your last post:

Personally i didn't buy a 5 speed because i preferred the Black seats, three fuse box version and planned fitting a voigts kit that could be reversible.... each to their own.

1. Were black seats not available on the 130/5s?
2. What is the benefit of the 'three fuse box version'?

[Matt Elan]

The later Plus 2 was available with black seats or Tan/light Brown ones. I think Chris is referring to the early cars, the Plus 2, which had thin seats, which were replaced with plumper and more luxurious items from the introduction of the Plus 2S around 1968/9ish - Lotus production dates can be somewhat unclear.....
Let me know when you want to pop over to see my Plus 2 and Plus 2S and all will be revealed!
Matt

[Matt Elan]

Re the chassis and originality question - many an original chassis will have rust in it. My one owner (ish) Plus 2's gearbox mount is still attached to some of the chassis, but it is no longer attached to the car, and one of the front suspension towers has collapsed, damaging the body. Thats a car that has been standing a long lime but I suspect it was taken off the road as the chassis had gone. My fire damaged Plus 2 S's chassis also had lots of rust in the front turrets but is repairable; however as the originality of that car is so far gone I've no qualms in fitting a Spyder chassis which a mate had lying around. That said I bought a decent second hand chassis for the older Plus 2 recently which is a 72 unit but in good nick.
I think that the market is moving towards originality over 'all new' with the Plus 2 but slowly. With my 2S it is not original, so I'm building it up as I want it - still a plus 2S spec, with non original block, all put back to standard spec but with a Stromberg head, the early Spyder chassis and non original paint, Lotus alloy wheels, Sue Miller CV drive shafts etc.
The Plus 2 I'll put back to as close to standard as possible; its got all original running gear including the engine, and will keep it all. As a one owner for its first 36 years and a single owner for a year before I bought it its worth keeping as standard IMHO - apart from the replacement chassis.
It will be interesting to compare the two when they are both done; I'll keep the one I prefer....