Your Lotus Elan - What Was It Like When You Acquired It?

[ceejay]

Hi Folks, we all have interesting stories about the acquisition of our individual lotus elan cars, and what they were like when they were first brought home. I'd like to share with you what the body of my S2 was like. This may shock a few, but then again, maybe it wont, because we all know the basket cases are out there... and this is one of them. Now refurbished and rebuilt with passion to live again. it is amazing just how quick thirty six years has gone by.

[rgh0]

Hi Col

My Elan was bad but not as bad as yours See you Saturday to talk about engine building

I got my Elan in the mid seventies with the car then only 6 years old but it had certainly had a hard life. The engine was stuffed resulting in my first twin cam rebuild immediately after I got the car, done a few more since. The body was stuffed having been poorly repaired and poorly repainted following a major front right impact. The chassis was even worse with a very poorly repaired front right corner. The wiring was shot and the underneath components corroded as it has spent most of its short life in the UK before being imported to Australia.

The only good thing about it was that it sort of ran , and it was cheap.

After an engine rebuild it was my everyday car until 1978 when I went to work in the US and UK for four years. During that time I collected the parts needed for a complete rebuild including a new chassis.

Rebuilt it from the ground up and got into sprints and hill climbs in early 80's and then marque sports car racing in the late 80's and early 90's and finally production sports car historic racing for the last 25 years. The paint is now showing its age after 40 years and a million stone chips on the nose from racing to close to the cars in front but its held up well and demonstrates that Elans are very reliable even after more than 40,000 race miles if built right and maintained right. A race mile is equal to 10 road miles in a car IMHO so its certainly been well used !

Last year I had a chance to ride in Ceejays Elan through the hills on some great roads and its is certainly a quick and good handling car, just needs a bit more in the engine department for my taste hence our conversation on engine building, a 160 hp twink for the road makes a lot of fun and is not hard to do


cheers
Rohan

[shaun]

Found sitting on a drive for 15 years , 2 years later restored but now sold

[ceejay]

Well said Rohan re the elan, and how they will take the punishment if serviced and maintained correctly. You have certainly logged the race miles, many more than what I had imagined. Over the three decades of ownership, my elan has delivered in spades as far as driving enjoyment and grin per mile, few other cars would come close.
There's so many elans out there, with so many stories attached.
Catch you over the weekend.
Ceejay

[memini55]

Hi Col,

As I read this title I thought who would start such a thread??? Should have known the author would be you and what a great write up.
I might have to join in but need to get some more work done before I have time. Our journeys with these cars are simply amazing and you are right to start a thread of this title.

Lets see how many years ago did a buy my first set of axles???
My first Elan started in 1983 and I will have to post about that trail later.

Cheers
Mark

[ceejay]

Hi Mark.
Thanks for your encouragement, yes, there must be a lot of interesting, but untold stories that lay dormant with many of the lotus elan cars owned by forum members and others... and as SBS says, one billion stories and still counting... well maybe not that many, but a lot still the same. Glad to hear the CVDS axles are still performing well, it is indeed many years since you installed the conversion into your elan, you must have covered more than a few miles on them by now.
Col.

[ceejay]

Found sitting on a drive for 15 years , 2 years later restored but now sold

Shaun.
Nice job on the Plus 2 rebuild, another lotus brought back to life for someone to enjoy on the road once again.

[toggle45]

Early '67 Type 45 S3/SE, brand new off the boat April 1967. Got 5 great years out of it before I parked it in deference to marriage and family.

Over 45 years in its garage space, somewhat torn up from an early minor restoration that got out of hand. Couldn't think of parting with it. But getting on in years, so must face the likelihood of letting someone else have a crack at it.

[Elan45]

I was a neophyte engineer for Cummins Diesel engines in Columbus Ind in 1974. I was told of a local Elan that "I could buy for the cost of the engine". I looked at it the next night and was all set to buy except the owner wanted to hold out to give another a chance who'd scheduled a look the next night. Needless to say, I did not sleep the next 2 nights. The car had been someone's autocrosser and had typical autocross injuries around the wheel arches etc. But the owner in Sept 1974 did not have a garage, so the Elan sat outside in the weather with no top, neither of the electric windows worked, the tach didn't function and a defective handbrake kept it from passing state inspection. I later found there was a worn boll joint that was also a fail and several niggly items. But $1100 and it was mine and I had been able to retain my trusty bug-eyed Sprite.

Soon I'd been introduced to N & W salvage in Newcastle Ind where I was able to purchase a used top (hood), wire it onto the Elan and drive the S3 Super Safety back home late that night. I took the window motors apart and cleaned them and fixed all the little problems I could find. I found the front turrets full of a concrete like material and realized we had limited years. Disenchanted with my 1st engineering job and location, we soon moved back to Columbus Ohio. So, in ten months, Columbus Ohio to Columbus Ind and back to Columbus Ohio, now with an Elan I'd lusted for for over 10 years. I was right about the concreted front turrets. They went in Spring of 1978 and in order to keep an Elan running to use, I bought a pre-airflow FHC from Arkansas and transferred the engine and g'box from the Indiana Elan into it, but that's another story. I still have both the above Elans. The Indiana one got restored onto a new galvo frame and reclaimed its mechanical bits and I have the Arkansas car apart being restored today.

The 1st Elan had come originally from Pittsburgh and Gary Rowlett had bought it from Lotus Central in Livonia Mich. The 2nd Elan was originally from Texas, owned by a college professor who irritated some members of the football team who then proceeded to carry his car to his 3rd floor office and damaged it enough to turn it over to his insurance. It was repaired and sold through Bob Guest Sportscars in Dallas.If anyone on the list knowa of either original owner, Id like to find them.

I still remember test driving that 1st Elan home to let my wife see what I wanted to spend my limited resources and hearing water sloshing around in the floor. Thank goodness she either didn't hear it or ignored it like me.

Roger

[tfb0001]

I love everyone's story. I'll add mine when I get a chance

[StressCraxx]

I test drove a really beautiful '58 "Fuelie" (Rochester mechanical fuel injection) Corvette, red with a white splash on May 11, 1979. I loved it until I drove it. Went like hell, just don't ask it to turn or stop. The man selling it asked me how I liked it. I replied it just wasn't for me. He asked, what do you really want? I said a Lotus Elan. "There is one in today's newspaper classified." I went to see it that night and bought it, non running. It had lived under a tarp in a Denver backyard for four years. It looked like it too.

I got it going well enough to drive it to my friend's garage two miles away. The journey continues.

[vstibbard]

Ceejay

Here's my contribution 26/0429 when purchased in 1997, 8 years after the accident at the now long gone Oran Park race track in Sydney. I was following the car at time of the accident, then offered to help with the repairs at the time and patiently kept in contact.

Body damage, twisted and bent chassis, suspension..when collected

And when the restoration was finished in 2017, back to its narrow body form as it raced in period ready for its Group M historic log book

Day the restoration was finished

Cheers

V

[ceejay]

Lovely resto job mate... you should be proud.

[vstibbard]

I am thanks Ceejay

[ftsoft]

Well, it was pretty nice as it was brand new.

Frank