Do I have the budget to buy/run a plus two

PostPost by: john.p.clegg » Tue Jun 17, 2014 1:23 pm

5 speed is Voigt.. (or spyder?)

John :wink:
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PostPost by: theelanman » Tue Jun 17, 2014 1:27 pm

john.p.clegg wrote:5 speed is Voigt.. (or spyder?)

John :wink:



it is now but could have come with the Maxi box in 1974
chassis number and cross check with lotus should tell us....

they may have just upgraded the existing 5 speed to one which worked

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PostPost by: Elanintheforest » Tue Jun 17, 2014 1:46 pm

The difference between a ?12k Plus 2 and a ?20k Plus 2 would probably be around the cosmetics. A ?12k car will probably have a few stone chips and a couple of stress cracks in the bodywork, and maybe even a couple of micro-blisters in the paint. The engine bay probably won't be detailed, and could even look a bit tatty, and the interior may need a bit of attention to make it perfect.

But for ?12k you should get a very good chassis, strong running gear, sound bodywork and interior.....and it should be able to be fettled up to a higher standard with work and not too much money. The paint / bodywork is the expensive bit to sort out. If a car is covered in micro-blisters, and / or loads of stress cracks, walk away.

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PostPost by: Sundaydriver » Tue Jun 17, 2014 6:10 pm

Thanks for your help all :-)

I've still yet to experience a plus two, I did see one at Paul Matty, so I might see if
They'll let me take one for a spin , it would be silly to buy any car without knowing
how it rides and drives, and it's just a short trip from Gloucester.

I would miss the wind in the hair fun of my current car, and that Elise would give me that. I guess a plus two conversion (Christopher Neil ? ) , would be a rare and costly beast.

My wife hates my MK1 MX5, as it's 'a jostly ride , rattly, and feels unsafe', so what will she think of any Elan, being twenty or thirty years older, with fibreglass 'protection' .
It's just possible a refurbed Plus Two 130 interior might cosset her better, but do I really care, she'll never 'get it' ( the lotus experience) ha ha !!!

I'm reckon I'm still 60/40 Elise over Plus Two , but maybe if I saw one in the flesh it would help me decide.
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PostPost by: vernon.taylor » Tue Jun 17, 2014 7:12 pm

Salut

I have a +2S130 CN and I bought it because:

1. I wanted to share with the family and kids
2. I could only afford one fun car
3. It would have been daft not to take advantage of the good weather here in France

I had a normal +2S130 for a little while just before. I prefer it's roof line and it rattled a little less over bumps.

Mine has a Lotus galvanised chassis - a friend had one with a Spyder chassis - it felt stiffer (if straight men are able to say such a thing) but I prefered the handling of mine.

According to Paul Matty, where I bought my car, CNs are worth less. I imagine the price depends more on the weather. If you look for a CN make sure the windscreen surround has been strengthened - this is quite easy to tell - if the hood pulls the windscreen back and makes the doors scrape (or worse) then it hasn't been converted well. The later type hood arrangement is also preferable for convenience. The earlier type had two cross bars threaded in the hood that makes it awkward to put up. Strengthening the scuttle area is also a plus point.

Let me know if you want to know anything else about CNs.

@+

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PostPost by: sparkey » Tue Jun 17, 2014 9:18 pm

I have both an Elan +2 and an S1 Elise. The Elan is mechanically very good, with a few sensible mods (Tony Thompson driveshafts and suspension), but has a lot of microblisters and will need repainting sometime - the Elise is in fantastic condition. So which is best ?

Dunno...

The Elise is quicker, handles better, costs less to keep going and is great fun. It can also be used for track days without incurring big bills and is open top.

The Elan looks really nice (even with poor paint), is a nice place to be inside and sounds like a 60's racing car. More people will look and point at the Elan +2 as it's very pretty (if that's important). I did do track days in the Elan, but if that's of interest be prepared for engine rebuilds which can be expensive if you need head work. That's the main reason I got the Elise.

I use the Elise more (probably) and have done several European trips including Spa and Nurburgring and track day at Zolder last year..

I've also done European in the Elan, but it's much more hard work.

I can take the wife and 2 daughters out in the Elan, but really only small trips, but it has good luggage space for a trip for 2. The Elise has negligible luggage space.

I keep thinking I need to sell one or both, but can never bring myself to sell either - the Elan because I've had it 15 years and it's part of the family and my wife likes it, and the Elise because I know I'd want another sometime and I'd never find one as good. Both seem to be appreciating in value at about the same rate which is nice if I ever do sell one.

I notice you're also considering an Esprit, which I've also wanted, but I recently bought a rare competitor to the Esprit from the 80's and it's really good and half the price - a Renault Alpine GTA turbo. Many of the road tests from the time rated it as better than the Esprit with more grunt and great handling - it's also got decent back seats and it's rare and it's fibreglass (and plastic).





So I'd say buy an Elise

(I think)
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PostPost by: Sundaydriver » Tue Jun 17, 2014 10:52 pm

Sparky, excellent info, now I want both ... Dohh...

Vernon , much appreciate your info,
but I have to disagree, Here in the South West UK we have great weather !!!

I did find a soft top car my wife liked,
it was red, had a plush interior, wide,
solid, reassuringly bulky, and had a Maserati badge ... So a GT car would be her ideal, maybe one of the XK Jags might have to visit my
garage one day and we'll plan a Europe trip. It's not my bag though.

I 'grew up' ( some would argue ) with JPS, club lotus newsletters,
and saw the Esprit era unfold.

I just saw a Facebook share of Evo
Magazine, who are they... No idea really. But their TOP TEN drivers cars feature three Lotus.
I used to work in the motor trade,
and am a qualified techie on paper at least, I worked for a Renault dealer in Macclesfield
years ago - that Renault Alpine is a smart car, I prefer the curvy one !
I'd like to own an E Type one day,
but only because of it's looks.
I need to own a Lotus because it
was all I ever wanted to do as a teenager , I reckon that's a fair reason.

I do want to try track days Sparky,
so an Elise goes higher up the list !

Now : Elise/ Plus Two , 75/25

Two seater s1/s2 ?lan - when I have
?30k spare !
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PostPost by: jimj » Wed Jun 18, 2014 7:47 am

I`ve done track days in Elise and Elan. If you want to be quicker than most, a stock Elise will do that. If you want a challenge, improving lap by lap, then an Elan is much more demanding. In the Elise it doesn`t take long to work out how much speed in the corners you can carry.
The big difference, not in driving, is that in the Elise you can just carry on until you, or the tyres, are worn out. In the Elan you do find yourself worrying rather more about longevity. Was it Rohan who equated 1 racing mile with 10 road ones? I`d put it higher than that.
Me and 2 pals shared a crummy old ?3k Pinto Westfield for a while, just for track days. If you don`t mind the humiliation on the straights, that`s just a great choice. Less can be more.
Jim
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PostPost by: jimj » Wed Jun 18, 2014 8:41 am

This is what you need:

Mr. Smug
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PostPost by: theelanman » Wed Jun 18, 2014 9:13 am

jimj wrote:This is what you need:

Mr. Smug


I wondered if you still had Elsie
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PostPost by: Rob P » Wed Jun 18, 2014 10:03 pm

jimj wrote:This is what you need:

Mr. Smug


Now that's one very nicely filled garage 8)
Simplify and add lightness

Lotus Elan S4 Coupe - Wedgewood Blue
Lotus Elise S1 - Racing Green
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PostPost by: jimj » Thu Jun 19, 2014 7:42 am

Yes, so, I`m smug and proud. Over the last 2 house moves I`ve developed TGS; Tidy Garage Syndrome. Even tools I`m going to use again in 10 minutes, I put back in their proper place. I can`t tell you how much time and frustration this saves which motivates you to carry on. When I see pics. on here of people doing serious projects and working in a complete tip, I`m just amazed.
If you`d like to complain about this thread drift, don`t. Go and tidy the garage instead.
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PostPost by: john.p.clegg » Thu Jun 19, 2014 7:56 am

I'm just nipping into Stockport to get some peg-board to hang my tools on...

John :wink:
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PostPost by: theelanman » Thu Jun 19, 2014 8:43 am

ah...the joys of shadow boards.....
don't forget a tin of spray paint to do the 'outlines'..... :mrgreen:
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PostPost by: john.p.clegg » Thu Jun 19, 2014 10:37 am

But how do you do that...if you hang the tools and then spray...it'll all be the same colour...tool and all..

John :wink:
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