1981 Lotus Eclat 2.2

[anonymous-user]

A 1981 review of the Series 2 Eclat -

http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/...

The comments about rearward visibility and parking difficulty are accurate. The rearward visibility from a Europa Twin Cam or Special is much better than that from an Eclat. The Eclat is longish as well. Parallel parking it is a bit of a faff, but at least the steering is light.

Edited by anonymous-user on Sunday 12th November 07:50

[anonymous-user]

The car made it back to London from Norfolk without incident, save for me clonking a curb through ineptitude. The fan fail light comes on if I go above 80, so maybe it is a "slow down you tosser" light.

I shall try to allow time next trip for posing by the factory gates at Hethel.

[ivanhoew]

G.. sometimes the fan windmilling in the air flow can create a voltage ,maybe what's causing the light to come on ?

if you hit 88 mph the flux capacitor should start to function too. EDIT ,i forgot on this model it 93.65 mph for F.C.I.


regards
robert.

[anonymous-user]

An interior shot that shows my shiny knob.

[99t]

Breadvan72 said:

An interior shot that shows my shtiny knob.

FTFY!!

Not standard fit I guess??

[anonymous-user]

Probably a small round wooden one when new. When I first got the car it had a horrid modern leather thing, pictured on page 1 of this thread. The chromy one was an eBay splurge.

[Horsetan]

Breadvan72 said:

An interior shot that shows my shiny knob.

Reminds me of aspects of the Aston Martin Lagonda dashboard.

[anonymous-user]

A more sensible price for an Elite -

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1978-Lotus-Elite-503/31...

[anonymous-user]

Romanian car care -

[TR4man]

Probably makes a pleasant change for them from the modern blancmange they wash

[anonymous-user]

Lots of "nice car, boss". Those poor blokes, they work long hours in all weathers, for, I assume, not much. I bunged them a reasonable tip.

[Horsetan]

Breadvan72 said:

Romanian car care -

Clearly the Kosovans / Albanians have moved on to bigger things.

[Fastpedeller]

Breadvan72 said:

I had no clue that there were Lotus pushbikes. I see that it was an American company from the 80s. I assume that Lotus Cars had not protected the name Lotus in relation to wheeled transport devices in the US.

Edited by Breadvan72 on Thursday 9th November 15:47

It has to be said that they do look to be, how shall I say it?, "at the bargain basement end"

[kev b]

Just caught up with this thread and seen there was trouble with fuel flow, thankfully resolved.

I wonder if it is worth checking that the electrical fuel cut off device is still in place, it sits in the pipe under the drivers footwell area, if it is still there you should be able to hear a click when the ignition is turned on.

Two reasons for bringing this up, firstly any debris may lodge there but more importantly it stops petrol flooding from the carbs if you park facing downhill.

This was a problem on early cars and could drain a full tank onto the road if a carb float stuck.

Must have been pretty serious in order for Colin Chapman to approve the expense.

[anonymous-user]

The single wiper is haunted. Sometimes it comes on unbidden. It parks where it feels like (must be a PH'er). The Elite and Eclat are cars designed around the wiper motor, so fixing this is not much of an option without dismantling the car.

[Horsetan]

Breadvan72 said:

The single wiper is haunted. Sometimes it comes on unbidden. It parks where it feels like (must be a PH'er).....

Dodgy earth?

[anonymous-user]

Lotus often used cheap materials for the interiors and they age badly. The black and grey tweed cloth that swathes my Eclat is hard wearing, but looks a bit dowdy. The strips of metallic trim have marked. My friend's Elite has had a re trim and feels quite 70s posh inside.

[anonymous-user]

The interior scrubs up OK -

[TR4man]

This looks a nice Elite - a one owner from new car too - and I have to say that the leather makes it appear more upmarket than the fabric.

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C935312

[anonymous-user]

I agree, but I wonder if the price is still a tad ambitious.