Discussion
No I don't own this. Yes I would happily sell the E-type and sell my soul for one with a firepump engine. We were at a BRDC day and someone had an eleven with a firepump engine in - sounded rather good.
Does anyone own one? If so can see some pictures. Better still I want to hear the engine.
I would love to have one of these to do hillclimbs with and maybe the odd sprint too.
I also wonder if they are harder to maintain than my Jag. I do have a heavily modified Midget and we often have to make things to fit.
Thank you
Does anyone own one? If so can see some pictures. Better still I want to hear the engine.
I would love to have one of these to do hillclimbs with and maybe the odd sprint too.
I also wonder if they are harder to maintain than my Jag. I do have a heavily modified Midget and we often have to make things to fit.
Thank you
shirt said:
I believe you can get pretty much everything to build one from scratch via tony thompson racing.
Are you sure you're not thinking of Tony Bates ( A.N.E Bates), not Tony Thompson?Tony Thompson supplies wobbly web wheels and various bits for early spaceframe single seaters, but he's mainly into Elans and doesn't do much by way of Elite spares AFAIK.
There's Miles Wilkins at Fibreglass Services, too, if you don;t mind an 'old fashioned' attitude to customer service.
Paul Matty Sportscars don't specialise in them, particularly, but they often get nice ones for sale, if you're serious.
Paul Matty do some very very nice cars. We often see them at Prescott.
And for the record, I really don't like red cars at all. I am most disappointed as my Jag was orginally gunmetal grey with a red leather interior but clearly the last restorer had a taste bypass and resprayed the thing red.
And for the record, I really don't like red cars at all. I am most disappointed as my Jag was orginally gunmetal grey with a red leather interior but clearly the last restorer had a taste bypass and resprayed the thing red.
Easily the prettiest coupe ever made, although it nearly bankrutped the company.I think it was Bristol who were commissioned to make the tubs.Some idiot cheapened the Glass Lay up process to speed up delivery of the tubs,weakening the area around the diff. These cars had inboard brakes and were similar at the rear end to the Iaguar IRS ,except the diff was bolted through the glass monococque floor.As a result ,someones` diff fell out, riping a great hole in the area behind the seats.Our government then banned the export of the cars already destined for the USA at dockside until it was sorted, so Chapmam quickly reinforced the area with a steel plate bonded into place. The test was dumping the clutch whilst on the redline and the diff stayed !. He then sent teams out in Anglia vans glassing in the new steel reinforcing gusset on the export cars at dockside and the home market. Somehow in true Chapman style he convinced the authorities and investors it was cured and the company lived again, just.
The concept Elan chassis was destined for the Elite , to reduce the cost of manufacture.
The concept Elan chassis was destined for the Elite , to reduce the cost of manufacture.
Yep there is one over here. My Grandfather has had 2 in period(White S1 and Red S2) The white S1 is now raced in HSCC and we see it regulary.
My uncle now has the S2. He and his twin sister (my mother) used to be squashed in the back as kids and taken all over Eurpoe in it. We recently sold the 11, which will help the ground up resto of the Elite, which will be used for Euro Tours and the like (Not a competition car). It is Red with tan interior, but this is to change, and the final colour combo is still in family discussion.
As a car, I love it. Great design and a lovely drive. we can't wait to get in back.
My uncle now has the S2. He and his twin sister (my mother) used to be squashed in the back as kids and taken all over Eurpoe in it. We recently sold the 11, which will help the ground up resto of the Elite, which will be used for Euro Tours and the like (Not a competition car). It is Red with tan interior, but this is to change, and the final colour combo is still in family discussion.
As a car, I love it. Great design and a lovely drive. we can't wait to get in back.
Sam_68 said:
shirt said:
I believe you can get pretty much everything to build one from scratch via tony thompson racing.
Are you sure you're not thinking of Tony Bates ( A.N.E Bates), not Tony Thompson?wouldn't mind knowing a guide price for an elite bodyshell as they can be modded onto a sppyder chassis. zetec/duratec elite would be an interesting proposition.
coco - gunmetal with red leather is the classic colour combo imo. i like white elites tho.
johnnymaestro said:
Yep there is one over here. My Grandfather has had 2 in period(White S1 and Red S2) The white S1 is now raced in HSCC and we see it regulary.
My uncle now has the S2. He and his twin sister (my mother) used to be squashed in the back as kids and taken all over Eurpoe in it. We recently sold the 11, which will help the ground up resto of the Elite, which will be used for Euro Tours and the like (Not a competition car). It is Red with tan interior, but this is to change, and the final colour combo is still in family discussion.
As a car, I love it. Great design and a lovely drive. we can't wait to get in back.
Sorry to go off topic here, but the formula junior race car in your profile. Is that Bob Dance sitting in it?My uncle now has the S2. He and his twin sister (my mother) used to be squashed in the back as kids and taken all over Eurpoe in it. We recently sold the 11, which will help the ground up resto of the Elite, which will be used for Euro Tours and the like (Not a competition car). It is Red with tan interior, but this is to change, and the final colour combo is still in family discussion.
As a car, I love it. Great design and a lovely drive. we can't wait to get in back.
I don't think it would work, the whole ethos of the Elite is weight and the FWE really is a feather weight engine, about 220 lbs, the whole car weighs 1500lbs. The Dino lump would spoil it.
Nick_F said:
They're lovely, but the whole 4 cylinder thing leaves me cold.h
Imagine an Elite with a 2.0 Dino V6...
Imagine an Elite with a 2.0 Dino V6...
RW774 said:
...I think it was Bristol who were commissioned to make the tubs.Some idiot cheapened the Glass Lay up process to speed up delivery of the tubs,weakening the area around the diff. ...
The Elites that had problems with the diff mounting were the early cars, manufactured by a company called Maximar Mouldings Ltd. When it became clear that they were incapable of delivering the necessary quality, Chapman entered into a contract with the Bristol Aircraft Company. The quality of the Bristol manufactured monocoques is much better and they didn't really suffer from the diff mounting problems when new (though the years have taken their toll, so it's wise to get any remaining car checked and reinforced as necessary).RW774 said:
...The concept Elan chassis was destined for the Elite , to reduce the cost of manufacture.
The Elan/Elite link was the other way around. The Elan was originally intended to use a glass fibre monocoque, like the Elite, but the backbone chassis was introduced when Ron Hickman failed to find a cost-effective solution to making the tub stiff enough on an open-top car.shirt said:
..wouldn't mind knowing a guide price for an elite bodyshell as they can be modded onto a spyder chassis. zetec/duratec elite would be an interesting proposition.
There was a very nice Elite replica called the Encore Super 95, briefly available some years ago, that used a Spyder manufactured backbone chassis under an Elite bodyshell, with a Ford CVH engine. It wasn't cheap... from recollection, it cost about £14K to produce an accurate replica, once you'd added in all the brightwork, trim, whells etc., and that was back in the early 1990's. IIRC, a reproduction bodyshell from Tony Bates cost about £9-£10K at the time, though that will have doubtless increased substantially by now, too.There's a guy in America called Mike Ostrov who has created a couple of Elite/Elan hybrids, with the Elite bodyshell fitted to an Elan backbone with the Lotus Twin Cam engine.
I agree that a V6 engine misses the point; it's way too heavy for a tiny, light car like the Elite. If I were to build a Spyder chassis'd replica, I think the Rover K-series would be top of the list as being closest in spirit to the Climax FWE.
srob said:
johnnymaestro said:
Yep there is one over here. My Grandfather has had 2 in period(White S1 and Red S2) The white S1 is now raced in HSCC and we see it regulary.
My uncle now has the S2. He and his twin sister (my mother) used to be squashed in the back as kids and taken all over Eurpoe in it. We recently sold the 11, which will help the ground up resto of the Elite, which will be used for Euro Tours and the like (Not a competition car). It is Red with tan interior, but this is to change, and the final colour combo is still in family discussion.
As a car, I love it. Great design and a lovely drive. we can't wait to get in back.
Sorry to go off topic here, but the formula junior race car in your profile. Is that Bob Dance sitting in it?My uncle now has the S2. He and his twin sister (my mother) used to be squashed in the back as kids and taken all over Eurpoe in it. We recently sold the 11, which will help the ground up resto of the Elite, which will be used for Euro Tours and the like (Not a competition car). It is Red with tan interior, but this is to change, and the final colour combo is still in family discussion.
As a car, I love it. Great design and a lovely drive. we can't wait to get in back.
Snetterton April 2007. Was trying to figure out the clutch problem.AJAX50 said:
I don't think it would work, the whole ethos of the Elite is weight and the FWE really is a feather weight engine, about 220 lbs, the whole car weighs 1500lbs. The Dino lump would spoil it.
Are you sure about the 220 lbs?Nick_F said:
They're lovely, but the whole 4 cylinder thing leaves me cold.h
Imagine an Elite with a 2.0 Dino V6...
Imagine an Elite with a 2.0 Dino V6...
I thought the engine was very closely linked to the Imp engine. As a teenage I could lift up the whole long engine gear box and transaxle assembly out of my brother Imp and later out of my Husky. It was the easiest way to get the engine out ... which was a sadly common job :-(
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