PH Blog: another Elan anniversary

There are few classics I'd like to own more than an Elan. I bet I don't fit in one mind.

Here's my own tribute to Ron Hickman OBE which I wrote back in February this year:

21.10.1932 - 17.02.2011

Each of our lives are shaped by a handful of people and Ron has had a huge influence on mine. I’m very grateful to have known Ron Hickman OBE for the last fifteen years and to have had him to look up to as a design mentor.

Ron made his fortune from an idea for a simple but multifunctional bench with a gap down the middle to grip wood. The Workmate enabled DIY enthusiasts to saw through pieces of timber without using the edges of chairs and tables for support. The idea had come to him in 1961 when he accidentally sawed through the leg of an expensive Swedish chair while making a wardrobe. Nearly 70m Workmates have been sold since Black & Decker put Ron’s design into mass production in 1973.

I first met Ron as a teenage boy with my father, Ron took great delight in showing us around his futuristic house with a roof that stretched all the way down to the floor. The highlight of the visit was a trip in the 1962 Lotus Elan that he’d designed and then a ride in his pride and joy, his 1931 Cadillac V16.

As a twenty-year-old I returned to work for Ron on a sportscar project that he was developing in his retirement. The memory that I will keep of Ron is his unbridled enthusiasm for the power of his own beliefs, be that in design, the power of good or the un-compromised ability to carry on regardless of all the nay sayers.

At his funeral, his lifelong friend and former business partner, Derek Bernard, commented that Ron’s philosophy on life was to just keep on trying until you had exhausted every feasible option available.

View a tribute TV interview to Ron online here: http://www.channelonline.tv/channelonline_jerseyne...

... and here is mine

I'm 6ft 5 and I fit in both our FHC and DHC

Lovely. Good ones arent cheap are they?!

http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds/use...

I wish indeed!

Some of Ron' Hickman's major contributions to the Élan were the then upmarket features of the pop up headlights, with a clever use of the front chassis crossmember as a sealed vacuum chamber reservoir, tapped off the engine inlet manifold.

Also the electric wind up windows, bearing in mind this was 1962, which he cleverly and inexpensively created from the inspiration of his draught-mans board, with a wire and pulley arrangement. These were allied to a windscreen wiper motor, both of these designs appealed to ACBC's desire to cost less and in the case of the window system weigh less !

The Élan's double Y backbone sheet steel chassis was also his inspiration, initially devised as a simple subframe to hang the major running gear on as a test bed, history records it was so effective and crucially for Chapman it was cheap to build and install.

Lotus throughout the early years of their development attracted some of the best and most innovative designers, engineers and drivers under Colin Chapman's guidance. Think of the household names in the car world associated with them, Cosworth, Ford, GM etc. Ask Gordon Murray who his biggest influence was, he owns an S3 Élan by the way.

Happy birthday Élan

Oakman

Owner of a 1971 Élan Sprint DHC

I bet that you do. They are tardis like. My dad and I are both 6'4" tall and can sit in our S3 Coupe with plenty of spare head room and leg length.

Here is mine. Currently being restored for the end of this year. Has been sat for the last 10 years or so.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3KWU1qlfIM

Lovely!

Another delve into Harry's Garage. evo's Editorial Director and Founder Harry Metcalfe shows us around his 1972 Lotus Elan Sprint, he takes it for spin and explains why this 40 year old sports car is still very "evo" Follow us on twitter @evomagazine @harrym_evo