Elans

[TTwiggy]

I was out and about in Kent/Sussex on Sunday (the bend on the A259 at Ferry Hill near Rye was particular fun!) and i'd been waving at various Elises, which was all good. Going along the coast I saw a silver Elan S2 coming towards me, so I gave a flash and wave. The 'mature' gentleman driving it looked at me as if I'd suggested we exhume his mother for a threesome - are we not liked by Elan owners then?...

[Boggy]

TTwiggy said:

I was out and about in Kent/Sussex on Sunday (the bend on the A259 at Ferry Hill near Rye was particular fun!) and i'd been waving at various Elises, which was all good. Going along the coast I saw a silver Elan S2 coming towards me, so I gave a flash and wave. The 'mature' gentleman driving it looked at me as if I'd suggested we exhume his mother for a threesome - are we not liked by Elan owners then?...

That's a bad show!

I've only ever had one other Lotus owner not wave and he was in a new Elise and obviously didn't understand the brand etc, we really don't need these sort of people buying Lotus

Boggy

[NathanE]

Boggy said:

TTwiggy said:

I was out and about in Kent/Sussex on Sunday (the bend on the A259 at Ferry Hill near Rye was particular fun!) and i'd been waving at various Elises, which was all good. Going along the coast I saw a silver Elan S2 coming towards me, so I gave a flash and wave. The 'mature' gentleman driving it looked at me as if I'd suggested we exhume his mother for a threesome - are we not liked by Elan owners then?...

That's a bad show!

I've only ever had one other Lotus owner not wave and he was in a new Elise and obviously didn't understand the brand etc, we really don't need these sort of people buying Lotus

Boggy

If you ever want to drive a 2009 Esprit then yes we do want average joes buying Lotus!!!

[Ikemi]

I give a flash of the lights and a to any passing Lotus, which usually results in a big grin and a wave back from the other driver, especially if the driver (for some reason) is female! Never had a problem with the more modern Elans, but the classic 60's Elan is a different story ... I have seen a few excellent examples on the road and to show my enthusiasm for such a good choice of car, I naturally wave/give a thumbs up! Unfortunately most are driven by grumpy, 60-70 year old men who stare back as if you're inferior to them. Totally uncalled for imho

Not sure if anyone else has experienced the same?

Edited by Ikemi on Monday 13th August 17:49

[Sam_68]

Ikemi said:

Never had a problem with the more modern Elans, but the classic 60's Elan is a different story ... most are driven by grumpy, 60-70 year old men who stare back as if you're inferior to them.

I resent that comment - I'm nothing like that old!

I always wave to other Lotus drivers. I tend to find that Elan S2 drivers, followed by Elise drivers are the least likely to respond, though - I'd always put it down to the fact that there must be a significant number of drivers of these two newer models who simply don't recognise the Elan as another Lotus, on account of the fact that their response is usually to give you a confused stare in return.

I never bother trying to flash my headlights as a response, though - by the time the vacuum system has sucked them upright, whatever was coming in the opposite direction will be long gone!

[andy_s]

Probably due to the reaction times of the 70+yrs old driversor maybe they didn't flash people in their day.

There's a beautiful old Elan (gold/white/red) flying around our way with a proper 'ex-colonel/handlebar-moustache/tweed jacket' type driving, totally blanked my quick flash the first time I saw it but a big grin and wave a few weeks later.

[Ikemi]

Sam_68 said:

Ikemi said:

Never had a problem with the more modern Elans, but the classic 60's Elan is a different story ... most are driven by grumpy, 60-70 year old men who stare back as if you're inferior to them.

I resent that comment - I'm nothing like that old!

lol Sorry ... That is the experience I have had so far - Obviously not all classic Elan drivers fit the descriptions in my previous post. Hopefully I haven't offended you. By the way, that is a beautful Elan you have there - Liking the colour scheme

[Porlock]

Well I got an Elan and an Elise so I wave to both!! Actually I was in Dorset a few months ago in the Elise and i waved to a Sunbeam Lotus! Little did he know I was A previous owner of the Sunbeam!

[ganglandboss]

TTwiggy said:

The 'mature' gentleman driving it looked at me as if I'd suggested we exhume his mother for a threesome

......oh, hang on......................that's better!

[boobles]

I pass this lady almost every morning & shes driving a blue Elan & we always make an effort to wave. If anyone passes me in any Lotus, i wave!

[kambites]

I bet there are some Elise drivers who are snobbish enough not to acknowledge VX220 drivers too. That's not so different really when you think about it.

[Chris49]

Yep, I've had this alot. This weekend even got an knowledgable nod from an E Type but then passed an Elan and got nothing!!

This is a good post as I've been wondering about this.

Alot of british marques will wave MGs, Caterhams, Jags, etc but have struggled with Elans and Esprits from day one.

Weird!