Impromptu BL line up
Discussion
williamp said:
I came very close to buying an elite when I was young. I could afford the insurance but I didnt feel I had the mechanical knowledge/ understanding parents enough to take the chance. The one I saw was descrived as "good condition... for an elite" and had such charms as exhaust stubs which were different lengths AND exited at different angles. Still I loved/love the shape and would really consider a good one now. Or a late mode Excel SE...
Head over heart makes a late model Excel SE THE one to have. That is a serious proposition as a daily driver. It may be the best car that Lotus ever made. Heart over head says get an Elite or Eclat, for sheer shonkytasticalness and Lotus-y pain in the butt factor, but LOTS of style and fun. PS: I say nowhere near but was in fact about five miles away. Two old Lotus wedges in the same five mile radius on one Sunday, with no car shows in progress: - Spoooooooky.
This morning I drove down a back lane in the Elite and was rewarded by meeting an E type hard top, and also an early 80s Celica (or similar Toyotakoop - Jap semi-wedge of 80sness). Much waving and gurning and headlamp pop upping and downing (Elite and Celica, not Jag, obvs) ensued.
This morning I drove down a back lane in the Elite and was rewarded by meeting an E type hard top, and also an early 80s Celica (or similar Toyotakoop - Jap semi-wedge of 80sness). Much waving and gurning and headlamp pop upping and downing (Elite and Celica, not Jag, obvs) ensued.
I do miss the days of headlight-waggling (I've had three eighties Jap heaps in the past). Yesterday was pretty rich for car spotting actually - I stumbled across a rather special looking Bugatti of some sort leaving one of the houses in a nearby back road. No idea what it was - 1920s/30s vintage at a guess - but the owner was gracious enough to acknowledge a rather enthusiastic thumbs up from an oik in an Impreza 
Breadvan72 said:
It may be the best car that Lotus ever made.
That was the FWD Elan, a superb machine that was reliable and enormous fun to drive. However, the late Excel was a very well sorted car with the Toyota bits and the 2.2 Lotus unit demons well and truly exorcised.A mate of mine had two and despite the naysayers, proved astonishingly dependable.Yertis said:
AW111 said:
Breadvan72 said:
I like it.
Unusually for me I'm doing my homework on this model before I take the plunge and buy one.
J
As my train drew out of my commuter-Hell station yesterday morning (just one more year of torture and then I am back in London full time, and even now I have a weeknight crashpad in Smokeyville, yaaay!), a young girl across the aisle was announcing to her parents her car spottings. The Elite was parked alone at the London end of the large carpark. So the girl narrated "Yellow Mini, blue Mini, yellow Mini .... weird car."
I've just seen the Lotus in the station car park. Could not help but notice the headlights proudly protruding from the front of the wedge shaped loveliness. Forgive my ignorance but, Is there an issue with them or is it something as simple as just turning the ignition off before turning them off?
The little girl is right, it truly does stand out among the dull modern machinery.
The little girl is right, it truly does stand out among the dull modern machinery.
On old Lotuses with vacuum operated pop up lamps it is normal for the lamps to move slowly to the open position once the car has been standing for a bit. When you turn the engine on and the vacuum system operates, the lights go down again. With (RWD) Elans you sometimes see the car winking, with one lamp up and one down.
Series 2 Elites and Eclats and all Excels have an electric system for the lights, and the owner of this Elite may fit that system as a mod.
Mods, wise, the car already has electronic ignition and an improved air intake
Series 2 Elites and Eclats and all Excels have an electric system for the lights, and the owner of this Elite may fit that system as a mod.
Mods, wise, the car already has electronic ignition and an improved air intake
My grandad was really into Princesses and Ambassadors, he must have owned at least a dozen of them over the years. I remember being roped into changing the rubber rear suspension mountings on almost every one of them as well 
He also had a penchant for Rover SD1s and 800s, before a brief foray into ageing Subarus. He was a regular at the local car auction well into his 80's, buying up any of thecheap and knackered outstanding BL produce 
He also had a penchant for Rover SD1s and 800s, before a brief foray into ageing Subarus. He was a regular at the local car auction well into his 80's, buying up any of the
Edited by Mr2Mike on Tuesday 8th August 13:03
Breadvan72 said:
On old Lotuses with vacuum operated pop up lamps it is normal for the lamps to move slowly to the open position once the car has been standing for a bit. When you turn the engine on and the vacuum system operates, the lights go down again. With (RWD) Elans you sometimes see the car winking, with one lamp up and one down.
Series 2 Elites and Eclats and all Excels have an electric system for the lights, and the owner of this Elite may fit that system as a mod.
Mods, wise, the car already has electronic ignition and an improved air intake
You are slowly heading to TR7 territory with winking headlights. This normally happened when going over a bump.A very complicated method of what looked like windscreen wiper motors, cams and switches.Series 2 Elites and Eclats and all Excels have an electric system for the lights, and the owner of this Elite may fit that system as a mod.
Mods, wise, the car already has electronic ignition and an improved air intake
Mine was wired really badly and either one was up and the other down so I can understand why they were disconnected.
Finished up rewiring the whole car in the end and it also had those alarms with a keyswitch drilled into the rear panel and a tremble weight for alarm detection that was so tangled into the cars wiring it was an utter mess with scotchlock and insulation tape.
I also had a Lotus Eclat for a short while.
Edited by Morningside on Tuesday 8th August 14:10
Mr2Mike said:
My grandad was really into Princesses and Ambassadors, he must have owned at least a dozen of them over the years. I remember being roped into changing the rubber rear suspension mountings on almost every one of them as well
He also had a penchant for Rover SD1s and 800s, before a brief foray into ageing Subarus. He was a regular at the local car auction well into his 80's, buying up any of thecheap and knackered outstanding BL produce
He also had a penchant for Rover SD1s and 800s, before a brief foray into ageing Subarus. He was a regular at the local car auction well into his 80's, buying up any of the
Edited by Mr2Mike on Tuesday 8th August 13:03
I will confess to a penchant for the wedge ; not only was it a gigantic improvement on the beyond parody Maxi I remember being astounded at the amount of room in them and their ride, comfort and suppression of NVH was better than anything this side of a CX
coppice said:
I will confess to a penchant for the wedge ; not only was it a gigantic improvement on the beyond parody Maxi I remember being astounded at the amount of room in them and their ride, comfort and suppression of NVH was better than anything this side of a CX
Ride quality was exceptionally good, with serviceable rubber mounts and hydragas displacer units.Gassing Station | Classic Cars and Yesterday's Heroes | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff