1981 Lotus Eclat 2.2
Discussion
It's not my fault if his anorak is too tight! This car hasn't been re-sprayed since it was new. In other words, it has its original paint on it. The paint's a bit knackered. I think that the jalopy has probably had its plugs and tyres changed at least once since it was new, so that's blown it for the purists.
Lovely colour and groovy panel, but one of these heaps is enough, and anyway with Elites, Eclats and Excels the later the better. Early cars have rot prone chassis, and the five speed gearbox can be a problem. That box was not, contrary to classic car pub myth, the Austin Maxi box. It was a Lotus lash up made from some Maxi bits that actually worked fine with the 1.6 twin cam in the Elan Plus Two, but was discombobulated by the two litre engine's greater torque. Of course, the sensible thing with the whole Elite, Eclat and Excel series is to get the latest Excel you can find, but I do rather like my late Series 2 Eclat (Getrag box and the more torquey 2.2 engine, as well as a galvanised chassis).
At present I am a hapless victim of crappy far Eastern replacement parts, in this case a condenser. It's only been in a month or two and is showing classic signs of failing. The car is fine until the ignition gets hot on a sustained run and then it loses power and even conks out. It restarts and runs fine again after cooling down a bit. I am having the ignition replaced with a slightly more modern system, so no more points and all that b
ks.
At present I am a hapless victim of crappy far Eastern replacement parts, in this case a condenser. It's only been in a month or two and is showing classic signs of failing. The car is fine until the ignition gets hot on a sustained run and then it loses power and even conks out. It restarts and runs fine again after cooling down a bit. I am having the ignition replaced with a slightly more modern system, so no more points and all that b
ks. Edited by anonymous-user on Sunday 18th January 13:35
Thread revival!
I sold the black Eclat in mid 2015. I bought a red Excel at the same time, but sold that in early 2016 and have been Lotus-free since then. A few weeks ago, a friend bought a 1976 Elite 503, and parked it at my house for a while (details of this car are in the thread "Impromptu BL Line up" in the Classics sub forum). That got me to thinking, and then the guy to whom I had sold the Eclat suddenly sent me a Whatsapp asking me if I wanted to buy the car back from him as he has too many cars (I know someone else with that problem ...).
Anyway, the black Eclat is now mine once more. Since I last saw the car, it has had a new clutch and a bottom end refurb, plus some improvements to paintwork and new gold coach stripes. It still has iffy lights. It has a new MoT.
Here it is, at the seller's place (not yet delivered to mine , and I might go and get it and drive it home).
I sold the black Eclat in mid 2015. I bought a red Excel at the same time, but sold that in early 2016 and have been Lotus-free since then. A few weeks ago, a friend bought a 1976 Elite 503, and parked it at my house for a while (details of this car are in the thread "Impromptu BL Line up" in the Classics sub forum). That got me to thinking, and then the guy to whom I had sold the Eclat suddenly sent me a Whatsapp asking me if I wanted to buy the car back from him as he has too many cars (I know someone else with that problem ...).
Anyway, the black Eclat is now mine once more. Since I last saw the car, it has had a new clutch and a bottom end refurb, plus some improvements to paintwork and new gold coach stripes. It still has iffy lights. It has a new MoT.
Here it is, at the seller's place (not yet delivered to mine , and I might go and get it and drive it home).
My friend's Elite 503 deets here, from page 36 -
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
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