Lotus and the car history that makes me feel old...
Discussion
I'm smiling to my self as i write this, reminiscing at some of the vehicles i had all but forgotten and also at the fact i have been a member on PH for 11 years.... Maybe the brief story is worthy of a thread before i get to the Lotus, which i hope will be a 'for a good while' kind of keeper.
17, 1998, a couple of jobs out of school and I've saved up for a Renault 5 GT Turbo, sounds as crazy as i'm typing as it felt at the time but here she is:
I went about the modifications in true 17/18 year old fashion, added a big turbo and blew all the other bits up one by one until the car was actually usable! From memory i did the head gasket on this car 3 times, so much fun and such a learning curve, I'd have another tomorrow, funny how certain cars get into your head during ownership. A smoothed tailgate, a side exit exhaust, from memory around 200hp, she went like stink, loved it.
I just checked my PH garage and i don't have a picture of the Manta, i owned this before i passed my test with the intention of making it awesome... In my mind it already was with twin headlights, in red, lowered, sports exhaust, so cool, sold it before i passed.
I get through college in sensible fashion in an Orion 130, again no pictures, it exploded on my first trip up the M1
Mazda MX3 V6, this car was smooth as silk to drive. I imported an MX6 engine to do a transplant but it sat in shrink wrap on a pallet in the garage until i sold the car. No pics that i can find..
Golf V6 4Motion, no mods but again silky smooth, really enjoyed owning this one, eventually sold up for something more sensible as family life took over.
Golf GLS Cab Mk1, my first foray back into playing with a project. Purchased as a scrapper 300miles from home, i turned it into a nice vehicle and sold it for a profit!
Things start to get a bit more serious now, my first TVR Cerbera, fell in love...
Well known on PH and tweaked by the finest, i drove this thing everywhere, as a daily for a while even. Over to the Nurburgring too for the first time.
Sensibleness kicked in and i thought i should get something more practical as a daily, so i bought a mint 1978 automatic Mk1 Golf GLS, with lots of chrome goodness, i then set about being very un-sensible and fitting in a 1.8 20V turbo from an Audi S3, wow, even with a manual and LSD fitted it changed lanes when the turbo spooled up, unbelievable and maybe the most fun i've had in a vehicle.
House upsizing meant i sold the two cars i had come to love and moved into a house with a nice big double garage....with nothing to put in it. This lasted a month or so until i decided that track days were a thing of necessity and bought a Corrado VR6, promptly stripping it to the bare metal and driving it around local and not so local circuits, even to work on occasion which is always fun with a roll cage and plastic windows.
The TVR itch, its indescribable but the yearn to replace the Cerb was too much so i did, a few mods later and we sold up completely to move to Oz, leaving the Cerb to a lucky new owner in the UK.
In Australia the roads felt terrible, the tracks are few and far between, the police hide in wheelie bins determined to take the license of any unsuspecting loser who dares to break the 60kmh speed limit on the huuuuge, open, trafficless roads...but i won't complain about any of that because i 'eventually' settled into a nice new house we could call home and put a replica Cobra in the shed. Full credit to the builder, an excellent piece of kit, scarily fast and great fun but, it just didn't hit the spot for me. The only car i have ever sold for significantly more than i paid for it other than the restored cabby, i turned the fibreglass of the Cobra into a fibreglass swimming pool for the kids.
This left the hole, always a hole in the garage that calls to you.. but this time i knew i had to get it right so there the hole stayed with many sweaty and sleepless nights pondering over the perfect vehicular replacement to fill the void...
Today, this is in there, not even registered to use yet as i haven't had the time but i'm not rushing, i have to pinch myself when i walk in the garage, such an awesome machine and so much fun to be had. Its a 2014 Exige S V6, full cage, lots of additional racing type addons that i am yet to figure out but will come in mighty useful for the intended purpose. Its a Targa winner in the hands of the previous owner, maybe it could be again in my hands, who knows, can't wait... Watch this space
17, 1998, a couple of jobs out of school and I've saved up for a Renault 5 GT Turbo, sounds as crazy as i'm typing as it felt at the time but here she is:
I went about the modifications in true 17/18 year old fashion, added a big turbo and blew all the other bits up one by one until the car was actually usable! From memory i did the head gasket on this car 3 times, so much fun and such a learning curve, I'd have another tomorrow, funny how certain cars get into your head during ownership. A smoothed tailgate, a side exit exhaust, from memory around 200hp, she went like stink, loved it.
I just checked my PH garage and i don't have a picture of the Manta, i owned this before i passed my test with the intention of making it awesome... In my mind it already was with twin headlights, in red, lowered, sports exhaust, so cool, sold it before i passed.
I get through college in sensible fashion in an Orion 130, again no pictures, it exploded on my first trip up the M1
Mazda MX3 V6, this car was smooth as silk to drive. I imported an MX6 engine to do a transplant but it sat in shrink wrap on a pallet in the garage until i sold the car. No pics that i can find..
Golf V6 4Motion, no mods but again silky smooth, really enjoyed owning this one, eventually sold up for something more sensible as family life took over.
Golf GLS Cab Mk1, my first foray back into playing with a project. Purchased as a scrapper 300miles from home, i turned it into a nice vehicle and sold it for a profit!
Things start to get a bit more serious now, my first TVR Cerbera, fell in love...
Well known on PH and tweaked by the finest, i drove this thing everywhere, as a daily for a while even. Over to the Nurburgring too for the first time. Sensibleness kicked in and i thought i should get something more practical as a daily, so i bought a mint 1978 automatic Mk1 Golf GLS, with lots of chrome goodness, i then set about being very un-sensible and fitting in a 1.8 20V turbo from an Audi S3, wow, even with a manual and LSD fitted it changed lanes when the turbo spooled up, unbelievable and maybe the most fun i've had in a vehicle.
House upsizing meant i sold the two cars i had come to love and moved into a house with a nice big double garage....with nothing to put in it. This lasted a month or so until i decided that track days were a thing of necessity and bought a Corrado VR6, promptly stripping it to the bare metal and driving it around local and not so local circuits, even to work on occasion which is always fun with a roll cage and plastic windows.
The TVR itch, its indescribable but the yearn to replace the Cerb was too much so i did, a few mods later and we sold up completely to move to Oz, leaving the Cerb to a lucky new owner in the UK.
In Australia the roads felt terrible, the tracks are few and far between, the police hide in wheelie bins determined to take the license of any unsuspecting loser who dares to break the 60kmh speed limit on the huuuuge, open, trafficless roads...but i won't complain about any of that because i 'eventually' settled into a nice new house we could call home and put a replica Cobra in the shed. Full credit to the builder, an excellent piece of kit, scarily fast and great fun but, it just didn't hit the spot for me. The only car i have ever sold for significantly more than i paid for it other than the restored cabby, i turned the fibreglass of the Cobra into a fibreglass swimming pool for the kids.
This left the hole, always a hole in the garage that calls to you.. but this time i knew i had to get it right so there the hole stayed with many sweaty and sleepless nights pondering over the perfect vehicular replacement to fill the void...
Today, this is in there, not even registered to use yet as i haven't had the time but i'm not rushing, i have to pinch myself when i walk in the garage, such an awesome machine and so much fun to be had. Its a 2014 Exige S V6, full cage, lots of additional racing type addons that i am yet to figure out but will come in mighty useful for the intended purpose. Its a Targa winner in the hands of the previous owner, maybe it could be again in my hands, who knows, can't wait... Watch this space
The car is being registered for road use tomorrow 
I took out the front section of the cage (road rules here are not in favour of anything remotely entertaining...) which meant i needed some new sill covers, cue carbon goodness.
I now have the bug again and have discovered Komo-tec and their 500hp power upgrade, such excitement
I took out the front section of the cage (road rules here are not in favour of anything remotely entertaining...) which meant i needed some new sill covers, cue carbon goodness.
I now have the bug again and have discovered Komo-tec and their 500hp power upgrade, such excitement
Thanks all.
Quick spec below, not too much in the way of engine mods at present which was an attraction to me because it left the improvement door open. The little I have worked on the car thus far it appears to be reasonably friendly and straight forward.
I haven’t come across a car before with stone guard applied to the entire painted surface!
- Laser Blue Metallic factory paint option
- Premium Pack Sport SuedeTex factory option with covered foot well area (carpet + leather), premium steering wheel in full suede, centre console, black floor mats, premium sport steering wheel, and door panels.
- Race Pack factory option with 4 Mode Lotus Dynamic Performance Management (DPM) system including Launch Control, exhaust bypass valve override switch, and optimised suspension
- Convienience Pack factory option inc cruise control
- CAMS compliant Roll cage
- 6 point racing harnesses
- vBox HD2 installed with modified bracket and mount connected to power via a toggle switch. Also 2 Cameras and OELD installed.
- DBW speed controller and GPS receiver
- Shiftlights installed
- Camera and GPS leads for terra trip connected to vBox
- Stilo Amplifier (ST AB0213)
- 2-Piece front slotted rotors with 4P Pagid RS29
- 2-Piece rear slotted rotors with 4P Pagid RS29
- Performance exhaust
- Induction kit
- Upgraded crossgate cables
- Nitron 1-way adjustable 46mm
- Extinguisher bracket and CAMS approved 1KG fire extinguisher
- Tow hook front & rear
- Trickle charger socket
- Fuel cell with aluminium baffled 60 litre tank
- Full stonechip protection film applied to the entire car
- Isolator system TE EV200HAANA
- IP-rated round push button switch
- EXIGE CUP exterior emergency button
- SPIKE suppressor battery isolator
- Lithium Battery Kit
Quick spec below, not too much in the way of engine mods at present which was an attraction to me because it left the improvement door open. The little I have worked on the car thus far it appears to be reasonably friendly and straight forward.
I haven’t come across a car before with stone guard applied to the entire painted surface!
- Laser Blue Metallic factory paint option
- Premium Pack Sport SuedeTex factory option with covered foot well area (carpet + leather), premium steering wheel in full suede, centre console, black floor mats, premium sport steering wheel, and door panels.
- Race Pack factory option with 4 Mode Lotus Dynamic Performance Management (DPM) system including Launch Control, exhaust bypass valve override switch, and optimised suspension
- Convienience Pack factory option inc cruise control
- CAMS compliant Roll cage
- 6 point racing harnesses
- vBox HD2 installed with modified bracket and mount connected to power via a toggle switch. Also 2 Cameras and OELD installed.
- DBW speed controller and GPS receiver
- Shiftlights installed
- Camera and GPS leads for terra trip connected to vBox
- Stilo Amplifier (ST AB0213)
- 2-Piece front slotted rotors with 4P Pagid RS29
- 2-Piece rear slotted rotors with 4P Pagid RS29
- Performance exhaust
- Induction kit
- Upgraded crossgate cables
- Nitron 1-way adjustable 46mm
- Extinguisher bracket and CAMS approved 1KG fire extinguisher
- Tow hook front & rear
- Trickle charger socket
- Fuel cell with aluminium baffled 60 litre tank
- Full stonechip protection film applied to the entire car
- Isolator system TE EV200HAANA
- IP-rated round push button switch
- EXIGE CUP exterior emergency button
- SPIKE suppressor battery isolator
- Lithium Battery Kit
Getting a few jobs ticked off, rigged up the HD2 properly, more goodies turned up but it's starting to get more difficult to decide on what i want to do. Power is a given, likely the 460-500 upgrade with charge cooler. The Exige V6 comes with a glass back window, which i like as you can see the engine/supercharger but the later 410/430 cars come with the louvres....which i also like. Decisions, decisions.
Love the quality of the cover.
Love the quality of the cover.
Nice write up. Love the 5 GT, have really fond memories of mine, absolutely loved it even though it was borderline dangerous with the amount of torque steer. Would love one these days but good ones are few and far between and sellers know that.
I also went through the TVR phase (had 3) and have a Lotus Evora S now.
Have a look at GFWilliams thread on his Exige if you haven’t already, he’s done some fantastic mods to his here
Graham
I also went through the TVR phase (had 3) and have a Lotus Evora S now.
Have a look at GFWilliams thread on his Exige if you haven’t already, he’s done some fantastic mods to his here
Graham
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff