1999 Lotus Elise 111s - Ex Development / Press Car
Discussion
A friend and I have shared a track car for a couple of years, and after breaking it for parts were on the hunt for a new project. We wanted something that could be fun on the road but handle a few track days without worrying about multiple wheel sets/tricky mots etc. We’ve had a lot of hot hatches, MX5, BMW etc so wanted something different to our norm, I’ve wanted a Lotus for 15 year’s and in passing said friend mentioned with a little bit more money we could scrape ourselves into a written off/project Elise. We couldn’t do it now, but maybe a goal for a year or so.
48 hours later, a curious check of autotrader and couldn’t believe my eyes when just listed was a car not only in our tiny budget, it was a 111s in a great colour with an amazing backstory! I forwarded the link with an immediate reply of ‘in meeting, will call straight away’. A few hours later a train was booked and the car collected!
So here it is, our 1999 Lotus Elise 111s in scandal green. Originally used as a factory test and development car, it was then transferred onto the Lotus press fleet and featured in auto car, Evo magazine as well as being driven in topgear by Vikki Butler Henderson. The colour was used to launch the Sport 160 later that year and I believe only available on that model, but I’m sure some people may have special ordered it. Photos in the dark in Sainsburys for now sorry…
So how was it in our budget? The car has covered 163,000 miles and it very much shows. The paint condition is horrendous, there might be 20% of the original lacquer left, and on the panels it’s gone the paint is so flat it looks like a primer. There are areas where there is genuinely more stone chip than paint (paint spots?). It has a mot and drove well on the way home, although we’re expecting some issues to come up. Known fault so far are that the heater is stuck on, the drivers seat/seat rail are broken.
I’ve no doubt we’ll find some horrors, it was previously owned for over 20 years but has done very little for the past few years before being traded in somewhere which is never a great sign! Enjoy this fabulously ‘of it’s time’ Topgear video, more to come soon!
https://youtu.be/2etn0yTMj6w?is=UWlLdn_jsYi-B69a
48 hours later, a curious check of autotrader and couldn’t believe my eyes when just listed was a car not only in our tiny budget, it was a 111s in a great colour with an amazing backstory! I forwarded the link with an immediate reply of ‘in meeting, will call straight away’. A few hours later a train was booked and the car collected!
So here it is, our 1999 Lotus Elise 111s in scandal green. Originally used as a factory test and development car, it was then transferred onto the Lotus press fleet and featured in auto car, Evo magazine as well as being driven in topgear by Vikki Butler Henderson. The colour was used to launch the Sport 160 later that year and I believe only available on that model, but I’m sure some people may have special ordered it. Photos in the dark in Sainsburys for now sorry…
So how was it in our budget? The car has covered 163,000 miles and it very much shows. The paint condition is horrendous, there might be 20% of the original lacquer left, and on the panels it’s gone the paint is so flat it looks like a primer. There are areas where there is genuinely more stone chip than paint (paint spots?). It has a mot and drove well on the way home, although we’re expecting some issues to come up. Known fault so far are that the heater is stuck on, the drivers seat/seat rail are broken.
I’ve no doubt we’ll find some horrors, it was previously owned for over 20 years but has done very little for the past few years before being traded in somewhere which is never a great sign! Enjoy this fabulously ‘of it’s time’ Topgear video, more to come soon!
https://youtu.be/2etn0yTMj6w?is=UWlLdn_jsYi-B69a
Time for an update on the Elise, and I’m going to risk it and say it’s fairly positive.. for now.
First job was to sort the drivers seat. Where the runner had failed, the seat had been flexing and actually started to split. To get the car rolling, a cheap set of standard S1 seats were installed. Turns out these are horrendously uncomfortable compared to 111s seats, so we’ve made a start of stripping the cushioning off the old seat to move across (the shells are the same). In doing so, we found this - RHD Sprint - scribbled into the seat. This must be from the test/development days as the 111s model was planned to be called the sprint originally, reminded me of the ‘art’ the top gear guys found on a TVR years ago.
Next up, the cambelt was well overdue so this was done with waterpump/full service etc. The car got a ‘it’s ok’ which I was stunned by.. more to come on that later. Once this was done we just wanted to use the car for a while and see what went wrong. After a thousand miles or so the answer is - not a lot! There are a few niggles however:
Engine temperature is all over the place, I’m told there are two sensors so one is clearly playing up. It can go for 86 to 130 degrees in seconds, which definitely isn’t the case in reality. The car survived heavy traffic on a 37 degree drive from Portsmouth, so I don’t think there is an actual temperature issue. Also, turning the headlights on increases the water temp by 15 degrees!
We’ve got a battery drain - hard to believe when there is so little tech on it, but leaving it for over a week gives a car that runs fine but won’t idle. Charge the battery and it’s perfect.
Steering rack occasionally clunks, I assume this needs a rebuild.
But, bearing in mind its appearance, it’s still absolutely wonderful to drive!
The car is now due a mot, so I’ve booked it with a specialist and asked for a full inspection at the same time. The underside is very brown, so I’m not sure how it’ll go but I’d rather know if something is broken/needs urgent attention.
Most importantly of all, my 3 year old absolutely loves it and roars with laughter whenever we go in it. She can’t believe the roof comes off, and loves the fact it does bum pops every now and then. Class.
Fingers crossed the inspection doesn’t come back too nasty, I’ll report either way!
First job was to sort the drivers seat. Where the runner had failed, the seat had been flexing and actually started to split. To get the car rolling, a cheap set of standard S1 seats were installed. Turns out these are horrendously uncomfortable compared to 111s seats, so we’ve made a start of stripping the cushioning off the old seat to move across (the shells are the same). In doing so, we found this - RHD Sprint - scribbled into the seat. This must be from the test/development days as the 111s model was planned to be called the sprint originally, reminded me of the ‘art’ the top gear guys found on a TVR years ago.
Next up, the cambelt was well overdue so this was done with waterpump/full service etc. The car got a ‘it’s ok’ which I was stunned by.. more to come on that later. Once this was done we just wanted to use the car for a while and see what went wrong. After a thousand miles or so the answer is - not a lot! There are a few niggles however:
Engine temperature is all over the place, I’m told there are two sensors so one is clearly playing up. It can go for 86 to 130 degrees in seconds, which definitely isn’t the case in reality. The car survived heavy traffic on a 37 degree drive from Portsmouth, so I don’t think there is an actual temperature issue. Also, turning the headlights on increases the water temp by 15 degrees!
We’ve got a battery drain - hard to believe when there is so little tech on it, but leaving it for over a week gives a car that runs fine but won’t idle. Charge the battery and it’s perfect.
Steering rack occasionally clunks, I assume this needs a rebuild.
But, bearing in mind its appearance, it’s still absolutely wonderful to drive!
The car is now due a mot, so I’ve booked it with a specialist and asked for a full inspection at the same time. The underside is very brown, so I’m not sure how it’ll go but I’d rather know if something is broken/needs urgent attention.
Most importantly of all, my 3 year old absolutely loves it and roars with laughter whenever we go in it. She can’t believe the roof comes off, and loves the fact it does bum pops every now and then. Class.
Fingers crossed the inspection doesn’t come back too nasty, I’ll report either way!
I'm in the leave the paintwork as it is and just drive the thing camp as well. Mainly as paint and body repairs are bloody expensive. I get the desire to make it pristine though.
The odd temperature gauge readings can be caused by a bad earth somewhere I think. Especially the thing with the headlights seemingly changing water temperature. SELOC will provide a proper explanation and solution.
The odd temperature gauge readings can be caused by a bad earth somewhere I think. Especially the thing with the headlights seemingly changing water temperature. SELOC will provide a proper explanation and solution.
Thanks guys, there’s no immediate plans to rectify the bodywork. I did consider a track/race car repaint, but I could do a trip to the ring and spa for the same money which will always win over some shiny paint!
3 year old is a huge car fan, completely my fault. We have a 3 month old boy as well, luckily I’ve kept my DC2 Integra so will be able to take both kids out in the future!
3 year old is a huge car fan, completely my fault. We have a 3 month old boy as well, luckily I’ve kept my DC2 Integra so will be able to take both kids out in the future!
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