S1 Vandalised - Le Moulinel (France), last Saturday

[Tin Hat]

At the end of a 3,000 mile hoon over Europe on Saturday night, my S1 was vandalised by some (presumably) French chavs in a town called 'Le Moulinel'. Nothing too serious, but there were 3 other Elises in town and 1 Exige - Does anyone know who they are so I can see if they suffered aswell?

Series 1 V reg in red
One Blue series 2 (JCT 600 sticker in rear window)
One Red series 2
One Exige in a weird metallic green with softop conversion

Most had Lotus owners club badges.

I hope to post my experiences of driving in the (Spanish) Pyrenees as I could not find many comments prior to me departure - I will do this ASAP!

[tr7v8]

Blimey, I've never had an issue in France with vandalism, not even a hint. & I was over near their in Montreuil with the 944 for the Le Touquet classic car show at the beginning of the month.

[Tin Hat]

Bit of a downer after the 19 days of fun beforehand !

[Hollywood Wheels]

William.........I'd love to hear stories of your journey, routes, where you stayed etc. This is a trip I've been promising myself for a long time, but I'm crap at organising things and haven't summoned up the balls to undertake such a lengthy journey yet!

Gutted to hear of the damage, not too serious I hope? Sad to hear we're not the only one's who have to put up with chavs!

[Tin Hat]

Mr H,
I note that you are sporting a similar spec Elise to me - A most excellent choice for the trip!
I will post my experiences ASAP,
T H

[Hollywood Wheels]

[clanger]

Hi there Tin Hat - the Lotus cars you saw were NYLOC members touring France - I'll ask them to reply to you at tonight's monthly meeeting

Sad to hear that chav's are spreading onto continent.

[Tin Hat]

Thanks Clanger!

[sjw]

Hi Tin Hat, Sorry to hear about this.
That was us, just returning from the racing in Angouleme and touring the Pyrenees.
Noticed a silver grey (?) S1 Elise in the square in Montreuil as we were leaving for the ferry at about 8:30 am. Can only say that I noticed the shower cap was pulled to the side at that time. There was no problem with our cars, nor anywhere else on our 12 day tour. Even in Boulogne, which I thought a bit risky, they werent touched.
It surprises me about Montreuil, as we thought it a good place to start and finish our European tours in the future.
BTW the green Exige is mine, in "Autumn Gold", now with added stone chips.
Steve
Steve

Edited by sjw on Wednesday 26th September 10:43

Edited by sjw on Wednesday 26th September 10:53

[Tin Hat]

The ''Titanium'' Elise was indeed mine - The shower cap had been ripped off and our 1.5 litre bottle of water had been poured over the seats plus about 6 bottles of (our) sun tan lotion had been liberally distributed all over the interior - A bit of a rude awakening and a lesson in relying on the shower cap for protection!

Most impressed with your Exige, good to see an Exige owner that cannot compromise the 'open-top' driving experience.

Hope you had a good spin on the Continent, good to see that we warned of all 5 speed traps that we encountered by flashing lights from oncoming traffic- The international code still works!

TH

[sjw]

TH, Sorry to hear the details, must have made an uncomfortable return, but I guess it could have been much worse. I really would not have expected that in France.

I can only think that Montreuil seemed to have a very large number of Brits present. I assume that they are there to snap up homes in France, and that the French are perhaps not happy with that.

Thanks for the Exige comments, I would not have bought one if I couldnt have converted it to soft top for summer. Works a treat, no probs even in torrential rain, or at (ahem) 100mph+