Morning all
Yesterday I visited our mutual friend Vince Reynard to have a look at Toad, his Plus 2. Although I’m not a potential buyer, I was interested to see what could be achieved given enough time and perseverance. Vince kindly suggested I had a look at Toad when I was in his area, which I was on Sunday as I was driving my daughter to an interview at her new university.
It was a lovely sunny day and Toad looked fantastic sat on the driveway.
That yellow looks, well, seriously yellow in the sun. The bumper chrome is good and reminded me that I need to get my dull bumper sorted, as it really sets the car off so nicely. I had a good nose round and was very impressed by the engine bay.
Everything is clean and there’s no trace of oil leaks. The carbs look as if they have been sympathetically restored; they have the right patina without looking like they are brand new, and of course work well. There’s an aluminium radiator and remote filler (surge tank are they called?) and under bonnet heat insulation. All very neat. But does it go like it should? We’ll see in a minute…
Inside the car, it’s black basket weave vinyl and again, in very good shape. The dash looks to have been replaced and the rocker switches look new. There’s a nice (modern) stereo and a full set of speakers fitted; Vince says he doesn’t use it and listening to the fruity exhaust note I can see why. He’s got a very similar S/S back box to my car and it sounds about the same.
So, off for a spin.
My impressions… the car is proper sorted. Suspension is tight with no rattles or knocks when going over potholes or speed bumps (there are many in Vince’s area, the roads are spectacularly bad). The noise you hear when hitting a pothole is the same as in a modern car, just an understated thump. I didn’t know this was possible in a 45 year old Lotus, but there it is. After rattling about in my car, Toad was a bit of a revelation to say the least. The engine pulls really cleanly and it sounds spot on. Even though we couldn’t go past 4000RPM (it’s still being run in) it felt proper quick.
During all this time, Vince was driving as my insurance only covers me for third party damage, so these impressions are so far all from the passenger seat. However, he took me to the local train station car park and very kindly allowed me to drive it round a few times. I thought the clutch was a bit heavy, like mine, although it moved with much less friction and thus had a better feel. Yet it was the gearshift that most impressed. Vince has modified the mounting for the ball joint and the effect is outstanding. Instead of the “stirring sloppy porridge” experience you get in mine, his gearbox was all snick-snick-snick. I know he’s posted a video of this but it doesn’t do the thing proper justice. It just felt fantastic. And best of all, Vince’s mods could be done without taking the 'box out. I expect I’ll be writing about these soon, as we later had a chat over the service manual and a cuppa, and he explained it all to me.
What about the steering? Well, Toad is a bit different to my car in that regard as it actually has some castor. So I was surprised to find slightly heavy steering that self centred. My car is the exact opposite and that’s why I think it is a little vague at speed in a straight line. Although I couldn’t drive Toad on the open road, I doubt very much that it feels anything other than rock steady and planted. I think also that had it been (mis)behaving in the corners like mine does, I’d have been able to feel it from the passenger seat. But no; it corners beautifully.
I can tell that Vince is an exacting sort of fellow, and he’s put a lot of work into Toad which really shows. Sure, he has been very honest on forum about the problems he’s had to deal with, but they are sorted now, and sorted well from the feel of the thing. It’s a good job I already have one of these cars, or I’d be reaching for my cheque book…
Anyway, thanks Vince for an enjoyable visit!