First Elan +2 road test article

I guess it is the first road test of an Elan +2 and the article is not in the Brookland Elan Portfolio.
Elan2_Motor_67.PDF (695 KB)

Second part …
Elan2_Motor_67_2.PDF (1000 KB)

Front page
Elan2_Motor_67_front.PDF (129 KB)

Maybe but Car also had a test in their monthly issued in September.

I have to say though that the Motor report seems more comprehensive.

Roy
'65S2

A six footer in the back?..I don’t think so! Have read in various places about the “special” nature of LPW120E (blueprinted SE engine etc), on re-reading this review several decades down the track, I do question its objectivity…

ps that’s not a comment on the reviewer, which is an honest appraisal of the vehicle they were given, which (undestandably) blew them away, like my +2 did every time I drove it. But I think the car was…special.

Robert

you’re right, it’s one of the first ones. Here is the other nice front page to hang on the workshop wall. I’ve collected a few articles. Do you have also some classic front pages to share with us +2 enthusiasts? Would be great!
Elan+20004.pdf (1.33 MB)

A nice picture out of this Car article (in colour!!):
Elan+2_Car67_3picture.pdf (1.09 MB)
Elan+2_Car_1967.pdf (1.04 MB)

Autocar 1968, I’ve cleaned all other headlines but the elan’s by photoshop and framed it. I like it.
Elan+2_Autocar68.pdf (262 KB)

Hi everyone

People were smaller years ago so maybe six footers back then weren’t as big as they are today :wink:

Andy

my english might be bad, but I cleary read:

“The fixed-back seats are well bolstered round the edges and slide well back so a six footer can stretch out comfortably behind the leather-rimmed steering wheel .”

Therefore it is written in the first part that the back seats are quite tolerable for two children up to 12 years.

any other Plus 2 at a magazines front page?

Only joking of course but it’s the caption to the pic on page 36 I was refering to

Andy

O Sorry! Now I see the funny picture. You’re right - how would he look like if he was not reading? -quite cramped (right word?) I guess.

I have just found another nice magazine picture (Car, June 1968)

It all changed when the UK went Metric in 1974. :wink:

MOTOR week ending September 2 1967. Lotus Elan +2 is in fact in the Brooklands book LOTUS ELAN Collection No.1 1962-1974 ISBN 0 907073 22 0. Page 31

Brooklands do two road test reprints. the other being Lotus Elan 1962-1973 ISBN 0 906 589 606.

Hope that’s helpfull.

Gordon

Just got round to looking at these pictures in detail… The shot from above (Elan%2B20004.pdf) seems to show the +2 as assymetrical; the passenger door and handle (UK spec) sit further forward than the other side. I have been told, but never really checked, that +2s are not symetrical. Has anyone ever checked? Is this barrel distortion of the camera??

Second point about the room in the back seats of a +2. I attach photograhic proof that they can be used by people over 6foot with some headroom allowance (rear seat passenger is 6’ 9"… front seat passenger is less…). We went to the NEC show like this a couple of years ago and caused some disbelief in the car park when I got out (I’m 6’4"), followed by someone even taller. The front seat passenger is Bob, who has recently rejoined the Lotus owning fold with a pretty Elan, and he can be a witness to the event!!

Jeremy


I found the overlay of the Elan and the +2 very interesting with the additional wheelbase of the +2 extending behind the front seats (without adding to the nose).
Yet both cars are beautifully proportioned.

A big thank you to all the members who were kind enough to enclose their images
Brilliant.
I have a few autosport road tests that I will upload.

Looking at the Sunbeam Alpine web site the other day (!), they had a very comprehensive list of all the past tests, click on one and it opened.
Should we have the same ??
Kevin

[For the sake of future searchers, this is a duplicate of my posting on this thread: lotuselan-plus2-f51/period-road-tests-the-t43730.html#p310444]

Kevin, there are some lurking around on this site, but nothing like the entirety.

Brooklands Books actually published five books of roadtests:

Lotus Elan 1962-1973
Lotus Elan Collection No 1
Lotus Elan Collection No 2
Lotus Elan Gold Portfolio 1962-1974
Lotus Elan Ultimate Portfolio 1962-1974

Additionally, uniquemotorbooks.com published a compendium of roadtests called Lotus Elan 1963-1973

Now, because I’m a nerdy anorak about these cars, I attach two spreadsheets for you. The first is a list of 145 roadtests by various magazines during the Elan and +2s production. The second is a list of some, but not all, post production road test, which I have in my collection.

Tim
Contempory Elan Road Tests.pdf (297 KB)
All Magazines.pdf (430 KB)

Many thanks Tim
Much appreciated
Kevin

I’ve got this one…
A 6 page pull out
Motor w/e 2 Sept 67

Elan plus A lot

My pic of the front page is too big to send straight from my phone…I’ll post it tomorrow…