New Member? Joined: Sun Nov 02, 2014
Long time owner 50-1899 12-20-1982
Lotus Experience
My first direct Lotus experience was at an autocross in a Hamden Connecticut shopping center about 1966. An elan was very race prepped and ran the course like a screaming slot car stuck solid to the track’s slot. IIRC is got FTD (fastest time of day). I WAS very impressed. I had to settle for a 948cc bugeye sprite.
Second experience was when my friend worked as a mechanic apprentice at a small shop fledging Subaru/Lotus dealer and shop. "Old guy"customer trades his Europa in for a new S4 elan maybe USA sprint? “Old guy” after only a short time crashes the front end of the now totaled Elan. Insurance totals it and his boss buys the salvage for my friend. Friend turns it over to a body shop. The unfortunate part is they are not really fiberglass competent. During this period I drive to Lotus Dealer Dutchess Auto in NY near LimeRock race track to pick up a short nose for the repair. Me off to a sunny vacation paid by the US government to Viet Nam conflict. While there, friend is overloaded by repair cost of the lotus and sells it without offering it to me…
Returning from second over seas USAF tour, friend has since gotten a Plus2 with a generator/regulator fire nose burn off. This time he again is overloaded but I am offered the +2 ($500) and I take it away to Richmond, Kentucky -Lexington Blue Grass Army depot (USAF) radar site.
While there 50-1899 is completely disassembled and I join Lotus Limited and meet a friend in Lexington that has a running +2. This car is a mess. Early rope seal weber twincam. Begin a long slow learning process of a mechanical and fiberglass rebuild.
1983 USAF moves me to Massachusetts USA. Car is now almost ready to run on the road. Trailer it to the Lotus Limited Chester Vermont Rally. Once on the road I run it for almost 80,000 miles. It gets parked in 1995. I still own it, though it now just sits.
To follow: 67 Elan S3 SE Coupe 36-7269