After two months of drama I finally have an Elan again and it is my old red ride. I sold her a year ago and I regretted the sale from the moment it was out of my eye sight. With in the first month of selling my red car I had emailed the seller to ask if I could buy her back and to my surprise he was willing to sell her back but at the time my wife fell ill and I had to put the buy back plans on hold. We maintained a dialogue over the last year and made arrangements to do the exchange this September. In the mean time, I was notified in July about a low milage yellow Elan that only had 14K miles and I had always been looking for a yellow Elan so I wanted to check it out. In the last two weeks I have now been all across the country checking out the yellow Elan and my old ride, last week I was in San Diego to look at the beautiful rare yellow Elan with 14K miles on the odometer and I was set to buy her on the spot and drive her home but after a close inspection the engine had been so neglected for so many years without being started and/or having the fluids changed that it had all the classic signs of neglect from antifreeze that had not been changed, seals that were leaking, and many other common problems from lack of maintenance. It can not be mentioned enough, the worst thing you can do for a car is park it and never start it up and/or change the fluids. I thought for sure the yellow car was coming home with me and would be my new Elan but after looking at the motor and thinking about the drive home through 1300 miles of mostly desert I realized the car would never make the trip so I booked a flight home and arranged to fly out and look at my old red ride.
Today I flew out to New Orleans to checkout my old ride and I did not realizes just how special my old red car really was. I had spend three very intense years rebuilding the motor, buying every upgrade available, and fabricating my own parts in order to make this car truly incredible. Selling the car last year came about very suddenly after telling the buyer several times that I did not want to sell the car but after several phone calls a reluctantly sold the car thinking about I would do so only in order to help with a new home we were buying. Shortly after the sale of my Elan last year my wife fell ill and new home was put on hold. Now it is a year later and my wife is doing great but there has not been a day that has gone by that I have not said "I wish I had my Elan back". I put my heart and sole into that car and there were so many nights I would wake-up after dreaming I was driving her again. Well, today my dream came true and given the opportunity I bought her back and drover her home again. I made the 500 mile trip from New Orleans, LA to Austin, TX in 6 hours
The owner had only put 900 miles on the car and 700 of the miles came from the drive to his home so in reality he only put on 200 miles over the last year (just enough to keep the fluids circulated). The car was very well cared for and was given back to me better than when I sold her. The owner had replaced several interior items that needed attention and bought several other items that needed some attention. The owner kept the car in the garage and really cared for her more than most. I cannot thank him enough for taking the time out of his day to drive from Gulf Cost, Fl all the way to New Orleans, LA just to pick me up at the airport and make the delivery, truly a great fellow.
I am not ashamed to say that once I was in the car and on interstate 10 out of New Orleans I broke down in tears of joy to be bringing her home to stay. I was scared that she would be mad at me for letting her go but she ran great. The engine was so smooth and the acceleration was jut incredible, if I had not just driven the yellow Elan in San Diego I could never appreciate just how nice my old red ride really was; I never even really had the chance to enjoy the T-bird turbo upgrade because I sold the car one week after installing the upgrade. I will end it here and just say that I will never let her go again
I will post some pictures of both car very soon
