Elans Urgently needed for Classic & Sports Car article!!

[Motornoter]

Hi all

I write the Starter Classics articles for Classic & Sports Car, a
buyer's guide targeted at first-time or younger buyers of classic
cars, and my next subject is the Elan M100... I need
some help, please!

First, I need a nice unmodified Elan in a reasonably bright colour (yellow, blue, red etc but not white) that could be available for photography one weekday soon, ideally in a 60-mile radius of Oxford (so, west of London, east of Bristol, south of Birmingham, north of Southampton, or just into those cities) - or, of course, prepared to travel to the area and meet up with us. This would be the main photo car for the article. Condition isn't that important as long as the car is a tidy, presentable and largely unmodified example (inside, outside and underbonnet). It doesn't need to be concours, though we won't complain if it is! Petrol costs will be covered and a set of photos provided after the shoot. I should mention we will take a photo of you, the owner, too... Time is tight, so please ring me on 07711 901811 or email MMcKays(at)aol.com as soon as possible...

Second, I need a young owner (ideally under 30, but a little over is OK) to give a brief interview by phone or email and send me a photo of them with their car - they can of course be anywhere in the world and car condition etc is less important.

Third, I need to take a look at an Elan that's for sale, in the same area as mentioned above, and include it in the article (yes, a free ad!)

And finally, if you've got any recommendations on specialists who are superb on Elans, or gripes about problems that get left out of buying guides, please let me know those too, to help me make this the most useful guide yet to buying an Elan M100!

Thanks!
Malcolm McKay
07711 901811 or email MMcKays(at)aol.com

[Dave Eds]

Contact made on behalf of LEC

[Sy V]

Good mon yer Daah!

[Sy V]

Here's some of the text of Malcolm's reply to my initial e-mail:

"Thanks, Simon

... - which just leaves the young owner, who can be anywhere in the country/world as we just need to chat by phone/email and get him/her to email a photo of them with their car...

My job is so much easier when I find the right people to talk to, like yourselves - thanks for your help!

All the best
Malcolm"

So who is going to step up to the plate for this bit?
Young, worldwide - LGM?

[surfboardfiller]

I'd be interested in helping you out if you need me to. I have an M100 for sale and I also drive one as my preferred mode of transport.

[lotusgirlmarie]

I'd love to. My car isn't exactly stock though. It is tastefully modified. I'll see about getting some nice pics of the car and myself today as I just got home from a trip. Any suggestions as to outfit? Flight attendant uniform maybe? Anyone ready to fly?

[dapinky]

Any suggestions as to outfit?

I suppose it was only a matter of time before someone else were to mention it

(besides which, I like some of the other ones, Aries-S !)

[lotusgirlmarie]

perhaps something more G rated

[Enright]

I'd love to. My car isn't exactly stock though. It is tastefully modified. I'll see about getting some nice pics of the car and myself today as I just got home from a trip. Any suggestions as to outfit? Flight attendant uniform maybe? Anyone ready to fly?

It would make a nice contrast between standard and what is possible if you put your mind to it.
And I doubt we've got any more glamorous owners.

[Sy V]

I think flight attendant would be just fine Marie.

[tweetdriver63]

Marie, if you go with the flight attendant uniform, make sure you talk to your airline's PR folks first. They're gonna want to know it's something that will show the company in a good light, which it certainly will. Even so, if you do something like that for a magazine without them approving, you can get in trouble. Nobody wants that to happen.

Having said all that, I'll add that the writer said for that part of the article, the car wasn't as important. They just want an unmolested (the car ) original, in good condition, for the main car in the article. They could certainly do a lot worse than the LGM Elan and LGM.

Swimsuit issue???

[carryondentist]

I will put my name forward for the young owners section, I'm 28 and have had the Elan for 5 years..

[Motornoter]

Hi all
Thanks for the terrific response, it's great to find such an active and keen bunch of enthusiasts for what has always been a pretty rare car!
I think we're all sorted now with everyone we need to talk to for the article (though more buying tips are always welcome of course), I look forward to meeting a couple of you on the 27th for the photo shoot and we'll do our best to give the Elan a good (fair!) write-up.
Look out for the article in the September issue of the mag, on sale at the beginning of August...
Cheers
Malcolm

[GeoffSmith]

though more buying tips are always welcome of course

Malcolm,

There is a compendium of tips on the Wiki.

Geoff

[Sy V]

Malcolm

If you could manage to squeeze in a mention of the Lotus Elan Central Forum, that would be greatly appreciated.

Sy

[surfboardfiller]

The day went well and I wasn't sure if the star was Mr Eds or the Elan

These are of course my pics; not the professional ones taken by a professional photographer with professional equipment. I think I'll stick to my real job.

[Dave Eds]

Check out tomorrow's Classic and Sports Car mag for the bald bloke in the yellow Elan and the guy in the red shirt hiding in front of his red Elan.

Brian's filler cap sneaks in as well

Interesting article on the whole, but not all my Elan bias has come across. Did my best to express the virtues of LEC, and fairplay to Malcolm for his research, and Tony for some great pics (and three dodgy ones too!).

Just about to view the CD of all the pics.

[rip]

Custard certainly looked great in the article. A good advert for the M100 in general.

They only gave the car a score of 7 for looks though
There is no accounting for taste.

[Dave Eds]

The insurance score was cetainly bewildering

[rip]

The insurance score was cetainly bewildering

Notice that top of the list was just 'Mini'. Maybe they used the 850 model as a guide for its insurance premium? That is the only way I can understand such a poor score.