Ah, your one of them there Lancs blokes who claims to be a Tyke! (or something like that, anyway)....
..... you need to make contact with
Nick- he lives in Sowerby Bridge and tends to use his car most of the year (except this week he's in the Lakes, so I assume he's taken the BMW). I'm sure he'd be happy to come and talk Elans and see how it fits on and off your property..... then he'll tell you all about how great they are (when they're running well)......
As for changing colours, well, my car was Pacific Blue, and like many of them, the clear-coat lacquer started to peel and it looked pretty crap after a few years of that (it was okay when it rained and was wet, but in the dry it was horrible). It was always one of those jobs that would get done when everything else was sorted. As it needed a complete spray job, the colour change was no more work really than keeping it the same (I stripped all the separate panels off so the painter only had to sand, fill, flat and spray everything). It was going to be black, up until a month before it went in, when I saw an S2 for sale in Empire Green (Lotus only did 3 in that colour, and 2 were LHD and exported to Europe). I was at the airport going on holiday, so sent the seller (who I knew) an email saying I would have the car, but could I send him the money once I got to Tunisia, unless he could give me his bank details before I took off - and I'd pick it up in a fortnight. By the time I got off the plane I had a reply saying that he had sold it half an hour before getting my message, otherwise he'd have kept it for me..... bugger! To make it worse, the car was going to be exported to France, so none left in the UK.
Anyway, I decided that although they never did the SE in that colour, it was a genuine Lotus colour, and it would look good on the car, so that was what happened. There are now 3 in the UK, all have been painted by their owners in that colour.
As for the project car, again it is Pac Blue, and the paint is grotty enough to benefit from a repaint. Angie has never liked blue cars, and likes the Palacio Purple (again, only an S2 colour).... so part of the deal with getting the car was that she could have it purple...... except she decided she wanted my S2 wheels on it if it was Purple, so it would look right. That wasn't going to happen, so she decided to have it Norfolk Mustard, as that was her preference anyway (and she was winding me up with the wheels as she knew she wouldn't get them!).
So both are 'proper' Lotus colours, and used on the Elan.... just not on mine at the factory!
