Lotus Elan Black NA (DEAD LINK)

[Lotusbongos]

Rare NA version. Only 129 sold

Extensively serviced and maintained at a Lotus specialist in Romford (Rapid Mechanical Service) during my 4 years of ownership with £4200+ spent on improvements and maintenance. Work carried out under my ownership: Replaced radiator with alloy radiator. LH radiator fan. water pump & fit new cambelt. Tensioner & idler pulleys. PAS & alternator belt. Oil change filter, break pads, faulty ECU replaced, rewiring to fix electrical issues, headlight motor rebuilt, oil filter and cooler hoses, wheel bearings, fuel catch cable repair, electric wing mirror repair. Under the previous ownership the car also underwent a number of upgrades. New front and rear wishbones 2010 (common and serious issue with these elans), stabiliser bar, leather seats fully reupholstered 2009, Hood replaced 2010.

This elan has been thoroughly serviced and maintained to it's current 131000 miles. The body work is in good condition and has no obvious blemishes only the usual stone chips to bumper. The hood has no rips or tears. Has smaller Momo Lotus steering wheel. New alloys purchased from Hethel in 2010 and are in excellent condition. Only negatives are that the plastic rear hood window is misty and scratched, recommendation that the calipers are aging. Had a full oil and filter change a couple of weeks ago. I have included the previous ecu that was replaced in the sale as it may be worth something to someone with the correct skills.

Dry stored in the winter for the past 4 years. This has been my only vehicle for 4 years and has been used regularly. Sadly selling because I now need a bigger vehicle for my business. Absolutely love my elan. Black is easily the best colour

Open to offers. MOT due 18/03/2020, £5,500

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified ... on=at_cars

[clemo]

I do love the NA .
This must be one of the last registered .
What happened to the rear light covers ? does this not leak a bit or pop bulbs ?

[simonbuk]

Out of interest Clemo - why do you love the NA's so much ?

I personally think if you had an NA and tweaked it a bit with a big valve, it would be a great drive. More low down torque, not whizzy turbo noise,etc, be a less frantic drive.

[Rambo]

What happened to the rear light covers ? does this not leak a bit or pop bulbs ?

They look totally knackered. Looks like someone's taken an angle grinder to them

" the recommendation on the last MOT that the calipers are aging" I can't see that. Where does it say that ?

[clemo]

Out of interest Clemo - why do you love the NA's so much ?

I personally think if you had an NA and tweaked it a bit with a big valve, it would be a great drive. More low down torque, not whizzy turbo noise,etc, be a less frantic drive.

My first elan was an NA and with some tinkering it kept up with the best of them. I guess I love them because they are very much under rated rarites and they have a great clock. It was my first sports car thst introduced me to what being part of a club was. Before that my Tr7 wasn't a real triumph, my spitfire 1500 wasn't a pure 4 and I was too young for the in talk at thst club. my astra GTE wasn't a gti. So much club snobbery. Then I met this mad lot in a wet misty car park at travel lodge in 2001. No heirs or graces, no age comment, no turbo piss takes. I guess my love for the NA is all the good things that I associate with it. Plus it was my first sports car that wasn't falling to pieces. I had made it to the users drivers league.

[simonbuk]

I guess I love them because they are very much under rated rarites and they have a great clock.

I never knew this ? Where is such a clock ? I need to see this ?! I assume it's in the place of the turbo gauge or something ?

[John_W]

From the ad:

[GeoffSmith]

Lotus had loads of NA clocks that they tried to flog to us a few years ago. A 51st Stater was interested…

[Rambo]

What happened to the rear light covers ? does this not leak a bit or pop bulbs ?

They look totally knackered. Looks like someone's taken an angle grinder to them

" the recommendation on the last MOT that the calipers are aging" I can't see that. Where does it say that ?

The outer perspex covers look like they have been removed ? A new owner should probably factor in ~£350 a side to sort this problem out

[Lotusbongos]

Thanks for the interest and comments guys. I wasn't even aware of the rear light covers/perspex were missing. No not had any rear bulbs go at all or leaks, agree aesthetically it would help. Angle grinder?

I'll get a better picture of the clock for you clock watchers

The rear calipers had to cleaned up and simply readjusted. It was advised that the rear calipers would probably need replacing in the next year or two, not a recommendation on the MOT. My mistake

Price reduced to £5000. Not the best time of year to sell. Time for winter warmth in the cart lodge I think

[Giniw]

Price reduced to £5000.

After only a couple of days?
If possible, you should wait a bit more IMHO (of course I don't know the price for a NA in the UK market)

[rip]

I personally think if you had an NA and tweaked it a bit with a big valve, it would be a great drive. More low down torque, not whizzy turbo noise,etc, be a less frantic drive.

Lotus already tweaked the NA. 129bhp was a lot for a 1.6 16v at the time. Getting even more power from an NA is relatively expensive compared to turning up the boost pressure in a super/turbo engine.
There may be no turbo noise, but the turbo uses exhaust energy, some of this being noise. It depends on the exhaust involved, but this usually makes turbos a little quieter.
What makes you think it is less frantic? I feel my SE is quite calm & relaxing until I wake the turbo up. With an NA there is no such switching between 2 modes. I have no doubt that it is as enjoyable to drive as a turbo...just a little different.

[clemo]

Gearbox is different too . Higher final drive. While you are waiting for turbo to kick in i was pooteling off.

[dapinky]

..... Higher final drive......

[Rambo]

..... Higher final drive......

Maybe Clemo had the Fed springs fitted

[simonbuk]

.......my SE is quite calm & relaxing until I wake the turbo up. .

Exactly. And when the turbo comes in that's where most of the power is. With a nicely tuned NA you have power/torque low down and don't have to wait for a rush to happen.

As you say - just different, maybe I've got use to cc's rather than turbos/superchargers.

[rip]

..... Higher final drive......

Maybe Clemo had the Fed springs fitted

I think DP meant the NA had a LOWER final drive, giving slightly better acceleration with a lower top end.

[dapinky]

Final drive ratios take a bit of getting your head round - the higher the first number, the lower the ratio - when divided down to comnpare:1..... (so far, so good).....

.... the higher ratio will give more torque (accelleration), but at the expence of speed (for a given engine rev input).

TBH, the 2 ratios used in the Elan gearing are close enough not to make a huge difference (69:18 in the Turbo & 70:17 in the NA), but allow the NA to have a good balance of performance to make most use of it's more spreadout torque curve.