Lotus Elan Central

by **joetex** » Sat 13.10.2007, 17:48

Hello to Everybody,
I love British cars, do not yet have an Elan, but I dream about Lotus cars since I was 21. Now I am 61, young enough, own a Naylor TF1700, but willing to push on a turbocharged engine. Today on a magazine I read about a red, 1994 Elan for sale, I phoned, but apparently there were already two potential buyers interested. Will see..., and let you know.

by **GeoffSmith** » Sat 13.10.2007, 17:59

Welcome Giuseppe and good luck. Although there are not many Elans in Italy, you can check out local LEC members on this link.

by **clemo** » Sat 13.10.2007, 18:55

hope its a good one and you become an owner soon....

by **John_W** » Sat 13.10.2007, 18:58

Hi, Giuseppe,
:smt006

Good luck in finding an Elan.

My family had a wonderful holiday in Rome (& Venice) this summer, and enjoyed driving through all the lovely scenery in between (even if it was in a VW hire car).
Beautiful country and beautiful weather for an Elan. :burnout:

John

by **joetex** » Sun 14.10.2007, 07:20

thank you so much for the wishes; today I will phone again for that red Elan and see if it is still there...
yes driving a British sports car in Italy is an emotional experience, especially if you run out of highways, for example on the old Roman age roads such as the via Cassia going from Rome to Tuscany and over. I do it with my TF, but it is not so much reliable, particularly for unsolved problems of overheating.
Does the Elan suffers problems of overheating ? (think that temperature could be around 38 C as it was during last summers).
Climatic changes do not like our cars... :-(

by **cjay** » Sun 14.10.2007, 08:30

Hi Giuseppe

Don't worry about warm weather, I drove my first Elan 2,000 klm in 2 days when it was 38C and it was fine! I was rather sunburnt though :oops:

Not many poms can say that :wink:

cj

by **joetex** » Sun 14.10.2007, 12:33

...my possible Elan is still there... it is an S2; I will eventually see it tomorrow; declared problems are areas of opaque colour (red): a complete respraying is stated to be necessary. Mileage is 35000 km. No modifications; it was owned and driven by a lady. What I should look in particular in the engine and suspensions areas ?

by **GeoffSmith** » Sun 14.10.2007, 13:05

Giuseppe,

There is a lot of information on what to check for here.

You may not have come across it yet, but we are trying to find as many S2's as possible - check this link. If you can get the limited edition number, we may have some information. If we don't have a record, we would be very interested in any information you may be able to provide!

Geoff

by **joetex** » Sun 14.10.2007, 13:36

...thank you Geoff, this S2 is red with black hood and red and gray leather seats. Do not know the Limited Ed. number. Being a car fanatic, the owner had visited the factory invited by the Italian dealer. He says it is in very good conditions, except painting.

by **joetex** » Sun 14.10.2007, 18:15

...I have seen my possible Elan from far; the auto-market was closed, but from the outside of the car area I was able to see that S2. It is confirmed it definitely needs a complete respray: the are portions of the coach that miss paint, apparently it detached from the surface for some reason. Is it a known problem? May it depend from "living" at a sea site?

by **abmunro** » Sun 14.10.2007, 18:19

Good Luck!!!!

Welcome!!!

by **joetex** » Tue 16.10.2007, 20:18

...sorry, I have seen that Elan, but it needs too be refurbished too heavily: not for me at this moment. I think it is a very early S2, with 205/50 ZR15 tires, Model 100/A VIN E075U1186. No S2 label on the back. Look forward for better chance...

by **John_W** » Tue 16.10.2007, 21:04

Giuseppe,
Shame it didn't turn out to be a good one. Never mind, I'm sure you'll find a nice one eventually.

The VIN number you quote looks strange to me.

An Elan VIN number should look something like : SCC100MZT1MHD13456

See HERE for an explanation of how the VIN number is made up.
This works for SEs, and I'd expect S2s to be the same, but of course this may not be the case.

Also, as you know, S2s had 16" wheels, not 15" like the earlier cars.

John

by **GeoffSmith** » Tue 16.10.2007, 21:40

Couldn't E075U1186 be the Lotus part number of the VIN plate?

.. and John's right, the VIN format is standard even for the S2.

by **joetex** » Thu 18.10.2007, 21:10

John and Geoff,
...thank you for the kind info: the chassis code table is very useful to "understand" the car.
Actually, I also recorded such number which is SCC100ZT1MHH18035.
According to this number, it is a 1991/92 SE model.
It seems strange to me that it seem to have an O2 sensor on the turbo and the car document reports it conforms the EC directive 91/441 (also known as Euro 1 for CO emissions). Engine number is 080076. I am sure E075U1186 was reported as VIN beside a bar code.
Never mind... I convinced the (one) owner to not sell the car anymore, to dedicate enough time to its restoring... and to enjoy it for years to come. Being a car enthusiast, I think he could remain an happy Elan owner.
In the meantime I found a 1992 Calipso Red SE, with 72000 km, but have not seen it yet. For now I continue using the "Classic 35" Mini...

by **Sy V** » Fri 19.10.2007, 08:24

Giuseppe

I understand your initial confusion about the first car being an S2.
Most, perhaps all SEs that were destined to be sold in Europe had the Oxygen sensor on the outlet manifold.
Good luck with your continuing Elan search...

by **joetex** » Tue 30.10.2007, 19:52

Hello again,
yesterday I examined another couple of Elan for sale in Rome:

the first is a 1994 S2 Limited Edition #218, chassis SCC100ZT1RHF26218, engine # 0186031, ocean blue, mileage 70500 km, overall not well kept, needs to be resprayed, even the alloy wheels show several scratches. As it is frequently written in British car magazines ads with a typical understatement, "it needs attention";

the second is a 1992 SE chassis 100ZT1MHH16037, engine #933677, calipso red, mileage 74600 km, recently resprayed, non catalyst, overall well kept. At a first look it should deserve no surprise.

The asked price is comparable (the S2 is 1000 pound higher): Which one to prefer? Which is the best value? I am thinking...

by **Gazza** » Wed 31.10.2007, 08:57

Anymore details on the S2, like colour of seats and roof, reg. I take it it was LHD and I have never heard of Ocean Blue

Thanks Gary

by **joetex** » Thu 01.11.2007, 08:51

....sorry, you will see the colour and LHD in the picture. Soft top is black, and leather seats are also full black...

by **Rambo** » Thu 01.11.2007, 13:04

Looks like it's been hit on the front lower spoiler? - or is it bird crap? And the rubber lip that goes underneath appears to be missing ?

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