Although I have owned and driven many British sports cars, I’ve never been for a ride in an original Lotus Elan. However, I’ve heard that it’s one of the most delightful driving experiences around and (for example) was used by Mazda engineers as inspiration for the original MX-5 Miata. This car has been cleaned up since the picture above and is listed for sale here on eBay, where there is a buy it now of $12,900 but offers are encouraged. The car is now located in Haddon Heights, New Jersey.
Post-cleanup and with some shiny wheels, the car looks a lot better! The seller tells us that car has been in storage since 1986 and it shows a last inspection sticker of 1984 with a history in California and Texas. Interestingly, the odometer shows a little under 82,000 miles but there are records of an engine and differential rebuild at 78,387 miles.
Don’t be led astray by the seemingly perfect body gaps and rust-free appearance; if you are not familiar with Elans you may not know that the body shells are fiberglass and there’s a backbone-style steel frame under there. More about that later.
I’m guessing the primer around the nose is due to some previous accident damage. As the quality of fiberglass repair can vary widely I would suggest a close inspection prior to purchase; alternatively just assume you will be doing some work on the front of the body.
Unfortunately, that’s not the only work you or your chosen Lotus mechanic will be doing. There are some real rust problems with the frame currently under the car. The seller has a lot of pictures loaded at this off-ebay site if you want to look things over more closely.
The seller is also including this frame in the auction (it’s unclear whether it came with the car when they purchased it) but it has it’s own rust problems according to the seller. New frames are available from the UK but they are not inexpensive.
I love the real knock-off, pin-drive wheels on these cars!
It doesn’t look like the interior has been monkeyed with and there’s not a ton of wires hanging out from under the dash as I have seen in the few Elans I’ve considered purchasing. I’m pretty sure that’s even the original dainty shift knob.
Even when it’s dirty, a Lotus twin cam engine with side-draft Webers makes my heart skip a beat. The seller tells us the engine is free but that the starter motor is not installed (possibly the reason it was taken off the road?) so no attempt to start it has been made. But that’s fun for the next owner — could it be you?
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Clean it up, repaint it and install it in the driveway.
You got me, Al…I would view this as one of the better finds this week (I didn’t find it)…
Yes, you are right. But, I had to say something positive (well sort of).
Jamie,
I bought an ’84 Elan (#3892) as a restoration project,
but never got to finish/drive it.
I did get to drive one in Vancouver,British Columbia,
when Bruce Patrick let me drive his,& was blown away by
how great of a driver’s car these are.
Thanks for sharing! I’ll redouble my efforts to mooch a ride somewhere :-)
Jamie,
Look me up if you ever get to Roanoke.
Hopefully we’ll meet up sometime?
The SCCA Runoffs will be at VIR in Oct 2019,
& the Moss Motorfest will happen next June.
You had me at Lotus Twin Cam…
It IS possible to replace the frame in your garage at home. It requires a lot of patience. It requires a lot of band-aids. You will replace all of the wiring while telling yourself that you will never do this again. You will spend hours trying to repair the wooden dash before you finally succumb to the idea of going to Home Depot and buying new wood and a saw. You will polish the brass parts of the weber carbs — even before getting the motor to run. You will question the sanity of putting leather upholstery in a car whose top has no hope of expelling water and is best used for a sunshade at the beach. You will, at some point, actually see both headlights opened at the same time, but never after dark. When its all properly re-built and beautiful and you have Dave Bean’s phone number on speed-dial, you will discover that you do not fit in the car for more than an hour at a time.
But, once you get by those minor inconveniences, you WILL love this little car. Mazda copied it for a very good reason. It may well be the most fun sports car ever built – and re-built, and re-built…
For you who have not heard this. LOTUS = Lots Of Trouble, Usually Serous.
I love Lotus cars but… Not ready to do it.
bump or scoop on hood = turbo?
Hardtop/vert ever produced (of this model)?
I’m thinking it was the 1st 4 wheel IS (C the pic of the ‘wishbone’ frame)& disc break ‘sports car’.
My Grand Cousin had one 30 years ago, and made rally with it. 180 horsepower for 500 kg, it was a blast. It’s the only time I saw a mountain road (in the alps) that I know very well going so fast under my eyes. I was nervously laughting all the way as if I was in « Space Mountain », the speed, sound and agility of the elan was just irreal. He offered me to drive it, but I was to tall to fit in the driver seat. Too bad for me. This car is definitely a pure icon of what a sport car is. Light is right…
As a young Army officer in Germany (’67-’69) there were 3 distinct “Clubs” amongst the host of us single guys. Elans, Alfisti, and “other” breeds. The very large parking lot for the Bachelor Officer’s Quarters was filled of a nice Saturday morning with the guys from those first two clubs working on their cars to make sure their weekends turned out well, while those of us with less “finicky” iron watched, kibbitzed, or lent a wrench or muscle. I had the pleasure of driving or riding passenger in many of those different cars, such was the camaraderie. I did learn that being over 6’3″ meant discomfort beyond the driving enjoyment of most. Big feet didn’t help. Then a best friend bought a new Europa. Wow ! Once in, fit like a BRG glove…..those were the days