Okay the continuing hunt for a second car has come down to a choice of two

In the red corner we have the lotus elan sprint FHC

Almost practical, possible to fit an empeg, wonderful handling, tiny and wieghs nothing.

In the blue corner the caterham/lotus seven

totally impractical, telephatic handling, fast, good for autotesting, also tiny and wieghs nothing, no empeg.


So what are opinions or experiences of others on the board remebering this is a second car so the diesel beast will remain daily driver with its empeg

Not to want to confuse things any more, but what about an MX5 instead ? Great fun to drive, lovely handling and actually reliable even when it isn't being used every day (unlike the Elan). You could always stick a Lotus badge on it...

I spoke to someone recently who was planning to "upgrade" from an MX5 to an Elan. He had a shock when he drove the Elan and found the MX5 handled better.

Not quite a classic in the same way as an elan.

Ducks runs for cover and hides behind something big

Had a sit in one and did not have the same sort of feel that a elan or caterham had. Also discounted on the too big factor. Went for a test drive in one that had been improved and it was awful but not driven a standard one that had not been improved but i thought it would be much better.

If i was going for a only car that was to be a softtop an good old shape MX5 would be near top of list.

Not quite a classic in the same way as an elan.

No, which has it's benefits when you leave it for a few days without using it and come to start it

Went for a test drive in one that had been improved and it was awful but not driven a standard one that had not been improved but i thought it would be much better.

Ah, "improved". There are lots of them out there that have been "upgraded" with 17 inch wheels, lower suspension, stiffer springs etc. Some of the 17 inch wheels weigh twice what the carefully chosen light weight ones the car came with.

The result is that they ruin the handling that Mazda managed to give it.

yeah this had been race spec suspension huge alloys lowered onto the bump stops and a big wing that shaves 4 seconds off the 0-60 time and a huge exhaust which means it can out run a cossie. Might of had a max power sticker to

really can't work out why it was so uncomfortable and drove like poo

How about what I ended up with - a Morgan?

I suggested that earlier and was roundly castigated.

OK, but you can't help admiring something that still has wood in structural parts of the chassis, and where the external door handles are an optional extra

Why not get both and get a Canon EOS Elan 7 (camera). That's what I thought this thread was about.. interesting name conflict there.

Caterham, of if you want more bang for your bucks, a Westfield. No contest.

Or a Fisher Fury.

I've just sold my Westfield and bought an MX5

1990's Elan

Mk1 MX5 - on adjustable suspension, with Turbo

Looking for a decent old Elan is a mine field, you will certainly be looking at something that had at least one ground up restorations, and you will want photographs and lots of history.

Caterhams do appear to handle "different" to Westfields etc, and are worth the extra initial investment as appear to hang onto their value a little better.

I have found a very nice elan sitting at a dealer now the intresting bit is it is in a big pile of bits hence it is going to have a ground up resoration which means it is going to cost a bit more then the norm but i will have bascally a new elan. It has a 160 bhp engine top spec in everything as i belive it was bought buy someone with lots of money who intended to do everything himself bought all the best bits etc and then lost intrest and sold the pile of bits to this dealer.

I had decided on a 7 then i went to see a 7 at this dealer and saw the elan i could not got for a test drive due to a lack of wheels,engine,gearbox and body. So out of intrest i went to glasgow and test drove another elan and found its drive and handling utterly seductive.

As to other cars they have been looked at and discounted to to being too practical, too normal, too slow, too big or too modern.

This is going to be a heart car not a head car my head car sits outside just now a modern BMW diesel fast economically relable and slightly dull. A head car can leak oil, drool, fall to pieces, be cold and impractical etc as it is not transport it is fun.

Look at an empeg slightly different yes since it is the best you can get, but it still needs you carrying round a huge lump of hardware by modern standards, total paranioa about where it is, little bits of tweaking with latest software etc, huge amounts of hard disc space given over to mp3s, anal obsessions about tagging, total confsion by stereos that don't show track titles. But that is half the fun of the thing.

I have driven the old Elan and you are spot on that its a fantastic handling car, but have heard stories from many friends about restoration projects. Generally they take much longer and much more money than you expect. You only need a couple of bits missing, decide to upgrade something, or break something and costs/time escalate.
If you really want to take it on, budget the subs cost to Club Lotus, magazine and club advice would help.

I'm on the look out for a Caterham, but having driven a couple on the road, and hired a couple of times for track days, not conviced how much road use I would give one.

Its very hard for other road users to spot you ( being so small/low down ), and there is very little crash protection, especially from a side on impact. They are a handfull in the wet, and generally for 5 minutes of fun there is 25 minutes of pain.

Although you do have roads ( if not the weather ) more suited I guess.

Have you tryed the lotus 7 club they have a okayish bbs www.blatchat.com

As to the not being seen by other road users two sides to this

One small, low car but that said i have a hulking great BMW and have drven 7.5 ton lorries and some still don't see you

Also it has what the [censored] is that factor which being unusal your brain gives it more attention

Been hitting refresh on the blatchat for sale section for a couple of weeks now

Sounds to me like you need to drive a caterham - with the k-series engine and 6 speed box, there is nothing like it.

Amazing how quick 135bhp is in such a light car.

A friend said he once had a Lotus (Elite I think) - he worked on it himself for cost reasons and said pretty much any mechanical work needed the engine removed, and lots of parts were proprietary and needed special tools.

He said he used to chat to the mechanic at the local dealer and the chat time used to be added to whoever's car was being worked on!

Basically, he has owned a *LOT* of cars since (on average, more than two a year) and said he wouldn't even entertain the idea of owning another Lotus.

Gareth

Oh i have driven a caterham but only with the 5 speed box and it is a very quick car.

My mind was completely made up on the idea of a seven then i had a drive in the elan and what a wonder fully communicative car More than the caterham i would say.

But sadly both test drives have been very short so need to get a longer drive in both even if i have to hire one.

Grab some of the videos from here :

http://www.jimbocam.com/seighford/v4.html

and

http://www.jimbocam.com/elvington/vA/

Will give you an idea of the fun possible.

But hiring will be the only way *you* will know for sure.