1966 Lotus Elan FHC: The "Bought-not-Built" car

[2mAn]

**The Background**
The ol' "Built Not Bought" moniker has always been my Achilles heel. I love building cars, and have always wanted to build a car from scratch. So when a few years ago got my hands on a Spyder Frame, it was on!.. However, fast-forward a few years, my first child and many dollars later I didn't have much to show for it. After the second kid absorbed what little time I had left I made the tough decision to liquidate the projects... I was determined to finally buy an Aircooled 911, but with the requirement being not-a-project meant I was going to have to shell out all the pennies I collected from the liquidations AND would need to sell my 996 for a good price. After taking the 996 to the test drive of a few Aircooled 911s, I was disgusted at the whole 'market' and business that is people who profit off 911s. I think I repeated the phrase "I Hate how much I want a 911" at least a hundred times.... enter this particular Elan.

**The Alternative**

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1966-lotus-coupe/

When this popped, I knew it looked familiar and immediately started doing my research on it. The car was listed here out of the UK, but the seller/ person who bought it from the UK seller had a thread on LotusTalk and I was able to start communicating with him there. I figured if I could get this for a fair price I wouldn't need to sell my 996 AND I would have a completed Elan to enjoy. Surprisingly the bidding never picked up and I was the highest bidder, but (not surprisingly) it didn't meet reserve. Long story short, Bryan was great and we agreed on a number that met our expectations in the middle. Win-win!

**The Plan**
Since its NOT a project car and went through an extensive revival there isn't too much I NEED to do, but there is always things I WANT, so in order of importance I have the first few items

1. Battery
2. Rear Wheels
3. Headlights
4. Look at me!

-Number One project I noticed in the picture was the battery didn't appear to be fully secured. I will get a closer look, but it appears to be secured from fore-aft movement, but not side to side. I plan to take this car into the canyons, so this needs to be secure.
-Number Two project is related to the Minilites. I LOVE Minilites and was going to get these for my own project, so these aren't going anywhere. In fact, I'm selling the two spare OEM Wheels so I can have a Minilite spare. However, the Minilites were listed as rubbing on cornering which is something that Tony Thompson also mentions (IN BOLD nonetheless) so this is another issue I will need to address before taking this to the canyons.
-Number Three project is to do something about the headlights. I know many aren't a fan of this look. I LOVE the 26R look, and I love having good headlights so I have a plan to improve this look. I think its one of the things that likely held people back on bidding.
-The Final, initial project will be to add brightness (see what I did there?). The Elan is tiny. We all know this, but the general public has no idea and ideally I want them to know I am there on the road with them. Normally for the Elan, I would want a bright color, but as I don't want to deal with a color change on the car YET I need to find some simple solutions to make the car more visible. Having good headlights is one item and one reason why I want to keep the Hellas. As for the car itself, I was thinking that removing and re-wrapping the 'bumpers' with a chrome vinyl wrap would be a good start. I know that the Elan normally has Silver bumpers, but I don't think that will attract attention like chrome will. Open to the communities suggestions here.

Overall, I am excited to learn RHD, all the quirks of the car and get a good feel for this car and have a long relationship.

[2mAn]

**The First Drive**
In the short drive that I had my impressions are that this car is going to be a hoot, but I have to definitely check off the tasks I listed above. The Seat adjustment will be first and I will try to get that done later today. It looks fairly straightforward, but we'll see...



NICE


Update: I moved the seat from the rear position to the front position so now I can sit in the car without needing a pillow behind me. Much easier than expected, which is great news for when I want to try out the 26R seat.

Project (0)

Up next, Project (1) …

I will probably sort out the spare components and list up what I dont need.

[MrBurgundy]

Wow very off brand. Surprised it has an engine in it lol

[kronus]

a 60s lotus not hovering on a set of jackstands is a sight to behold, indeed. beautiful car.

[2mAn]

Project (1) - Battery

Reusing the pic from the auction, but this is how it looks sitting in place.



Removing the battery and assessing the space, so I can compare the width & depth I had to use. It appears there has been some fresh fiberglass in place, either as a reinforcement or repair. Still looks good and isnt a concern for me. (How about you?)





The Plan

As an avid 'dumpster diver' I had already scoured the classifieds on Lotus Talk and found a homemade battery bracket that was designed for use in an Elise and using a DEKA ETX20L Battery. Might save a few pounds in this process, but the aim was more to have it secure for my canyon runs. Bracket is en-route where I will confirm if it was worth the 2- Jacksons I spent on it.


I will buy the battery once that's all confirmed and see if I can check this off and move on to Project (2)

[MrBurgundy]

How is RDH?

[roguetoaster]

Well, hell. This is one I envy. As a child, my Dad had an Elan in the back of the garage. BRG, not sure what engine it had, or even what year it was, but I loved climbing over the junk behind it to "drive" it. It got sold without me ever getting a ride in it, probably before I was 10.

I really didn't know they went so cheap. Nice pick up.

[2mAn]

MrBurgundy The hardest part of driving RHD isnt the shifting as I thought, it was more about placement of the car in the lanes and on the road. Luckily this thing is so small I could drive it in the middle of the lane and still be inside it!

roguetoaster thats cool, my Dad never had anything cool growing up. Still no idea how I became such a nutjob with cars, but here we are... I paid more than the high bid that didnt win it, but it was certainly a bargain next to the $50k+ Aircooled Porsches I was getting annoyed with.

kronus Thanks, just need to figure out what to do with the German cars now...