The classic Lotus Elan is totally unhappy at idle

The classic Lotus Elan just begs you to take it out onto the open road where it belongs. Driver élan really revels in his ability to speed through a series of challenging corners, best done of course in the early hours of a summer morning with the top down, it’s the kind of car you put yourself in and take lightly. Removing seemingly small increments of steering lock with your fingertips, you lightly brush the brake pedal and squeeze the accelerator and clutch with your toes. Driving an élan requires a finesse similar to flying a light aircraft.

Race through the steep alpine country and listen to the crunch and shriek of the dual-cam exhaust note bouncing off rock wall cutouts at 6500rpm in the middle gears, it’s an aural mechanical symphony. The brief moments when you call on the disc brakes as you head into a corner, then tiptoe into second gear to the apex of the next corner, such is the pleasure of an ultra-ratio four-speed manual gearbox. with which the élan is equipped.

With a 3.5-to-1 diff ratio, there’s 50 mph in the former and just under 70 mph in the latter… 0-100 mph in less than 30 seconds is always an exhilarating feeling in a classic Lotus sports car. Surprisingly, the elan has the ability to do it all so quickly that you often find yourself almost running over a slow driver on a mundane tin roof with a huge speed differential.

Enthusiasm is proof that you don’t need cubic inches for exhilarating performance; Quite the opposite is true, the performance that this small but very willing 1600cc twin overhead cam engine delivers when combined with the ultra close ratio gearbox is almost incredulous. It has much more performance than one would expect from just four cylinders.

Anyone unfamiliar with the joys of driving an Elan, or who has never done so, would be alarmed, but a lotus elan (most are now over 40 years old) possesses impeccable handling, braking and acceleration abilities that in its day were hailed as incredibly outstanding. .. even today a well cared for and maintained impetus is still a brilliant sports car to own and drive, leaving many modern cars in its wake, such is its racing heritage.

The classic Elan is arguably truly underrated as an exciting and extremely rewarding high-performance classic sports car, you just need to ask any long-term Elan owner, many of whom have acquired multiple examples to rebuild, maintain and enjoy.

There is a thriving and thriving global aftermarket replacement parts industry that caters to the Elan owner who wants to maintain, rebuild and restore their Elan to better-than-new condition. The classic Lotus Elan is sure to be a sought-after classic sports car for a long time to come, and if you’ve ever dreamed of owning an elan, you need to act fast to secure yours soon, as values ​​are sure to skyrocket any time soon. .

While the lotus elan is an incredibly rewarding car to own and drive, it’s not without its shortcomings if you don’t understand the mechanics of the twin overhead cam engine, based on the Ford 1600cc block and topped off with a complex twin cylinder. alloy camshaft. head, or you don’t have a well-equipped shop where repairs, rebuilds or fiberglass body repairs can be done, think twice, because despite your joy, the impetus may not be for you.

But, if you are blessed with considerable financial resources, this will give you an alternative to outsourcing service and rebuilds. There are numerous lotus specialists in many countries ready to service and maintain your elan at a reasonable cost, their valuable knowledge and experience hard-earned through many years of involvement with the classic lotus elan brand.

One of the main enemies of the elan is the rear drivetrain, since the inception of the elan, rubber donuts were used as flexible drive couplings on the rear intermediate shafts, they gave endless problems with breakage once several thousand miles. and age had taken their toll.

The modern answer to this problem is to install a robust and well designed CV driveshaft conversion. There is an exceptional Australian designed and built driveshaft conversion that has attracted many élan owners from around the world for the bulletproof design and build quality provided. This CV driveshaft system will provide years and years of trouble-free elan driving, and the best part is that the average elan owner can easily install the system with no special tools required. Many owners comment on the new driving sensation they experience with their elan after the installation of the elantrikbits CV solid driveshaft system.