Elite with a V8 in

[Chris71]

Does anyone know about a silver (wedge) space-framed Elite fitted with a 4.0 Rover V8? Apparently it competed in lotus owners club sprints during the 90s?

Wondered if anyone on here knew of the car. It's now for sale and kid of appealed as something a bit different. The only thing is the current owner is by his own admission 'not very mechanical' so I think it might be a bit too much of a gamble for me

[GKP]

This one?



Elite on ebay

[Rob-C]

Oh dear.

[Chris71]

Dear god no. This was outwardly standard I think (had a subtle bonnet vent which might not be on the original) and basically just looked like a normal silver Elite.

The whole thing looked like it had been very well done. If it was an Excel (rather than the more 'curiosuly' styled Elite) I'd have been very tempted to buy the thing there and then. That said, I don't think the current owner has looked after it in quite the same way as the original builder did!

[Simonelite501]

That car was up for sale at the Stoneleigh parts show in 2002 when mine was sold. It did look ok, but not quite right if you know what I mean. Elites give enough trouble in standard form let alone with a big old V8 lump.
If you replace a cast iron Pinto with a Rover V8, the wieght stays about the same, but replace a 907 with the Rover and it must change the handling characteristics badly.
An Elite with a good standard 907, (which has more BHP than the Rover anyway) and an enthusiastic driver is more than enough to scare the pants of you, without the bother of transplanted weight.

[Chris71]

Well, this one was a well specced RV8 - 4.0 litres and 300 odd bhp. Apparently it was built by a guy called Rob and campaigned sucessfully in LOC sprints. The suspension was bespoke and apparently so was the chasis (from a track car of some description) so in theory the handling shouldn't be affected.

It's probably a good thing it wasn't an Excel, I'd have gone back for my cheque book

Did seem to be some oil in the engine bay though. I think it's best left to someone braver than I.....

[sparkey]

I competed against this car in a standard Elite at LOC events - it was silver then. Years ago now, and I can't find the timesheets, but it wasn't much quicker (if any) than a standard car. I seem to remember that the handling appeared poor, as it always seemed well out of shape on corners where my car was fine, but if it had twice the power then that's probably understandable. Always seemed to need fettling as well, but that may have been at an early stage of it's development. I would say it's likely to be an interesting project !!

[Chris71]

sparkey said:

I competed against this car in a standard Elite at LOC events - it was silver then. Years ago now, and I can't find the timesheets, but it wasn't much quicker (if any) than a standard car. I seem to remember that the handling appeared poor, as it always seemed well out of shape on corners where my car was fine, but if it had twice the power then that's probably understandable. Always seemed to need fettling as well, but that may have been at an early stage of it's development. I would say it's likely to be an interesting project !!

May well be the one I'm tlaking about. The one above is unconnected as far as I'm aware.

The one I saw at Exter was silver and originally built by a bloke called Rob. That's about all I know. The current owner said he had owned a standard Elite before and that this one was a lot quicker. With a 275hp 4.0 V8 it should have been!

Not for me though.