I've just fallen in love with an Elan +2S
Discussion
Madly, deeply, unconditionally...
It needs paint but has an immaculate chassis and engine. I always thought an elan was unrealistic but it's only £6k!
It needs some tidying but is a really honest looking car. I haven't been this excited by a car in years... and I buy enough of the buggers
Just thought I'd share really
Owner is off to Goodwood this weekend so I'm going to get it off for a paint quote early next week and then hopefully sign a chequearoo 
What colour shall I go for? Black vinyl interior and black dash... I was thinking gunmetal grey, but it's bright red at the moment. Hmmm
It needs paint but has an immaculate chassis and engine. I always thought an elan was unrealistic but it's only £6k!
It needs some tidying but is a really honest looking car. I haven't been this excited by a car in years... and I buy enough of the buggers
Just thought I'd share really
Owner is off to Goodwood this weekend so I'm going to get it off for a paint quote early next week and then hopefully sign a chequearoo What colour shall I go for? Black vinyl interior and black dash... I was thinking gunmetal grey, but it's bright red at the moment. Hmmm
LooseCannon said:
pistachio green
That's really quite lairy!My first classic sports car so I wouldn't mind something a bit more subtle
Edit: Removed the sick smiley... it's hardly an ugly car is it?
Did they ever do a really bright orange?Edited by KingRichard on Friday 19th September 20:38
Another vote for pistachio, but lagoon blue or white looks great on a Plus 2, if you want to stick to the original colours, too.
There's a full list of colours on lotuselan.net. Colorado Orange isn't a bright orange, unfortunately (it's more of a sandy/pastel orange). There was one guy (a Pistonheader, I think, so he may be along shortly) who did his Plus 2 bright orange with a pretty lairy (but high quality) orange and black interior. I seem to recall that it took rather a long time to sell when he wanted to move it on.
But...
Are you intending to do the respray yourself? A high-quality respray on old Lotus fibreglass (which was never of the best or thickest quality in the first place) is a very time-consuming (and not unskilled) process, so treat with caution unless you know what you're letting yourself in for.
A decent respray from a professional (only use a specialist if you want to avoid problems emerging later!) is likely to cost in the region of £4.5-£6K, including prep and repair of gelcoat, so suddenly that £6K price isn't quite so appealing - there are plenty of very good Plus 2's available for less than £10K.
What condition is the interior and dash in? These can be costly to refurbish, and a poor interior also tends to point to poor electrics (the Plus 2's Achille's heel; the Elan is bad enough, but the Plus 2 is twice as complex and twice as unreliable). By 'black dash', I assume you mean black top to the dash (which they all had, even the cars with oatmeal trim)? The dashboard itself should be burr walnut veneer.
There's a full list of colours on lotuselan.net. Colorado Orange isn't a bright orange, unfortunately (it's more of a sandy/pastel orange). There was one guy (a Pistonheader, I think, so he may be along shortly) who did his Plus 2 bright orange with a pretty lairy (but high quality) orange and black interior. I seem to recall that it took rather a long time to sell when he wanted to move it on.
But...
Are you intending to do the respray yourself? A high-quality respray on old Lotus fibreglass (which was never of the best or thickest quality in the first place) is a very time-consuming (and not unskilled) process, so treat with caution unless you know what you're letting yourself in for.
A decent respray from a professional (only use a specialist if you want to avoid problems emerging later!) is likely to cost in the region of £4.5-£6K, including prep and repair of gelcoat, so suddenly that £6K price isn't quite so appealing - there are plenty of very good Plus 2's available for less than £10K.
What condition is the interior and dash in? These can be costly to refurbish, and a poor interior also tends to point to poor electrics (the Plus 2's Achille's heel; the Elan is bad enough, but the Plus 2 is twice as complex and twice as unreliable). By 'black dash', I assume you mean black top to the dash (which they all had, even the cars with oatmeal trim)? The dashboard itself should be burr walnut veneer.
Yeah the orange one was mine it sold eventually to the 2nd person that came to view, he now loves the car! The paintwork was the only thing that could have been improved on it had a fantastic QED engine and a "lairy" interior but as posted it was a quality job in full leather. I think the Plus 2 looks dull with an all black interior and oatmeal does not suit Lotus orange IMO. Loved the car ts but am in the middle of restoring a 1960 Jag mark 2 3.8 and have ended up spending a fortune on it so something had to go!
Oh and Sam I wasn't trying to be clever re 2nd person buying it as it did take ages to sell. The 1st guy spotted the front turrets were on their way out and I was selling a new Spyder chassis with the car me and "the 1st guy" (a lovely chap who was a QC) fitted the new chassis and then it sold for 12K which sounds a lot but believe me I spent a fortune on it.
Yeah, I just remembered the ad being around for a long time. The interior looked great (my Elan has a magnolia leather and blue carpeted interior, so I'm not precious about origianlity!), but personally I've never been much of a fan of orange. If you'd have done it in pistachio and interior in matching and black leather, I might not have been able to resist!
Who did your respray and how much did it cost, for the OP's information?
Who did your respray and how much did it cost, for the OP's information?
Edited by Sam_68 on Saturday 20th September 10:03
That was done before I got the car as had the engine. The paint was very presentable but if you looked hard enough there were tell tale signs that it was not a "proper" job. If I had kept it I was going to have it done properly in the Ford Focus orange. I think Elans really suit bright colours whereas my Jag has been painted in a metallic BRG.
Sam_68 said:
Another vote for pistachio, but lagoon blue or white looks great on a Plus 2, if you want to stick to the original colours, too.
There's a full list of colours on lotuselan.net. Colorado Orange isn't a bright orange, unfortunately (it's more of a sandy/pastel orange). There was one guy (a Pistonheader, I think, so he may be along shortly) who did his Plus 2 bright orange with a pretty lairy (but high quality) orange and black interior. I seem to recall that it took rather a long time to sell when he wanted to move it on.
But...
Are you intending to do the respray yourself? A high-quality respray on old Lotus fibreglass (which was never of the best or thickest quality in the first place) is a very time-consuming (and not unskilled) process, so treat with caution unless you know what you're letting yourself in for.
A decent respray from a professional (only use a specialist if you want to avoid problems emerging later!) is likely to cost in the region of £4.5-£6K, including prep and repair of gelcoat, so suddenly that £6K price isn't quite so appealing - there are plenty of very good Plus 2's available for less than £10K.
What condition is the interior and dash in? These can be costly to refurbish, and a poor interior also tends to point to poor electrics (the Plus 2's Achille's heel; the Elan is bad enough, but the Plus 2 is twice as complex and twice as unreliable). By 'black dash', I assume you mean black top to the dash (which they all had, even the cars with oatmeal trim)? The dashboard itself should be burr walnut veneer.
Hi...There's a full list of colours on lotuselan.net. Colorado Orange isn't a bright orange, unfortunately (it's more of a sandy/pastel orange). There was one guy (a Pistonheader, I think, so he may be along shortly) who did his Plus 2 bright orange with a pretty lairy (but high quality) orange and black interior. I seem to recall that it took rather a long time to sell when he wanted to move it on.
But...
Are you intending to do the respray yourself? A high-quality respray on old Lotus fibreglass (which was never of the best or thickest quality in the first place) is a very time-consuming (and not unskilled) process, so treat with caution unless you know what you're letting yourself in for.
A decent respray from a professional (only use a specialist if you want to avoid problems emerging later!) is likely to cost in the region of £4.5-£6K, including prep and repair of gelcoat, so suddenly that £6K price isn't quite so appealing - there are plenty of very good Plus 2's available for less than £10K.
What condition is the interior and dash in? These can be costly to refurbish, and a poor interior also tends to point to poor electrics (the Plus 2's Achille's heel; the Elan is bad enough, but the Plus 2 is twice as complex and twice as unreliable). By 'black dash', I assume you mean black top to the dash (which they all had, even the cars with oatmeal trim)? The dashboard itself should be burr walnut veneer.
The interior and dash is very good. The bodywork has some cracks and what I can only describe as 'blown' sections. I'm taking it to a bodyshop to get a quote for a respray early next week. It almost looks hand painted
Guy at the lous specialist reckons it can be sorted for £1500. We'll see
£1500 seems extremely cheap for a full respray. To do the job properly requires stripping back to bare gelcoat then grinding out the star cracks and filling with tissue, before you even think about prep for the respray itself. It's an incredibly time consuming process, so it's usually very costly in man-hours alone.
Don't use just any body shop - very few are familiar with the techniques required for old fibreglass and whilst the respray will look lovely when you collect it, 6 months down the line it may start cracking, flaking or blistering. Make sure you're getting a quote from a fibreglass specialist, and ask to see examples of their previous work. Miles Wilkins is not too far from you and knows his stuff, though he can be a bit 'old fashioned' (read: eccentric old bugger) to deal with.
I'm not going to risk breaching PistonHeads naming and shaming policy, but if the Lotus Specialist you're referring to is based in Kent and deals mainly in older Lotus models and the odd Caterham, be more than usually cautious, especially if he has anything to do with the sale of the car itself.
Don't use just any body shop - very few are familiar with the techniques required for old fibreglass and whilst the respray will look lovely when you collect it, 6 months down the line it may start cracking, flaking or blistering. Make sure you're getting a quote from a fibreglass specialist, and ask to see examples of their previous work. Miles Wilkins is not too far from you and knows his stuff, though he can be a bit 'old fashioned' (read: eccentric old bugger) to deal with.
I'm not going to risk breaching PistonHeads naming and shaming policy, but if the Lotus Specialist you're referring to is based in Kent and deals mainly in older Lotus models and the odd Caterham, be more than usually cautious, especially if he has anything to do with the sale of the car itself.
Edited by Sam_68 on Saturday 20th September 14:19
To the OP, give me your email address, I have about a hundred pics of +2s in various colours and brochure scans etc.
TBH they look good in practically any colour, which is a hallmark of a good design.
And a respray befitting the car should cost more than £1500 unless it's mates prices. (PS white looks timeless)
TBH they look good in practically any colour, which is a hallmark of a good design.
And a respray befitting the car should cost more than £1500 unless it's mates prices. (PS white looks timeless)
Edited by LooseCannon on Saturday 20th September 17:57
Sam_68 said:
I'm not going to risk breaching PistonHeads naming and shaming policy, but if the Lotus Specialist you're referring to is based in Kent and deals mainly in older Lotus models and the odd Caterham, be more than usually cautious, especially if he has anything to do with the sale of the car itself.
+1 - the dealer reviews on the southrun website are very revealing...marshalla said:
Sam_68 said:
I'm not going to risk breaching PistonHeads naming and shaming policy, but if the Lotus Specialist you're referring to is based in Kent and deals mainly in older Lotus models and the odd Caterham, be more than usually cautious, especially if he has anything to do with the sale of the car itself.
+1 - the dealer reviews on the southrun website are very revealing...LooseCannon said:
To the OP, give me your email address, I have about a hundred pics of +2s in various colours and brochure scans etc.
TBH they look good in practically any colour, which is a hallmark of a good design.
And a respray befitting the car should cost more than £1500 unless it's mates prices. (PS white looks timeless)
Hi Eddie, I just tried to send you an email through the system but your settings stop any mail. You can get me through either my profile or via the info@ address on my website - www.longleysprivatehire.co.ukTBH they look good in practically any colour, which is a hallmark of a good design.
And a respray befitting the car should cost more than £1500 unless it's mates prices. (PS white looks timeless)
Edited by LooseCannon on Saturday 20th September 17:57
Cheers
Jesus... thanks for the heads up guys. I would have taken the dealers word for it. Thing is, I don't mind knowing I've got to spend £3k on a respray if that's what it takes to get it done properly (I trust my paint guy 100% to have told me anyway) I just don't like having the wool pulled over my eyes. Makes me wonder what else he is concealing 
Still, at least I know I want one
Looks like it's better to spend a bit more in the first place though... Any good dealers with a steady supply of +2's?
Still, at least I know I want one
Looks like it's better to spend a bit more in the first place though... Any good dealers with a steady supply of +2's?
Yep, another vote for Paul Matty.
He and his team are real enthusiasts and have maintained an excellent reputation delaing with what, let's be honest, are tricky cars to sell in terms of potential aftersales problems.
Personally, I'd rather buy privately and rely on my own knowledge to check the car (and deal with any subsequent problems myself, too), but if you feel more comfortable with a dealer, then Matty's got to be top of the list.
He and his team are real enthusiasts and have maintained an excellent reputation delaing with what, let's be honest, are tricky cars to sell in terms of potential aftersales problems.
Personally, I'd rather buy privately and rely on my own knowledge to check the car (and deal with any subsequent problems myself, too), but if you feel more comfortable with a dealer, then Matty's got to be top of the list.
I run an orange one with a leather interior(and have since the seventies)lovely everyday car,I prefer the four speed to the five,lotus chassis to the Spyder and the original screen/surround to the replacement one,but,any is better than none!I would take someone that knows them to look at one and try and buy privately.Tempus
tempus said:
...I prefer the four speed to the five,lotus chassis to the Spyder
I'm with you 100% on the gearbox (at least unless you spend a lot of time on the motorway), but out of curiosity, why do you prefer the Lotus chassis? My current Elan is on a Lotus chassis, but I fitted a Spyder spaceframe replacement to my last Elan and, to be honest, the only advantage I can see for the Lotus chassis is originality?Gassing Station | General Lotus Stuff | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff