Lotus Elise ownership age

[Monty1502]

I was 65 at the end of February and I'm presently on my seventh Elise ( 220 SC ) - the talk on a number of other threads suggest the Elise is a young man's car / "oldies" can't get in and out of them / beyond a certain age apparently we should move onto "more sensible cars " etc, etc

I've never had any problem getting in and out / driving it / using it as it was intended. I stretch everyday and do around 200 miles a week on my road bike, so keep fit and always have done.

My intention is to still be driving an Elise when I'm 90 and can't imagine not owning one. Any other "senior" Elise owners on here ?

[otolith]

Not yet. Bought mine in my mid 30's, still have it in my early 50's.

[jules_s]

otolith said:

Not yet. Bought mine in my mid 30's, still have it in my early 50's.

Roughly the same duration as me with my VX220....

I used it daily for a decade and put 100k on it though, and that took the shine off ownership eventually. Once I got a 'sensible' car the VX took second place and never got used.

Elise/VX brilliant cars if not used 'too'much imo

[Gulf7]

Bought my Elise at 27. Was my only car for 9 years! Replaced it with a Caterham Seven at age 42 (but by that time it was a second car).

Edited by Gulf7 on Sunday 30th March 19:08

[popegregory]

My dads 81 and drives mine all the time

[Monty1502]

popegregory said:

My dads 81 and drives mine all the time

Fantastic !

[chucklebutty]

Mine arrived when I was 26 and I still have it at 53...

[b2hbm]

Bought my S1 new in '99 and still got it although I no longer drive it over winter. I'm 73.... just don't eat too many pies

[Jim H]

Wow! And I thought I was getting a little long in the tooth mine - it would appear I’ve another couple of decades at least.

Bought 2003 age 30, still have it now aged 52.

[LostCockney]

Good for you . I bought my Exige when I was 60 and intend to keep it as long as I can get into it. I have found that owning a car that I love to bits and is hard to get in and out of it encourages me to keep my weight down and exercise daily.
Perhaps buying a Lotus helps us keep fitter as I have not seen any really overweight owners

[oxnop]

Bought mine when I was 38…. I’m nearly 41

I hope to have it for as long as some of you have had yours.

[RonnieHotdogs]

I was 41 when I bought my first Lotus last year. Don't plan to ever sell it, unless I upgrade to a supercharged Exige.

[Shnozz]

Bought my first at 24 after a few TVRs before that. Now fast approaching double that age and on my third Exige, having had another Elise and an Evora in between (as well as a few disloyal years with Porsche and Aston Martin).

There’s just something about lotus that gets under your skin like few other marques.

[Gompo]

FiL is 70 this year I think, and seems to manage fine with his. He'd been doing a few Lotus trackdays but I think when he gets to 70+ the insurance might be a problem?

[rossybee]

Bought my first Lotus 18 months ago at (a youthful ) 52 - S1 Sport 160 after string of TVRs and Caterhams.

Now 54, enjoying the car for fast road use and have a classic Alfa next to it in the garage for more sedate fun and an early Bentley Conti GT so I'm quite happy I cover most bases for just now!

[Beachbum]

Bought my first Lotus, a 111R, when I was 40. Kept it for 14 years, was about to sell it and it was written off the day before the buyer came to collect it.
Sold it to the Buyer/Dealer as scrap instead

Bought my next Lotus 6 yrs later , as Emira I4, last August.

[k20erham]

I'm 67, already regretting putting my S2 Exige in the classifieds! no issues ay all with entry exit, just not as often as I would like!

[John Henry]

They aren’t young man’s cars. No Carplay, often no air con (even when there is supposed to be) no parking camera, heated seats or performance past 70mph. Sit shoulder to shoulder with your passenger and shout to be heard past 50mph. A ball ache to get in and out of and as practical as a broken carrier bag.
Owners love them but we are old boys now. Who in their 20’s hankers after an Elise as we once did? Average ownership age must be north of 45 now at least.

[otolith]

John Henry said:

They aren’t young man’s cars. No Carplay, often no air con (even when there is supposed to be) no parking camera, heated seats or performance past 70mph. Sit shoulder to shoulder with your passenger and shout to be heard past 50mph. A ball ache to get in and out of and as practical as a broken carrier bag.
Owners love them but we are old boys now. Who in their 20’s hankers after an Elise as we once did? Average ownership age must be north of 45 now at least.

Definitely the case with a basic S1, S2 a little bit easier to live with and higher powered models don't run out of puff so soon. But point well made.

To be fair, I couldn't have lived with one when I was young, I could only afford to run one car and no sports car would have been practical enough.

[HocusPocus]

Bought my S1 new in 1999, and it is easier to exit if you only use it on top off days. Mine was dibbs by #2 son years ago for when I can no longer get in/out.