I never thought this day would come.....I am officially the owner of a running Lotus!!
After 8 years of intermittent toil I finally learned my lesson and bought a car that worked!
I purchased the car on the Elan forum from Roger, who is also a forum member on here, who just sold his beautiful red TCS. After talking to him a bit about the car I felt the call of adventure and decided to drive down that day and, was feeling bold enough to drive it back from Houston to Dallas in 100 degree heat. My visiting aunt drove down with me in my truck to assist in the return. Had I been sensible I would have brought my trailer, but I took a page from Cortez who burned his ships after arriving at the new world to prevent mutiny... After a lovely dinner it was decided best to depart in the morning. Roger and Pat were wonderful hosts and it was great to visit with them. Roger told me many stories including some about his father Jack who used to compete with his Austin 7 in the 50's in England against a certain C. Chapman. Once we set off the cool morning air did not last long, and I began to feel like a frog boiling in a pot in the Houston stop and go. There were plenty of smiles and waves from passers by. The car offers up the odd little intermittent honk when asked to take a sharp corner quickly and it is an endearing quirk I don't plan on fixing. Once we hit the highway I was pleasantly surprised how well this little thing keeps up with traffic. I took my aunt to our legendary Texas gas station buccees and she was thoroughly amused. After completing 300 trouble free miles we pulled off the interstate to head home. At the first stoplight the car sputtered to a halt...
I attempted to start it with no success for a minute or so. This truly was the complete Lotus experience! The car managed to sputter to life after a little more coaxing and it proceeded to the next intersection where it died again. A few more iterations of this and we made it home. Call it a hunch but I believe it was heat related... The car has performed flawlessly since.
I have been enjoying the little thing around town and getting to know it a bit better. I have been trying my best to surprise all my friends and family with a visit and drive, but I have already been spotted on the road by several of them before being able to execute the surprise! The driving experience is just as good as described by all the texts I have read, all the videos I have seen, all the stories I have heard. I regret not taking the plunge on a running car sooner, even one that wasn't as nice as this Elan...I always felt there was some piece of equipment to purchase rather than a working car, some other house expense, etc...It also became somewhat of a stubborn point for me that I was determined to restore and drive mine first of all...but alas this was youthful folly. This year I had been challenged by my friend with a +2 to finish my car before October so that we could take a journey to the mountains for his 40th birthday in our cars. I must admit I agreed knowing full well that I was lying... He knew it too because he started sending me ads for running cars... So that is the story of how I came to possess this little car, the delight of my life at the moment!
It even has my grandmothers seal of approval! She has waited 96 years to experience a Lotus so I can hardly complain about my short time without one!
