So how many Elans are on the UK roads?

[Bruce Crowthorne]

Don't know if you noticed, but the DVLA have made public some MoT test data, see the BBC article at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8456116.stm
and more at .. http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/opensecrets/ ... eased.html


There is a link to the data in spreadsheet format, see http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/opensecrets/ ... p_2007.xls

So I looked up the Elan......

Year of Test Test Failure
Model First Use Passes Failures Rate
ELAN 1965 4 2 33.3%
1966 4 1 20.0%
1967 16 5 23.8%
1968 30 5 14.3%
1969 35 8 18.6%
1970 33 5 13.2%
1971* 72 23 24.2%
1972 18 10 35.7%
1973 12 6 33.3%
224

Sorry about the formatting, but you get the idea!

Several interesting points...
1) that only 224 Elans were actually tested!
2) that of the failures the most common topic was "brakes" - wonder if that was the handbrake?

Amazing data - and amazing to realise how few Elans are around.

Regards
Bruce

[terryp]

Bruce
224 cars - That seems very low and that's Elans and Elan +2's

?????? ??????

Terry

[bcmc33]

Makes quite interesting reading. I was able to identify my car as there was only one recorded for suspension failure.

That year my car failed for excessive play in the trunnions. I could not find any play and told the tester he was not doing it correctly - good tactics, I know
I took the car home, jacked it up, polished the trunnions and gave them another shot of grease. Took it back next day and another tester said they were perfect - because he tested them correctly.

Having said this - I dont believe the vehicle numbers simply becuse of the number of series 1 & 2 Elites recorded.

[msd1107]

Bruce,

This is a frustrating problem. The formatting system squeezes out extra spaces, so that even if you have gone to the trouble of visually aligning your tabular data, the alignment is thrown off when reformatted.

What I do is: Compose the response in a word processor. For the tabular data, select the Courier font. Where you need multiple spaces, use multiple periods (....). Cut and paste from the word processor into the reply. Use the preview view to verify the table spacing, since not even this works all the time. Revise as necessary, then post. The extra periods are a nuisance, but it is better than crooked columns.

It is theoretically posible to use non-printable characters above 180 to accomplish the same purpose.

David
1968 36/7988

[Craig Elliott]

Was this the first year that they bought in the on-line MOT/Insurance/tax system? - in which case I seem to recall there was some sort of transition period as the MOT stations installed the computer systems so I guess the database may not be complete. Scanning through it, it appears that no-one MOT'd an Aston Martin DB5 or any Jag mkIIs for example - and I'm saw I spotted several at the Silverstone Classic meeting that year...

Craig

[Bruce Crowthorne]

I am not trying to defend the data!
In fact it strikes me that the total is VERY low.
But the whole spreadsheet makes interesting reading.

Is anyone on here "in the trade" and can help us make more sense of the data?

Made me wonder how many are off the road and not MoT'd ....

So what was the biggest number of Elans in one place that year? Donnington? Castle Combe?

[Ross Robbins]

As a Yank who does not suffer the rigors of the MOT inspections, and is therefore not too familiar with them, I am intrigued by the category of failure about the "Drivers view of the road". What is it that causes a significant number of cars to fail this? Windscreen chips? Wiper scratch marks? Inspection stickers that block much of the view? Fuzzy dice?

I did notice the a high percentage of the Lambo LMP2 suffered from this malady, so perhaps it is because from within one is looking through a mail slot if the seat settings are not precisely correct?

Inquiring minds want to understand.

[Craig Elliott]

Bruce - apologies I was simply expressing suprise at the low numbers and that some types of car seem to be missing and trying to come up with possible reasons why. It is very interesting and what I was hinting at is that someone might choose to do something similar for the following year to see what shakes - especially if it was the first year that this type of data was collected. I've now spotted that VOSA are planning to publish the data for '08 and '09 later this year so I guess we just watch that space.

Ross, the drivers view of the road would, I guess, be down to windscreen damage (or possibly poor windscreen wash/wipers).

Looking at the data some more, it appears there were still 210 Allegros, 102 Itals and 100 Maxis (listed under Rover) on the road...

C

[Shiny_kit]

I seem to recall reading that if your sun visors don't stay up of their own free will, that's a fail, and would presumably fall into this category - fortunately we don't have MOTs here either.

[bcmc33]

I'm with Craig on this.

With a second look, it is clear that this is not a definitive list of all cars that have been MOT'd.

Without much effort I've found eight car brands that are missing - at least four of which have many examples at our local car shows in the summer. I'm very sure they all have valid MOT certificates.

[JJDraper]

To answer Terry's question, I believe the DVLA do not distinguish between the Elan and the +2 or even the M100 - most confusing.

I look forward to next years release to see if the data improves due to the wholesale move to full computerisation of the test stations.. maybe.

Jeremy

[Bruce Crowthorne]

The only differentiation between Elans is by the years. So the data I pasted is for the sixties Elan, but the data for the M100 Elan is in the spreadsheet.
That is true of various models where the name has been re-used like the Elite.

[Robbie693]

Without much effort I've found eight car brands that are missing - at least four of which have many examples at our local car shows in the summer. I'm very sure they all have valid MOT certificates.

The article on the bbc page said that - "limited the cars in his tables to the most popular models - those that have had at least 20,000 tests. " So I guess that's why some are missing

The dates are a bit confusing, for example the Ferrari 512 is listed with models going up to 1996 for first registered, when production stopped in 1984..

For totals, should the fails be added to the passes, or should we assume the failures went on to pass in the same year..?

Robbie

[Spyder fan]

Late last year I posted the data held by Club Lotus on members cars, here it is again (Thanks to Annemarie at Club Lotus).... Don't forget that this is worldwide membership. I am personally not surprised at a mere 200no or so ?lans & +2's being MOT tested in the UK, in fact I think that this is an encouragingly high number.

Hi Alan
Right here we go! This is the best I can do for you.

The first figure is the number of Elans we have various models the second figure is the amount of Elan +2?s included in the first figure.

1962 - 3
1964 - 18
1965 - 26 elan +2 = 1
1966 - 57 elan +2 = 1
1967 - 109 elan +2 = 26
1968 - 176 elan +2 = 86
1969 - 199 elan +2 = 89
1970 - 171 elan +2 = 53
1971 - 176 elan +2 = 49
1972 - 243 elan +2 = 97
1973 - 192 elan +2 = 148
1974 - 47 elan +2 = 44
1975 - 4 elan + 2 = 4
1976 - 2 elan +2 = 1

Kind Regards
Annemarie



Regards to all