Sports Car and Lotus Owner

Post by: **garyeanderson** » Tue Oct 04, 2011 2:11 pm

I went out and visited Carl yesterday and got home late. Mark was visiting and we all got together for a great dinner. Carol prepared this on a little over 3 hours notice while at work. Some folks just get things done. Anyway before I left Carl said "don't forget the Magazines". So I took them home and there is some nice stuff inside. I figure if there is interest I will post photos of the contents over a period of time. Some of them have a bit of condition problems but mostly in good shape for being over 50 years old. There are another 20 issues of autosport magazine from the mid 50s to early 61 too.

Post by: **Spyder fan** » Tue Oct 04, 2011 2:33 pm

Gary,
I'm really jealous of those magazines, I picked up an old copy of Classic and Sportscar dated 1986 at a charity shop a few weeks back and was fascinated at the content especially as it had a feature on +2's. Just looking at the advertisements is a treat and the cars for sale prices make you want to cry, so those old magazines must be a real joy to read as well as being a useful historical record for cars in their period. I bet you can settle a few arguments over what's original by using those.

Please post up anything you think is interesting, I for one will be watching with interest.

Regards

Post by: **trw99** » Tue Oct 04, 2011 5:10 pm

Alan

In that case you would enjoy a few hours browsing my bookshelves. I have all the magazines that featured Sprint roadtests, plus a load more from the 60s that featured the earlier Elans and +2s, as well as some motor show catalogues form then too. Also included are pretty much every classic mag that featured Elans from 1976 onwards. Then there are all Club Lotus News going back to 1980 and even a couple of copies of 'Lotus Position' the London Club Lotus Magazine! i am sure there are others of us on here that have similar stashes.

So next time you're up this way, pop in and bring your spectacles!

Tim

Post by: **garyeanderson** » Tue Oct 04, 2011 5:27 pm

This article was in the September 1959 issue. I think it?s kind of special to me because I had this car for a week to bring it back east and had the chance to see it close up. To see a period article on it with the wing scrape on the left front and then looking at the photo I took in 2006 makes me think of the history in between. When I picked up 1015 it was being stored in Jim Hall's old race car trailer that he hauled his Chaparrals around the U.S to the CanAm races. The trip to pickup the Elite was in early April, I left Chicago after attending my uncle?s 80th birthday party. I got as far as Wyoming and the interstate had been shut down for 20+ vehicle accident with several fatalities. There had been a patch of black ice that was obscured (Hey Richard, how many times has obscured been used on ?lan.net?) by the top of a hill so as the people crested the hill they hit the ice just on the other side and thus began the chain of crashes. I only mention this because I had been delayed at the Iowa and Illinois border. There had been another accident and as a matter of caution they shut the interstate down. So there I was pissin an moanen about sitting there for an hour plus as they cleaned up the scene. I lost some more time so for once it was open. It wsa a good thing it turns out as there was a chance that I may have arrived just in time to be part of the action. I pulled into the truck stop where the highway closed in Wyoming and filled up my pickup with diesel and went in to pay the bill. While standing there one of the troopers comes in and says ?The Interstate is Open? Several miles later (15 ? 20) I came across the scene and the burned out hulks of two of the tractors were still there but the rest had been cleaned up. It still seems spooky

Post by: **ardee_selby** » Tue Oct 04, 2011 5:35 pm

Spyder fan wrote:<snip> Please post up anything you think is interesting, I for one will be watching with interest. Regards

Thanks Gary,

Me too...in particular anything having a Graham Hill connection.

Post by: **ardee_selby** » Tue Oct 04, 2011 5:41 pm

trw99 wrote:<snip> Then there are all Club Lotus News going back to 1980... Tim

So, perhaps, you would have missed this appeal from an earlier edition!

Did the later editions publish any results?

Post by: **trw99** » Tue Oct 04, 2011 6:02 pm

Richard

My word, you could replicate any number of CL News appeals and still not find any follow up! Especially at those exorbitant prices...

Gary

Sorry, getting back on track - great story by Jay Chamberlain, thanks for sharing and yes please, any more you care to post would be excellent.

Tim

Post by: **Spyder fan** » Tue Oct 04, 2011 6:21 pm

trw99 wrote:Alan

In that case you would enjoy a few hours browsing my bookshelves. I have all the magazines that featured Sprint roadtests, plus a load more from the 60s that featured the earlier Elans and +2s, as well as some motor show catalogues form then too. Also included are pretty much every classic mag that featured Elans from 1976 onwards. Then there are all Club Lotus News going back to 1980 and even a couple of copies of 'Lotus Position' the London Club Lotus Magazine! i am sure there are others of us on here that have similar stashes.

So next time you're up this way, pop in and bring your spectacles!

Tim

Tim
That's an offer I can't refuse! Maybe one of the first serious road trips in the S4 duratec should be to your place. I got the Lotus Elan bug after a really long incubation period, I first contracted the disease after exposure to a +2 outside my school gates back in 1967, it took until 2005 for the virus to fully take hold therefore I don't have the full symptons such as the vast store of paraphanalia that other sufferers have accrued over the years. Apparently there is no cure, only treatment ( to quote one of our lotus elan net fellow members whose name escapes me at the moment)

Regards

Post by: **garyeanderson** » Tue Oct 04, 2011 7:25 pm

Some of these are not that special to me as I have only read snippets about the personalities. I know the names and maybe a story or two but thats all. These mean more to most of you. Much of the pages are duplicates of advertising so I'll post those as a separate reply as they are the vendors of the day with repeat adds.

Carl thought this article was one of the best as it explains the procedure of installing the anti roll bar/top front control arm, This is the basic front suspension used on many of the early Lotus cars.. Let me see, 4 degrees with the tips up seems easier to remember as "Tits Up"

Tits Up"

Post by: **Spyder fan** » Wed Oct 05, 2011 7:53 am

Gary,
The article on how to build a Lotus 7 is great! I loved the Performance Cars Ltd advert, an Aston Martin DB2/4 for ?1495 must have been an eye watering price at the time and makes the XK120's/140's look very affordable from ?395 - ?795 especially when a brand new MGA is ?943, I wonder what people would have rather spent their money on at the time. Roughly ?1500 would have bought a modest house back in the early 1960's and the average house price is now way over ?120,000 in the UK and much higher in the London/South hotspots. Buying 2 XK120/140's back in the 60's and sticking them in a draughty barn for 50 years will result in around the same increase I think.

Wonderful, keep em coming

Post by: **garyeanderson** » Wed Oct 05, 2011 11:30 am

More from September 1959 Sports Car and Lotus Owner.

Just look at the ex Peter Ashdown MkIX Lotus, Climax stage 2 DeDion Rear with a price of 720 pounds. What was the pound to dollar exchange in 1959? I think it was more than $3 to the quid, a lot of money at the time but it makes you think.

Post by: **Spyder fan** » Wed Oct 05, 2011 12:03 pm

The Lotus MK 6 at the bottom of the page is listed for sale at Colston Avenue Carshalton (South London Suburb) just a few streets from where I lived in the 1960's. I just did a Google streetview of my parents old house, something I have never done, it's strange how nostalgic these things make you :cry:

Some modern day race cars are surprisingly cheap, perhaps in 50 years time our kids and grand kids will be calling us all names for not buying and keeping a few.
http://www.racecarsdirect.com/categories/17.html
http://www.racecarsdirect.com/categories/34.html

Regards

Post by: **garyeanderson** » Wed Oct 05, 2011 1:01 pm

Personalities - drivers and tuners

Post by: **garyeanderson** » Wed Oct 05, 2011 2:59 pm

Spyder fan wrote:Gary,
Where are the rest of those scans; I mean really.... I've been waiting at least 30 minutes since the last one was posted up, what's wrong with you?

Do you think I have the time to sit here all day just waiting for you to get your act together?

Goddam Americans, think they rule the world

BTW: I have taken a lighthearted view of our new 'friend' and have posted a reply accordingly, Pete made the guy feel welcome so I don't know what all the bitching is about