nothing but smoke and ashes

[garyeanderson]

[Old English White]

Nice collection Gary ,
Ask Ed for a picture of a "Shpincraft" 26R , half fiber/half aluminium ...
Christian.

[alaric]

I'll take the ones on the right please. Very shiny.

[garyeanderson]

I added a photo of the 26r spina. I think the bolt on wheels are the best, no hammer or special tools but this topics about Spina's.

Gary

p.s. Ed's right!

[elancoupe]

[Elanintheforest]

This was a popular mod in the 70s / 80s, when you could break a Lotus Cortina for ?100 which would yield 3 badges.

Mark

[Spyder fan]

This was a popular mod in the 70s / 80s, when you could break a Lotus Cortina for ?100 which would yield 3 badges.

Mark

Mark,

I would still like to break one of those old repmobiles, can't think why they have such cult status today, badge engineering at it's worst...... I'm running for cover now by the way!

Regards

[Elanintheforest]

And so you should!
They are superb cars to drive...very chuckable and a lot of sideways fun. They are certainly not fast by todays standards, or even by Elan standards, but somehow they work. It's the same with the Mk 1 Escorts, or at least, the twincam, RS and Mex, and have a look at the dosh they fetch!

If they were Elan money I'd certainly have one in the garage, but at ?30k to ?40k for a minter, I don't think I'd enjoy it quite so much. The last one I had cost me ?400, and I sold that to buy my S3 Coupe, and was amazed at how fast and nimble the Elan was compared to the Cortina. I still have that Elan (35 years on!), but still appreciate the qualities of the old 'Tina.

Mark

[GrUmPyBoDgEr]

I agree entirely. I drove a '64 Lotus Cortina for a couple of years & had a great time in it.
Scoured the county in it looking for an affordable Elite at the time.
The basic Cortina itself was a major design breakthrough, engine, g/box simple & robust.
The whole package at the time could even be put in the "benchmark" class.
It certainly showed the rest of Europe how to build light, roomy, efficient & cheap to buy family cars.
IMHO a fantastic concept at the time.
The Lotus Cortina did one hell of a lot more, but for the privileged few.
Their looks haven't stood the test of time as well as the Escort though.

Cheers
John

[Spyder fan]

very chuckable

Sadly you can't chuck them far enough away for my liking.

2 responses so far, mostly light small arms fire, no flamethrowers yet.

Regards

[GrUmPyBoDgEr]

very chuckable

Sadly you can't chuck them far enough away for my liking.

2 responses so far, mostly light small arms fire, no flamethrowers yet.

Regards

You're leading a charmed life

[Spyder fan]

Here's what to do with one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3D-50Volw1U hint the crash happens 5 minutes 10 seconds in.

You can even get a LoCort crash simulator program to help you on your way
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_5qK_ZxmIY

[andyelan]

Hi Everyone

Back in it's day, wasn't one of the problems with the Lotus Cortina that it was too unwieldy (relativly speaking) to compeat with works Mini Coopers as a rally car. That's why Ford switched to using the Escort Twin Cam.

I suppose the Cortina was ok as a circuit racer, but then so was the Ford Galaxy

Andy

[Elanintheforest]

It?s like trying to explain to a burger munching larger lout the delights of haute cuisine and fine burgundy wines.

I doubt you?d have ever heard of them, but Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart, Alan Mann, Mike Beckworth, Sir John Whitmore, Jack Sears and Jackie Ickxx all enjoyed great success in a Lotus Cortina on the circuit, whilst Henry Taylor, Vic Elford, Roger Clark, Bengt Soderstrom and Paul Maclellen learnt their rally craft in LoCorts as well.

But it?s not just about the great dynamics and success of the car, it?s also about Lotus, and Colin Chapman, and Ford England and Cosworth in the 1960s. It?s the heritage that is, for some of us at least, part of what is so appealing about Lotus cars of the 1960s, and the Type 28 played quite a large part at the time.

Back to the burgers, lads. Flame grilled, of course.

[Spyder fan]

Mark,

'LARGER LOUT' was that a typo or an attempt at irony regarding the burgers and fries that often accompany the 'LAGER'.

Couldn't give a fig about the heritage, hate the car, simple as that.

Are you going to speak up for Sunbeams and Carltons as well? What about Protons and Isuzu's, surely they all have a heritage?

Toss me another Stella and make it extra relish on the gutbucket burger!