Looking for a +2

[mhemsley]

Hello:

Sadly, I have never had an Elan. I wanted one while serving in Germany, but delivery could not be arranged, so I took delivery of a new 1968 Europe at the factory after selling my '66 Shelby GT 350 to another GI. My only other Lotus was one I raced during 1970-71 in the Northwest US and Western Canada - a '56 11 LM that I bought from Evel Knievel's father.

I am a car guy. I've owned some interesting autos - 14 Alfas, including one I raced, a couple hot Mustangs, Sunbeam Tiger, early Spitfire, two Minors, SVT Focus and Focus ST. Currently I have a '73 Alfa Romeo Giulia Super with a very hot 2000cc engine and a '49 Austin Dorset with an MGB engine and other mods.

While working in the real world - retired from the US Army, US government, and University of Southern Mississippi - I started writing as a freelancer. My focus at that time was motorsports, and I have covered F1, Indy, IMSA, ALMS, and SCCA. The only motorsports I cover these days are the Sports Car Club of America's National Championships - been doing that since 1983. A few years ago, I was asked to write for "Vintage Roadcar" magazine. I write feature articles, do profiles of significant cars, interview interesting people, and do short (1000 word) articles called "Driven," where I give a bit of history of the marque and the car and do driving impressions. That brings me to the two reasons I have joined the forum:

1. I want to do a "Driven" article on an Elan +2. The Elan gets a lot of ink, but the +2 is relatively unknown to the US motoring public.

b. I want to see if I can get in and out of the car - I'm 72. If I can, I'll be seriously looking for one to replace the Austin in my garage. My wife and I were picked up and driven to the factory in an Elan +2, and I've always liked the styling.

Anyone in the US who has read all of this and is interested in having a short article written about their +2, please contact me at [email protected]" target="_blank. I live in Chattanooga, Tennessee, but I travel quite a bit - this year, I'll be as far south as N Florida, north to central Pennsylvania, east to the Atlantic, and west to New Mexico and Colorado.

Thanks for wading through all these words. I look forward to hearing from US Elan +2 owners.

Cheers!

Mike

[The Veg]

Hi Mike, and welcome!

Interesting bunch of background you have. When I was growing up my dad had a bunch of Sunbeams and Alfas, and I used to date one of Carroll Shelby's grand-daughters.

I'm just down the road from you in the Atlanta area, and I have a Plus 2. You're welcome to see I and learn as much from it as you can, however, I don't think it would be a good candidate for your article since 1) it's a real project at the moment, with the interiour gutted, and 2) even when I get it put back together it won't be pretty due to years of neglect. But at least it'll be functional.

I'd love to see your cars as well.

[mhemsley]

Hi Mike, and welcome!

Interesting bunch of background you have. When I was growing up my dad had a bunch of Sunbeams and Alfas, and I used to date one of Carroll Shelby's grand-daughters.

I'm just down the road from you in the Atlanta area, and I have a Plus 2. You're welcome to see I and learn as much from it as you can, however, I don't think it would be a good candidate for your article since 1) it's a real project at the moment, with the interiour gutted, and 2) even when I get it put back together it won't be pretty due to years of neglect. But at least it'll be functional.

I'd love to see your cars as well.

Thanks for replying, Veg. I got a reply offline from a fellow in Colorado. Turns out I'll be there in early May. He and a buddy both have nice Plus 2s, so I'm pretty sure I've found the cars for the article. He's also going to be at LOG37 at Barber Motorsports Park. But you're very close, and we have grandtwins who live in Duluth, so I would like to meet you and talk about the cars.

Sounds like your Dad had good taste. Was it safe to date one of Shelby granddaughters? He could get pretty testy...LOL!

Not sure it's appropriate to upload Alfa and Austin pics on here, but I can send you pics of my two cars via email if you'd like to see them. Or if you come to Chattanooga, the Austin is here now - the Alfa is at my daughter's place in MS until my son-in-law sort out an ignition issue - I decided to install a newer system, and it's is playing hard to get right.

Ciao,

Mike