Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Hello all,

I tend to ramble so I will try to make it short. Always been a big fan of Lotus and racing. The past few years have been interesting were I earned my SCCA Competition license and now I am learning the tracks in my state (Homestead, Palm Beach, Sebring (yes very exciting) There is also Daytona but its kinda a long drive in my MX-5 (with Lotus seats so don't get to angry, anyway they are great cars to learn the tracks).

Anyway, back to the Elan... I eventually want to get into vintage racing and after all the cars I have gone through the Elan is always at the top of my list (and the Cortina but we are in Elan country now).
We all have dreams and mine is the 26R (A recreation is just fine with me) so maybe in about a year or so of track time under my belt and some saving I will be looking into purchasing an Elan... Only one major issue comes into play, but after seeing Jay Leno get into his Elan I think I can manage.... but if not (6'2 220 (dropping 10 pounds soon)) there is always the Plus 2.

So that is why I am here... to learn more about the Elan and the owners group which I will eventually become a part of.

Now for my first question: Any Elan owners in the South Florida area that will let me try to sit in their car to make sure I fit? Or maybe a get together (cars and coffee etc.)?

Thank you for having me!

Robert

Hi Robert,

Welcome to the forum. I?m 6?2? (210lbs) and long in the leg and I fit just fine. In fact I have to pull the seat forward a notch or two. I seem to recall this came up awhile ago and I think there was a 6?4? owner out there.

Like any classic, pick a nice one and you?ll have a ball. There are plenty of Elan owners in Florida. Quite a few Europa owners as well but that WILL be a tight squeeze! I just fit in my S2 Europa. +2s are vastly underrated and are therefore cheaper.

All the best and good luck with your search.

Regards,

Welcome to the forum and always nice to have another racer who wants to get an Elan on the tracks. Fitting a roll bar in an Elan restricts rear seat movement in a fixed head but in a roadster / DHC you should be fine at your height.

An Elan is a sweet car to race in historics with light weight and lots of engine development potential (my particular hobby) but they get nervous on the limits and needs some suspension development to achieve stability in long sweeping high speed bends (with the driver on the outside especially) and to avoid snap roll oversteer in tighter bends when running with modern track day tyres.

cheers
Rohan

Welcome
This weekend March 23 & 24 at PBIR there should be at least 2 Elans racing in vintage.
I know that mine is sure to be there.
John Callahan Car 66
Type 36

welcome.
i'm 6'6" and 275 lbs and fit perfectly fine in my Elan Sprint.
it came with a roll bar installed and I could NOT fit. I removed the roll bar and now i'm able to put the seat all the way back and now I fit just fine. So just FYI, the roll bar makes a big difference in cockpit room.

Thanks for all the replies! Good to know that I'll fit. Just need to reduce this 10 lb increase over the last two months (50th birthday celebrations)
John I will be going up this weekend what times did they give you so I can plan accordingly that way I can swing by and say hello...

Welcome Robert!

I can't speak for the Elan, but I can tell you that my Plus 2 will accommodate my 6'4"/260 with 34" inseam quite easily and leg-room is excellent.

Sounds like you're in for a great fun adventure; keep us posted!

Went to Palm Beach, and saw John Callahan?s Blue #66 battling it out on the track. Was most of the time by the carousel taking to the Spec Racer Ford folks. Didn?t see you John but I got a heck load of pictures of your Elan... by the way nice set up to keep battery charged up... how many watts does that solar cell put out (great idea!)
Couldn?t stay to long since I had the family waiting for my in Palm Beach but it was great to see the Elan on the track.
Next time I?ll see how I fit with the roll bar.

Welcome Rob!

Welcome Rob.
I'm building a GTS car (26R rep).
I'm 220lbs and 6ft, it's beautifully snug!

Thanks for the pic. Looks like you have about 2 inches between helmet and roof...
Might have to do a Gurney bubble on my future car...