Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Was taking our daughter back to college after a visit home this weekend & en route, she asked if we could just pop in to the shops so she could get one or two things. Fine, except Mrs O was with us, & there was all the usual chrismassy stuff, & a clothes department. Oh dear ! After about 20 mins of this, I was board to tears, so decided to wander off to see if I could find anything of interest to me, & found myself at the magazine stand. On prominent display was this, http://www.practicalclassics.co.uk/spec ... t-of-lotus. I thought it a bit pricey at ?6.99, but I hadn't bought a magazine for ages & thought it would be more interesting than watching two women trying to decide if 'this would look good on them' so a quick trip to check out, then the cafe for a coffee & suddenly life wasn't so bad. Even reading about Loti is better therapy than 'retail therapy.

I bought a copy last week. A good collection of previous PC articles. The main jarring item was a referral to "Graham Chapman", but hey-ho.

Bought one to be mailed to California.

$15.75 but hopefully worth it.

As always with such things, there's a few annoyances, the biggest for me is the Buyers guide intro page, where you have a lovely picture of a +2 with the words "Lotus Elan S1-S4" in bold type underneath ! (can be seen in the link) But as Richard says, Hey-Ho. Overall, it's not bad, & will while away some of the boredom over Christmas

Nice find. I ordered to add to my collection of all things Lotus here in Princeton. Merry Christmas!

Thanks,
Just ordered a copy.. Still smiling at the thought of Graham Chapman at Lotus..

Just seen the 'blurb on the special (more expensive) version...

"A new publication, The Practical Classics Guide to the Lotus, is now on sale. Created from the pages of Practical Classics - Britain?s biggest selling classic car magazine, it contains everything you need to know about buying, fixing and enjoying Hethel?s finest, from Elan to Elise and much more.

The Collectors? Edition of this very special guide features all of the brilliant buying and service guides, driving features and restoration sagas included in the standard edition, plus these exclusive extras:
- Forewords from the CEO of Group Lotus PLC, the Chairman of Club Lotus and Practical Classics contributor, John Simister.
- A personal signature from Alan Morgan, chairman of Club Lotus
- A unique, individually numbered cover.
- A double sided A2 poster, featuring a beautifully illustrated Beetle diagram."

I so want the a "Beetle diagram" in my Lotus magazine ...I hope the magazine is about Lotus Cars and Colin Chapman... and not Beetles and Graham Chapman

Why is there a section on the Kent engine?

pharriso wrote:Why is there a section on the Kent engine?

Probably because Lotus Seven's were also fitted with Kent Cross Flow engines.

pereirac wrote:Still smiling at the thought of Graham Chapman at Lotus..

That would be hilarious, either as himself or playing ACBC.

He's not the messiah, he's a very naughty boy.

My copy arrived yesterday. Seems to be a collection of random 'pretty' photos, some out of date information and some wrong information.. It would certainly not encourage me to subscribe to the magazine.

There is a section on comparing 'wedge' shaped cars from the Bond Bug, to the Ferrari 308 including the Elite 501. Seems you can get a Aston Martin Lagonda in good condition from a dealer for ?30k a Ferrari 308 for ?35k and an Elite for ?5.5k!!

The section on the Elan S1-S4 if full of photos of +2s with only one small photo of an Elan. It seems strange they could not find photos of Elans. On the 'more information' at the end of the article 'spare prices' come from dealer XXX, that well know Lotus specialist!!

The classic drive section on the S3 states it has a 4 speed gearbox with overdrive!

The section on the Kent engine is there because it seem the authors think this was fitted to Elans... The little section on the S4 Elan at the top right of the page says the S4 has a cast iron cylinder head so it must have a Kent engine!

There seems to be a lot more information on the Spyder +2 Zetec than the Elan or a Lotus +2 but as I first said there are some 'nice' photos in the magazine. It's a shame as this could have been such a good little magazine if somebody had actually checked it for errors before it went to print...

I never know the wooden dashboard in the Elan was a structural member??

Carl

pereirac wrote:
I never know the wooden dashboard in the Elan was a structural member??

Carl

Ah, yes. It holds up the widscreen and the stearing column. It would be a flimsy scuttle without it.

Does sound like the magazine is a total waste of paper........

Bear in mind this magazine is a collection of articles over the last few years related to Lotus, so the information is only as good as the quality control that occurred when the article was first written.

Anyone who reads daily newspapers will be well aware at the lack of copy checking or fact checking....

For the price of 3 lattes (or 2 pints.....just) I thought it a reasonable purchase. A definitive bible it is not

richardcox_lotus wrote:
For the price of 3 lattes (or 2 pints.....just) I thought it a reasonable purchase. A definitive bible it is not

Agreed, I picked up a copy in the UK at the weekend, gave me a couple of enjoyable hours reading it on he plane.