TimSportsTourer

I took a friend to the Rebellion brewery in my Esprit a few months ago. Admittedly, it was daytime, but amongst all the Chelsea ultra-tractors, M5s and shiny Audis, I don't remember anyone batting an eyelid. Perhaps it was you that turned the heads? Or your mate? Or both? Or maybe it's because I didn't turn on the headlights…

Nah. What he really wants is a Lotus!

A few years ago, I visited a lot of Normandy graveyards, with coachloads of veterans (https://d-dayrevisited.co.uk), my Dad among them. Just incredibly moving. Every one of the veterans had an amazing story. My dad was wounded in the chest, so but for an inch or two of accuracy from a German Schmeiser, I would never have been here. It's quite serious. And the acres of graves are frankly terrifying to me. WW1 was so much worse still. It's really hard to comprehend. I don't think there's a right way to prepare for such visits, mentally. But don't expect it to be easy. I did drive there once in my Elise, though. That was a complete joy. And it wasn't broken into, luckily.

That's bloody classic! Lots has been said (most of it on this thread!), but that's just bloody classic! Love it. That's what I drive now – a Maserati, but for someone with money. I'm going to be telling that one for weeks…

Martyn - Esprit SE Chris (Esprit22) - Esprit Turbo ChrisJ - Excel SE or Turbo Esprit - hopefully not both like last year Chipp-M100S2 Nr2k - s1 elise Owen - Esprit GT3 Phil Flash - probably M100 could be Elan+2 Markw996 - S4 Esprit Loose Cannon - EspritGT3 Mark Hur - Elise S1 Steve A - M100 Bibs - Elise S1 111s Choppa - Esprit S3 Neal H - Evora 400 Sparky - Esprit GT3 Pete - Elise S1 111s Neil P - Exige S Paul F - The Mighty Esprit V8 StuartM - Something Lotus Dave N Elise 111R Dave - Elise S Cup Baz - Elise 250 Cup Steve S3 - Elan+2 or Excel Steve1 (Evora or M100) or both Paul M100 S2 (LEC) Craig - Evora Dan - Evora 400 Jimbo - Evora (or the Brabus if it's sunny ) Rupert - Elise SC Wayne - Evora S Ade & Gina, GT3 & Evora Nigel - Esprit V8 Nigel - Europa S Paul Saunders - Elise S2 Type 72 (Email) Dave - Excel Dave Eds - Evora Richard Cooper - Elan JayEmm - Evora 400 I suspect Stuart - elan +2s 130/5 Nigelsd - Esprit S2 Junks - Europa (If I can get the LHD headlamps changed in time!) Charlied - Esprit S4 Rizla603104 - Esprit S4 - The Purple Nasty Phil - Exige S240 jaydubya (Jon wilton) - Turbo Esprit Kathryn - M100 S2 elise 147 - Elise S Club Racer Dave and Megan - black esprit - see you there Dave.G - Exige S320 Simon (Sizona) Evora GTE or maybe Esprit mpse14 - M100 or Elite 501 huggy617 - freshly waxed Elise 220 TimSportsTourer – Esprit S4

Not said about my Esprit but about my old Nissan 350Z, at the petrol pump: "Leave some for us!". I do feel a bit that way with the Esprit. Actually, I feel that way every 200 miles!

You make me feel young again!

I was once at a car-rental place that had a Ferrari to rent out. They changed the tyres every 3k miles and the clutch every 6k. If you spend that much on a car (with a cost of ownership that makes my eyes come out on stalks), and replace the engine every 20 mins or so, you'd hope it wouldn't break down that often. And they still do fail every now and again, just like ours. You are making me want to go out for a drive!

Yep – that'll do it. I still have etched in my memory the first time I ever drove a Lotus. Don't think I'll ever forget it, and here I still am, all these years later. You did a good job there, C8RKH!

I think the most likely explanation is that the guy in the Q5 TDI was a prick and a complete knob. He had bought a Q5 TDI, after all!

As a long-time MLOCer, I too recommend this. It's a great day. The thing I love about it is that pretty much everyone there loves pretty much every car there. Most people would happily consider swapping for pretty much anything else. No-one wants rid of their own cars – they'd have to think about it, but everyone just loves a Lotus. And there are PLENTY of them! Great cars, lovely people, and Dean and his team do a stunning job. (I know I've not booked quite yet Dean, but there's still a glimmer of hope I'll be able to make a weekend of it with the family.) You won't regret it. Really.

Love that colour combination. One of my favourites. Enjoy!

The impossible he does immediately, but miracles like raising the dead seem to take him a little longer. Still, if he had done, I'd have come on Saturday too :-)

We came down on Sunday. It was great. I particularly enjoyed watching the F1 cars – that was a great show (with only one engine letting go – oh that looked expensive!). LOTS of great cars to look at, and a whole lot of fun. Thanks to those of you who helped organise it.

Cambridge car parks – pretty bad, but I have survived them. On the other hand, I had to visit a Liverpool hospital to see my Dad who was ill, and their multi-story was nigh on impossible. Either you cut the corner enough to avoid breaking the Esprit splitter off and risk curbing the rims on the ridiculously high curbs on the inside, or you take it more straight on, and leave a scrape of black plastic on the floor, if you are lucky. Boy, I hated that car park. I had to go down the ramps at inches per hour, not miles. All the people in the car park saw this amazing supercar thing creeping along, the followers getting increasingly annoyed, and then they heard the graunching sound of splitter destruction. Not the rims, though .

So being a physics nerd makes me special, does it? Oh dear. Who knew?

I was on my way up the M6 the other day, and stopped in one of the services – I can't remember which one. I was on a bit of a mission, so I parked in the back of the car park where there was plenty of room, so I could get the parking over quickly and get on. As I came out, three spaces along there was a bloke in a brand new, red, beautiful F-Type S. Really stunning. As I approached, he started the engine, and it gave that wonderful throaty roar. I mouthed at him (over the noise) that it was a beautiful car. The admiration on my face probably was worth a thousand words. He muttered some thanks. Than I plipped the alarm on my car and opened the door. His jaw dropped. He mouthed his admiration at me, in his turn. To be fair, they are both pretty stunning cars, but I think I surprised him (in a good way) more often than he was prepared for. It did make me feel good.

It was, Bibs. It certainly was. I said this to Dean the other day – there was a great mix of cars – Elans, Excels, Eclats, Esprits, Elise, Exiges, Evoras, Europas, M100s, a single 211, at least one 7, and two 340Rs. And a VX220(!). It was fascinating to walk up and down the rows of cars. All the same marque, but each one so different. Everyone was really friendly, the weather was great, and people seemed to enjoy themselves a lot. It was way better than last year, and that's saying something. Chatsworth House also makes it a good family day out. There's a massive adventure playground for kids, farm things and animals to see and watch and interact with, and then there's the house and grounds. Congratulations to Dean and his team for making it happen. I wholeheartedly recommend this to people for next year. See you all there!

Sorry to hear that Chatsworth killed your 'box. It was a good day, though! Mine was the silk red s4 parked a few up from you, I think. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Good luck with the seals.

Yep - but to paint them, we'd still have to get the bumper off, so my current plan is to wait until we get the bumper off, then put LEDs in. That way, they'll never need doing again. Cheaper than fibreglass and pain. Unless the reason for getting the bumper off is fibreglass and paint… I'd be in for a group buy, if someone can make them.The trouble is, even the clear ones cost far too much because of the low volume at which they are made. Cheers!

Lotus did try to tell me that this was the case, but a) there's no evidence of Lotus doing the mods, b) they aren't the same running lights as on the USA S4 (or S3), c) I've never been able to find any press photos of my car with the lights on. It all points to a subsequent owner doing it. There's a high-level brake light added too, and that's anything but standard. I can't imagine the factory having done that either. Someone somewhere thought it was a cool idea, I think. The trouble for me is you have to take the bumper off to change any of the bulbs. And I do. I think you are right, Bibs. Someone decided to do it. But they went to Halfords, instead of Lotus to get the bits.

The indicators? I thought you meant the running lights! Still, same applies. I think they are something more weird, 'cos I tried hard to source them, and ended up getting them from a chap who makes them himself because they are obsolete.

I thought they were out of Halfords!

I agree. I love the S4 to bits. I won't bother posting any pics of mine, because it's already done. MOI87, K267BOF and the original press shots are all of my silk-red car (including the first post in the thread), so there are plenty of them here already. Thanks! When I got mine, there was an S1 (more iconic shape from my youth) and the S4 parked side by side. The S4 won hands down, because it's so much nicer inside. Since this is my daily driver, the increase in the quality of the interior made the choice very easy. I can live with the S4 - it's a lovely place to be inside, but the older cars, less so. And the wing is fine, and it doesn't obstruct rear vision, which is good. I've seen an equation written down for the downforce created by Lotus rear wings, and if you look at the numbers, the S4 wing performs amongst the best: Downforce from Lotus wing = weight of Lotus wing x 1.0 As for the indicators, when I bought mine, they had been turned over. I tried to get the dealer to fix them, but it's so hard to get the front bumper off that I gave up asking them. The original lenses disintegrated, so now I have the clear ones since they are the only lenses I could buy. If anyone has a source of original lenses that are in good nick, I want some. Also, my car has aquired running lights at all four corners. They aren't there in any of the early press photos of the car, but they appear by the time of it being MOI 87. Anyone on here ever own it? Did you do it? Do you know who did or why? I'm guessing the front lights got turned over when the bumper was off when running lights were added, since there is really no sign at all of any front-end damage to the car. Do you know better? On the downside, I'm currently waiting for an AA lorry to take mine to GST, since it dropped a core plug last night on the way back from the Silverstone "reveal" of the Exige LF1, and it has poured all its coolant over my garage floor. It is clearly not bomb-proof, but I still love it to bits.

I agree! Thanks for organising, Martyn. I really enjoyed the day. I arrived with my friend in an MG-C (40 y/o), but too late for all the excitment of self-imolation of American cars. Some really great cars to see - there were some fascinating old Rollers. Reassuringly, the only cars I would actually want to own were on the Lotus stand. Phew. And then a whole massive museum to see, if the cars got too boring (handy for our 3-year old). Great to meet some of you, too. Lovely weather. What more could we ask for?