Advantage

Well, you obviously know about Artioli's grand daughter being called Elise. The rest were just marketing spin, I think. Lotus Carlton, Lotus Cortina? Neither were sold (although marketed) as Lotus cars. One was a Vauxhall (or Opel if the steering wheel was bolted onto the wrong side of the dashboard) the other was of course one of Henry's gang. The 340R was sold as an Elise. The reg docs, conformity certs all said Elise. It was just(!) a special edition (even though it was classed as a Mechanically Propelled Vehicle rather than Convertible as the Elise was) It would have been too expensive to make, otherwise.

Patrick, have a look at this: http://www.quaife.co.uk/products/gearboxes.htm#transaxle It is expensive, though.

I wish Sport 350 prices would fall to about

"Look what Q's bought us. Isn't it nice?"

Talking of projects, this guy: http://www.projectm71.com/ is either a complete loon or quite happy chucking money around. It's gone fairly quiet on his site recently, so maybe funds/enthusiasm have dried up.

Ummm...The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) starred an S1 Esprit, although back then it was just Lotus Esprit. For Your Eyes only (1981) had the exploding/reborn + skis S3/Turbo Esprit. Now, Basic Instinct I think, might have had an Esprit or two (!) but my mind seems to wander off the subject of cars when watching that film......

You are, of course, a complete loon! Stop teasing......PICTURES!

If you managed to source something from the list above, then you could always turn the wheels back to front so that they can clear the front brakes. Take some piccys so we can see your super-wide track, though:D

So the basic message from Alan's letter is that it's YOUR fault that there aren't many Esprit features in the mag...? Hmmmmm.

Not so hot on this haunted typewriter, but here goes.....this is my old clumker from a few years back.

Upside down with the "tongues" (not the latches) facing forward.

Y'know, I still kinda like that. I had a go in the yellow Rover V8 St Tropez many years ago. Instant, effortless torque and a sun tan too! I wonder what this one's worth?

That has to be the most dreadful carpet I've seen a car parked on! Looks like a fun day out, though.

Why don't you trundle up to Donny in March and stick a "For Sale" in the window (or better still ask Club Lotus if you can adverise + place car in the Hall) but all the time keeping an eye on the car park etc for a GT3 with a similar "For Sale" sign?

But on the other hand....there's a nice looking Sport 300 for sale on LEW for

Hmm, I think I'd beg, borow or steal the budget to make bespoke switchgear and door furniture. If only to stop the anorak brigade who love to point out the other cars that these are fitted to. It'd be quite nice not have carpets that are glued down with evostick and maybe less of a reliance on handmade dashboard trim etc. The V8 engined Esprit would have been launched in 1979 and would be well into it's 5th generation by now, so that it's not such a novelty. Obviously (as mentioned above) the transmission would have evolved alongside the V8 engine developments. The pop up headlights would still be a feature, but they'd incorporate the mechanism from a Japanese car that didn't have wobbly pods no matter how new the Rose joints are.... The windscreen wiper would do what it's description says rather than just make a passing gesture. (The current mech is lifted from a Renault Twingo, which is a car that struggles to do 65mph!!) The whole car would be around 200kgs lighter. I'm bound to think of more.......

Not sure how funny this is, but it's certainly a little rude: We were doing a "Boys on Tour" long weekend away in France with 2 Elises, my Esprit, oh and 19 motorbikes. It was a lovely sunshine filled day as we trundled towards LaRochelle (sp). Roofs were off the Elises and the glass panel of my Esprit was in the boot of the car. All the cars were ladened up with as much of the bikers gear they could carry to make it easier for the bikes to keep up (slightly tongue in cheek!) We're making good progress heading for the night's hotel (with the usual spirited driving driving that is the norm on such occaisions) when Ian, my passenger, decided it was about time he moonied the following 'bikes that were spread out about a quarter of mile behind us. Standing on the seat he dropped his trousers and bared all to the following traffic. As the the 'bikes realised what he was doing there was much pointing, honking and laughing. The speeds crept up from about 80ish to around 120. All the time I can hear Ian shouting expletives and banter at the 'bikes as they roared past. Eventually he flopped back down in the seat looking very flushed. It turns out he was shouting at me to slow down because he was convinced he was about get sucked out of the sunroof and onto the tarmac! In the bar that night he proudly showed off the red line of bruises on the back of his thighs gained from the lip of the roof. Shaun, who was riding a Fireblade, said that he won't forget the sight of Ian's cheeks rippling in the 100mph breeze while he was waving his arms around trying to regain his balance. "A bit like G force in reverse" Mind you, there was some concern over what might have been waving around in the cabin of the car at my eye level......