Elite Owner From The Netherlands

[Tocus]

hello lotus elite eclat and excel lovers,

i am bauke 23 years old from the netherlands and i am new here on the forum

i own a elite 501 LHD 1977 (orginal lhd very rare) and now also a eclat 522 RHD 1979

before i ownd a yellow elite 503 from the uk butt i selld it because i can get this one LHD

i am very very much addicted to eclats and elite's

because my dad buyd a esprit turbo se back in 1994 and year after year i also want to get one day a lotus

and now i am every day seeing on ebay in england to see to elites

i am now putting leather interior into the elite

here a couple of pictures of the cars:

(if you want them in high quality picture then i will hear it..)

i want a elite s2.2 in the future or a esprit turbo

[gghc87]

some lovely looking models there, welcome

[Tocus]

thank you cliff,

the yellow car i have selld to someone how gone restore the hole car (also living in the netherlands)

i have now contact with 4 elite owners in the netherlands and we wanne go do a drive with the 4 of us..

maby this summer butt we looking for more netherlands germany or belguim elite/eclat owners....

here some more pictures of the engine bay and a sign in the car:

greetings from the north of the netherlands

[esprit s2]

Love your Elite Tocus! Very nice indeed.   

[GavinT]

Hello Tocus,

Welcome to the forum

Your Elite looks great!!. Have you located Mr.A Tromp? I found the original owner of my Esprit S1 through facebook.

Gavin

[Guest saraphee]

Welcome Tocus,

Please keep us posted on what you and your fellow enthusiast's get up to.

It make's me think we really ought to get a proper register started.

Does anyone know what sort of details register keepers usually record?

[jimmybondi]

Lovely car! There are some Elite/Éclats in Germany, too!

[Tocus]

yess i know and i know also that there are people looking for a elite there...

because this car was for sale before butt now i putting a leather interior into it

butt a original LHD europain elite is very rare...

when the car is finisht i gonna sall the car because i want a s2.2 or a esprit turbo or maby a excel

[Dunc]

Welcome Tocus,

Lovely looking white Elite!

I thought I was a fairly young eclat/elite owner, but I'm old in comparison (34).

Yellow is usually my favourite colour for elites and eclats, but your white one looks really good, particularly in the pictures with snow.

Keep us posted.

D

[Elite7]

hi Tocus,

why not show some underneath pictures...? (i know you have some)

your car looks lovely (from top)

[Tocus]

the car looks lovely from below,

no rust at all, butt whe like the car more from the up side from the shape..

[Elite7]

hmmm....i dont konw where i´ve put them...but i had certain pictures from underneath your car...and it was a typical 30y old rusty piece !!

chassisparts, suspensionparts, suspension bushes...everything was shot!!!

[mat grant]

Elite7,

It's a 1977 car with a non galvanised chassis - so there will be some rust. But that doesn't mean it's 'shot'. As you said on another post about fitting a different engine:

"so if you want more horsepower, but dont have the money, sell the lotus and buy something differnt...maybe a vauxhall astra diesel?" (Elite7 4th April 2010)

The same applies to the underneath:

"If you want a car that isn't rusty underneath, but don't want to replace the chassis with a galvanised one, sell the Elite/Eclat and buy something different... maybe a vauxhall astra diesel?" (Mat Grant 24 June 2010).

Any of these cars that have the original chassis are going to have some rust. That doesn't mean they are all scrap! a lot of them will be, but some won't be - for example my 1979 Eclat chassis was completely intact, although had surface rust over lots of it. Rear crossmember was in very good condition. There were even some areas of shiny metal on the rear crossmember - completely solid. I've sold it now, but otherwise you would be welcome to come to mine and hit it with an MOT hammer for as long as you wanted!

IMO it's a bit harsh to be criticising Tocus car just from seeing some pictures. Is your car spotless and rust free underneath? If it is it's probably not a non galvanised Elite or Eclat. My new chassis is galvanised, has vented disks at the back and the improved front and rear suspension. (and all new bushes and ball joints throughout). But i'm not going to start posting on everyones picture thread 'look at those rubbish drums and bad rear suspension design'. I'm just saying go easy on criticising someones car when it could be their pride and joy.

Mat.

[Tocus]

thanks mat,

its right, and i gonna tell you how it is:

when you make a picture (on a bridge) and its inside and also dark.. then the photo camera makes automatic a lighting photo.. (because otherwise you see nothing and its not sharp)

so then the brown collor looks very very rusty... (of course) butt i am a honnest seller so i make pictures of the car... (after that i give the chassis a other rust treathment,..) so its very fine...

i had one elite before and that one was very rusty, and i know what rusty is because i am a car mecanic and this is not the first car that i look to with rust...

the car had years ago the body off so they putt special stuff on the chassis thats its not gonna rust, (especially on the things when they rust the hole car is laying on the wheels every elite owner knows that spots)

and also above the back brakes,

i will give anybody a sledge hammer and they may hit the car as a idiot, i will give them 1000 GBP. if the brake it because its hard very hard,

in the real you must see and FEEL it, and dont say just something i think then...