The classic Lotus Elan simply begs you to take it out on the open road where it belongs. The élan driver really revels in his ability to zip through a series of challenging corners, best done of course in the early hours of a summer morning with the top down, it’s the kind of car you put yourself in and you take lightly. removing seemingly small increments of steering lock with his fingertips, he lightly brushes the brake pedal and squeezes the throttle and clutch with his toes. Driving an elan requires finesse similar to piloting a light aircraft.

Race through the steep alpine region and hear the creak and screech of the twin-cam exhaust note bouncing off rock wall cutouts at 6500rpm in mid gears, it’s an aural mechanical symphony. The brief moments when you resort to disc brakes as you head into a corner, and then tiptoe in second to the apex of the next corner, such is the delight of an ultra-ratio four-speed manual gearbox. narrow with which the élan is equipped.

With a 3.5 to 1 gear ratio, there’s 50mph in the former and just under 70mph in the latter…zero to 100mph in under 30 seconds is always an exhilarating feeling in a classic Lotus sports car. Surprisingly, the elan has the ability to do it all so fast that you’ll often find yourself almost hitting a slow driver on a mundane tin roof with a huge speed differential.

Enthusiasm is proof that you don’t need cubic inches for exhilarating performance; quite the opposite is true, the performance delivered by this small but very willing 1600cc twin-overhead-cam engine when coupled with the ultra-close ratio gearbox is almost incredulous. It has much more performance than one expects from just four cylinders.

Anyone unfamiliar with the joys of driving an Elan, or who never has, would be alarmed, but a lotus elan (most are now over 40 years old) possess impeccable handling, braking and acceleration skills that in their day were hailed as incredibly outstanding. .. even today a well cared for and maintained Impetus remains a brilliant sports car to own and drive, leaving many modern cars in its wake, such is its racing heritage.

Arguably the classic Elan is truly underrated as an exciting and extremely rewarding high-performance classic sports car, you only need to ask any long-term Elan owner, many of whom have acquired multiple examples to rebuild, maintain and enjoy.

There is a thriving and thriving global aftermarket replacement parts industry serving Elan owners who want to maintain, rebuild, and restore the Elan to better-than-new condition. The classic Lotus Elan is sure to be a highly sought after classic sports car for a long time to come, and if you’ve ever dreamed of owning an elan, you need to act fast to secure yours soon as values ​​are sure to skyrocket anytime soon. .

While the lotus elan is an incredibly rewarding car to own and drive, it’s not without its shortcomings, if you don’t understand the mechanics of the twin-overhead-cam engine, based on the 1600cc Ford block and topped off with a complex twin-cylinder alloy camshaft. head, or don’t have a well-equipped shop where repairs, rebuilds, or fiberglass body repairs can be done, think again, because despite your joy, momentum may not be for you.

But, if you are blessed with considerable financial resources, this will give you an alternative to outsourcing service and rebuilds. There are numerous lotus specialists in many countries ready to service and maintain your elan at a reasonable cost, their valuable knowledge and experience has been hard earned through many years of involvement with the classic lotus elan brand.

One of the main enemies of the elan is the rear drive train, since the inception of the elan rubber donuts were used as flexible drive couplings on the rear intermediate shafts, they gave endless problems with breakage once several thousand miles and age had taken effect.

The modern answer to this problem is to install a robust and well-designed CV driveshaft conversion. There is an exceptional driveshaft conversion designed and built in Australia that has attracted many élan owners from around the world for the bulletproof design and build quality provided. This CV driveshaft system will provide years and years of trouble-free elan driving, and the best part is that the average elan owner can easily install the system with no special tools required. Many owners comment on the new driving feel they experience with their elan after the installation of the elantrikbits CV solid driveshaft system.

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