S2 Elan

[MXHOWES at aol.com]

Too bad you had so much trouble with your Elan, I bought my Europa new in  
69, drove it for 3 years and put 65K miles on it. This car NEVER broke down 
on  me. It had a rear axle nut that liked to come loose and every time I see 
 that 1 1/2" socket laying in the bottom of my oddball tool drawer, I think 
about  the car. (If I had known about Locktite it would not have been a 
problem).  They also put a set of stiff front springs in it to make the 
headlights US legal  height. Once figured out, I ended up contacting Lotus in 
England and they sent  me the correct springs ...FREE. That was great except they 
put it on a boat  which took 2 months to deliver.
There were annoying things like having to change plugs every 5K. The car  
was only 82 bhp but weighed 1350# .... going fast wasn't a  
problem....stopping was! The steel wheels were welded up by some drunk ( I  wanted Minilites 
anyway but couldn't find a set,  had to settle for Cosmie  (?) and the 
wobble problem was fixed.
Maybe I am forgetting a few things but after having previously owned a MK 1 
 Sprite, anything that could get you from point A to B without breaking 
down was  fantastic.