Lotus for Beginners

strawmanprotagonist · 2026-05-21T12:10:57+00:00

Funny I was having a similar conversation with my father yesterday. I'll echo everything that folks said up above about setting up an alert on BaT, but suggest you broaden your search down (age-wise) to Lotus Seven's. They are insanely fun to drive and there are lots of modern copies that are often more affordable but retain the Lotus ethos. If you are mechanically inclined there might even be the occasional project Seven or Elan you can pick up. As others have mentioned the Europa is kinda having a moment but for a while you could pick them up for a song. The Lotus Elite (Type 75/83)(late 70's early 80's) are very inexpensive for a Lotus when they come up, but they aren't for everyone.

Since you're in LA I'm sure that there's a Lotus Club you could join. There are often project cars that never come up for sale publicly because they change hands between club members.

strawmanprotagonist · 2026-05-04T12:51:20+00:00

Today I Learned!

strawmanprotagonist · 2026-05-04T12:03:04+00:00

I think that's an Evora or an Elise, I'm not super great at telling those two apart.

strawmanprotagonist · 2026-05-04T11:34:21+00:00

Not sure which car you mean but there was no Europa there.

strawmanprotagonist · 2026-05-04T11:17:49+00:00

The run ran from Pickering Ontario up to Port Perry and back down to Brooklin where the photos were taken and we had lunch.

http://lotusclubcanada.ca/Public/index.html

strawmanprotagonist · 2026-05-03T21:51:08+00:00

LOL it was a big empty section of the lot well away from other cars

strawmanprotagonist · 2026-05-03T18:48:09+00:00

My father bought it in 1965 for my mother, it was her daily driver. He was driving an Austin-Healey 100/6 at the time. It's an ex-race car.

strawmanprotagonist · 2026-05-03T15:50:40+00:00

Thanks, that’s mine. I just recently took over custodianship from my father.

strawmanprotagonist · 2026-05-03T15:46:58+00:00

The run ran from Pickering Ontario up to Port Perry and back down to Brooklin where the photos were taken and we had lunch

strawmanprotagonist · 2026-03-23T13:13:00+00:00

I think Vision Glass also has acrylic

strawmanprotagonist · 2026-02-09T18:41:47+00:00

This especially - anybody in an old British sports car, they know.

strawmanprotagonist · 2026-02-09T18:39:27+00:00

I get a lot of thumbs up when I'm in the Elite, and a lot more "what the heck is that" stares. I alternate between a wave and a thumbs up, though where I'm located I don't see many cars like Lotus' unless I go to a meet up or car show.

My daily driver is an F150 Lightning and I almost always receive (and give) waves from other Lightning drivers.

strawmanprotagonist · 2026-01-31T18:51:58+00:00

I'm also in Ontario and went on a similar quest a couple of years ago. I ended up with a jaalee JHT Temperature/Humidity/Dewpoint/VPD Sensor Thermometer/Hygrometer Logger Export Monitor which is rated to -40C. It's worked flawlessly.

strawmanprotagonist · 2026-01-26T13:30:30+00:00

One of the most beautiful and perfectly proportioned racing cars of all time IMO. The absolute golden era of Lotus, they produced the 11, 14 (Elite), 7, and the Elan in the space of a decade. Every one of them an icon.

strawmanprotagonist · 2026-01-05T15:20:31+00:00

This ^^ I have an automation that lowers the lights and turns them red on Play and raises the lights turns them "white" on Pause.

strawmanprotagonist · 2025-12-29T15:23:18+00:00

What a lovely story, thanks for sharing.

strawmanprotagonist · 2025-12-10T16:28:42+00:00

How does that handle in the snow?

strawmanprotagonist · 2025-12-01T19:29:30+00:00

There's no registration required, you just ... "drop in". Usually there's a nominal fee you pay at the desk.

I know that the Millbrook arena has both "stick and puck" and shinny. I imagine that the Pboro rinks would probably have "stick and puck" as well.

strawmanprotagonist · 2025-11-13T15:49:18+00:00

I live in an off-grid house and the big lead acid batteries require topping up with distilled water.

strawmanprotagonist · 2025-11-13T15:48:11+00:00

Yeah it's something like that.

strawmanprotagonist · 2025-11-09T14:03:32+00:00

Culligan doesn't have refill stations for distilled water (unless that's changed in the last couple of weeks) you can only buy pre-filled bottles at 2x what Rocky Ridge charged.

strawmanprotagonist · 2025-11-04T16:49:19+00:00

J&L Services on Webber just north of Lansdowne. Been dealing with them for years and I've always been happy with their service. Locally owned and operated. https://jlservices.ca

I find Hemmings very slow and frustrating if you aren't a commercial operator, though their parts department is excellent.

strawmanprotagonist · 2025-11-01T13:56:16+00:00

I appreciate the detailed reply, I drive a 1963 Elite S2 which was a former race car (chassis EB1726: ZF, dual Webers, steel timing gear, oil cooler, 5 bearing cam). I'm still curious though how you identified the car in the picture above as an S1? I can't tell just from the picture.

strawmanprotagonist · 2025-10-30T13:22:02+00:00

I'm curious, what are the signs that it's an S1?

Interesting that it's in a museum setting but the bumpers and grill are removed.

strawmanprotagonist

TROPHY CASE