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Sports car chat

I like your thinking EB :)

I suspect the original chassis would need to be cut and stretched to get a decent V8 to fit in the proper (non Miura) orientation though:

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The Elise would a bit short to try to squeeze pretty much anything other than a little transverse four in there:

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Unless of course you decided to go full Hennesy on it that is..

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richardg said:
Is it a recent 2.0 180bhp version?
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Yes it is, I would love to put a supercharger on it for a mild boost but at the moment no one makes a CARB (California Air Resource Board) approved version, which is a bit unfair with all the massive gas guzzling SUV's around here...
 
-alan- said:
I like your thinking EB :)

I suspect the original chassis would need to be cut and stretched to get a decent V8 to fit in the proper (non Miura) orientation though:



The Elise would a bit short to try to squeeze pretty much anything other than a little transverse four in there:




Unless of course you decided to go full Hennesy on it that is..
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Maybe for once Musk had the right idea for the Elise?
 
-alan- said:
Ah man.
At exactly twice that age, I'd still giggle like a toddler loaded on 1/2 kg of sugary sweets with all the wrong E-numbers..
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As Jag was mentioned... When I was in the actual sweets age (the 1960's) we, in the familys VW type 3, on a few occasions was passed by a an E-type. I always commented 'Ohhhh, an E-type. I will have one when I get old!'. Hasn't happened so far.
 
Enfield boy said:
Always felt that with a bit of fettling an Elise could look like a Chaparral 2D. Needs a big V8 tho. But not the (2?) speed slush box.
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I think they even used only one gear to begin with. With American V8 grunt and the limited grip in the tires of those days, they could easily spin the rear tires even in top gear.
 
Enfield boy said:
Always felt that with a bit of fettling an Elise could look like a Chaparral 2D. Needs a big V8 tho. But not the (2?) speed slush box.
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It was hilarious to me when it was finally revealed that the ultra-top-secret Chaparral racing automatic turned out to be a Powerglide.
 
I'm old enough to remember when Chaparall won the Nurburgring 1000 km in 1966. Lot's of talk about them having an automatic box, fancy, fancy. As I remember it (it was a long time ago) no one mentioned they used wings for downforce...

Edit: Hrmmm. Checking the pics from the actual event. No it didn't have wings (But an air intake scoop)

Edit again, a pic sporting Jo Bonnier:

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ian123running said:
Maybe with a LOT of fettling! Anyway I know what you mean - here's my modest example out on the baguette run today. Very satisfying.

IMG_5636 by Ian123_running, on Flickr
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That's very pretty. Looking at the architecture, that's Brittany or Pays de la Loire, and you can't read the department number on the new plates. So I'll have a guess. Mayenne? Morbihan? I'll go with the latter, from the stone colour.
 
stevec67 said:
That's very pretty. Looking at the architecture, that's Brittany or Pays de la Loire, and you can't read the department number on the new plates. So I'll have a guess. Mayenne? Morbihan? I'll go with the latter, from the stone colour.
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I thought it was Ireland.
 
Steve67 is on the ball - northern Pays de la Loire, We imported the car (RHD obviously) from the UK just before the Brexit rules cut in so it was cheap and simple. Not any more!. tbh when we saw it we couldn't believe its great condition. I had a garage here change the cat. converter and he said the underside looks like new.

There's no annual VED here in France so we just paid a one-off registration fee (related to engine size and age I think so that was something like €90 as far as I remember (1800cc K series, year 2000). The only worry was passing the CT (every 2 years here) (MOT equivalent) - it's had trouble with the emissions test but additive plus a good warm up seems to do the trick. I recently replaced a dodgy throttle bypass (idle control) valve so that may help next time. The headlights went through without alteration luckily - they are so pathetically dim they pose no blinding hazard even on full beam.

It's so much fun, just love the simplicity, and directness of the controls and contact with the road - a perfect match for the roads around here which are smooth, largely twisty with not much traffic. I had an MX-5 before this. I like open-top motoring and we've only driven with the roof on the Elise a couple of times. It's a bit of a faff as you build it rather than fold it.

Getting in and out - yes I understand but I am small and light which probably helps. (I heard that the original concept was for no doors partly explaining the high sills but they decided at a late stage they'd need doors to meet regulations. That caused a real headache as doors are more complicated than they appear and it was quite a late change in the design process.)

We manage OK but in a few years who knows? With the roof on, getting in and out is like climbing through a letterbox. But once you're in, as Myles says.....!
 
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AnilS said:
The seller parked it, not me, whilst trying to sell it 😄
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It's top class crap parking. Generous space for 2 cars. snug but possible for 3, probably, and the careful placement of 1 car has got very close to making it a 1 car space.
 
stevec67 said:
It's top class crap parking. Generous space for 2 cars. snug but possible for 3, probably, and the careful placement of 1 car has got very close to making it a 1 car space.
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I see this a lot Steve.

My brother in law does it with his cars (Porches and Ferraris) and he doesn't want anyone to park next to him.

We fall out over this. Big bugbear for me.

Anyhow, the Yaris was bought.
 
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