Jay
Jay Dork
11/1/09 7:05 a.m.

...but doesn't it look completely badass?

Ya, so my Elan didn't follow me home from the big meet at the factory two weeks ago. Instead I dropped it off at a nearby fab shop who've been making some nice upgrades for these cars and had the rollbar in the above pics installed. Flew back and picked it up yesterday. The whole kit wasn't cheap, but as I plan on taking this car on trackdays and the Nürburgring I went for it anyway. No challenge budget constraints with this one.

It's not just cosmetic, it's a serious piece under the plastic skin: here's what it looked like before being installed. If it keeps my noggin off the ground just once, it will have been worth it, but I plan on never actually testing that. For now I'm enjoying the new look. In my opinion it really updated the lines of the car and made it look like a high-dollar exotic instead of an MX5alike (not that there's anything wrong with that.)

If you're interested here are some more pics from the drive home. Went through England, France, Belgium, Holland, and Germany. (BTW the top speed of an Elan M100, as-tested completely legally on an empty German motorway, is around 220 km/h with the top up. I pretty much had to at some point didn't I?)

redzcstandardhatch
redzcstandardhatch New Reader
11/1/09 7:55 a.m.

very cool mna.

cwh
cwh SuperDork
11/1/09 9:41 a.m.

First thought " Whaaat? He bought that car for a GRAND!!" Then realized you meant the roll bar kit. Beautiful little car, anyway.

senador
senador New Reader
11/1/09 9:50 a.m.

Makes me think someone may be able to make a similar roll bar for a Miata using fiberglass or carbon fiber covering a Hard Dog or similar rollbar.

Tyler H
Tyler H GRM+ Memberand Dork
11/1/09 10:16 a.m.

Am I the only one who was hoping to see a picture of a Sig P229?

Nice roll bar. Fab work looks great. Cool car.

Jay
Jay Dork
11/1/09 10:22 a.m.

Thanks for the compliments guys! I also picked up a new heater core/blower assembly while I was over there. The next project now is to take out the dash, replace that, rip out all the bodged wiring some previous owner or other did (very crummy stereo install, alarm, and who knows what else), and fix everything else that doesn't work. Should be fun, and by 'fun' I mean 'a horrible PITA'.

Tyler H wrote: Am I the only one who was hoping to see a picture of a Sig P229?

If I had one of those I would hope I'd get to use it very very much.

(Note: on a RANGE! Not on people. Duh.)

Jensenman
Jensenman SuperDork
11/1/09 12:35 p.m.
cwh wrote: First thought " Whaaat? He bought that car for a GRAND!!" Then realized you meant the roll bar kit. Beautiful little car, anyway.

Same here. Nicely done roll bar!

captainzib
captainzib Reader
11/1/09 12:39 p.m.

Hahahaha, big me(at)et. Ok so that joke is a lot funnier if you were speaking instead of typing but whatever.

MCarp22
MCarp22 Reader
11/1/09 12:58 p.m.

I thought Mazda made the Capri?

ducks

Salanis
Salanis SuperDork
11/1/09 1:24 p.m.
cwh wrote: First thought " Whaaat? He bought that car for a GRAND!!" Then realized you meant the roll bar kit. Beautiful little car, anyway.

My first thought was, "An Elan for a grand?!? Why does he hope he never uses it?"

I really like the look of that rollbar. Fits with the lines and makes the car look much more business-like.

ReverendDexter
ReverendDexter HalfDork
11/1/09 1:26 p.m.

Are those still AE86 taillights? I know that's what they used on the Espirits, and those look mighty similar.

And I thought the late Elan was an Izuzu Impulse, not a Capri...

Jay
Jay Dork
11/1/09 1:37 p.m.
ReverendDexter wrote: Are those still AE86 taillights? I know that's what they used on the Espirits, and those look mighty similar. And I thought the late Elan was an Izuzu Impulse, not a Capri...

They're actually from Renault:

If my Elan is an Isuzu Impulse then the new Evora is a Toyota Avalon. Lotus have never been ashamed about parts-binning.

ReverendDexter
ReverendDexter HalfDork
11/1/09 2:04 p.m.
Jay wrote: If my Elan is an Isuzu Impulse then the new Evora is a Toyota Avalon. Lotus have never been ashamed about parts-binning.

Actually, the fact that they use Toyota engines is one of the things I like about Lotus - assuming I can ever find and afford one at the same time, I'll be able to afford to repair the engine should anything ever happen to it.

vazbmw
vazbmw Reader
11/1/09 2:24 p.m.

You only pad a grand for the roll bars? They look really well done Good job

Jay
Jay Dork
11/1/09 3:01 p.m.

Well, more like €1300, which is pretty much your challenge budget if you convert that into dollars. Still think it was worth it. This is one of my childhood dream cars (seriously, I have drawings!) and I plan on keeping it for a long time. Also the guy who installed the roll bar said some very nice things about my chassis (such as, "one of the straightest and cleanest I've ever seen") so I'm not afraid to spend a bit of money on it.

Lesley
Lesley SuperDork
11/1/09 3:08 p.m.

Beautiful!!

Travis_K
Travis_K HalfDork
11/1/09 3:51 p.m.

The more i see pics of that car, the more i like it. It kinda reminds me of one of these, another design I really like. http://www.diseno-art.com/images_2/1996_Ghibli_II_Cup.jpg

xci_ed6
xci_ed6 Reader
11/1/09 4:06 p.m.

Nice bars, they look like factory pieces really.

friedgreencorrado
friedgreencorrado Dork
11/1/09 6:31 p.m.

Oh, rollover protection! I clicked in to see what kind of fire extinguisher cost a grand.

Car looks good with it! I've always kind of liked the "new" Elans as well.

Will
Will Reader
11/1/09 6:57 p.m.
Tyler H wrote: Am I the only one who was hoping to see a picture of a Sig P229? Nice roll bar. Fab work looks great. Cool car.

Given the thread title, my first thought was of a firearm as well.

andrave
andrave HalfDork
11/2/09 9:15 a.m.

wow thats a sick piece of fabrication there. Is that 1000 pounds or 1000 euros or what?

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