Leigh Greenham

For those interested in a few pictures (!), the link below should take you to a public file containing 80 pics of the ‘Lotus Elite to Monaco’,  and when you click on the first image it should open in a gallery format (alphabetical order, not chronological, name of pic bottom left of each page).

https://www.dropbox....Elite to Monaco

As it happens, I was out in the Elite again today, Trevor, down to a Japanese hotel near the Swindon Honda plant.  Several Japanese residents were out with their cameras, so look out for Elite touches in future Honda models.

We'll be there in the Elite, on the way back from the Monaco Historique GP the weekend before.

I've just had a cambelt service done by Lotusbits on my Elite S2.2, plus taken their advice and had a lower temperature thermostat and Otter switch fitted before the long trip down to Monaco next month.  Dave is the hands-on guy there, and is very thorough and experienced, spotting and correcting a few other things that others might have missed, such as weeping carb gaskets and a broken stud behind the A/C compressor.  Work done on time, car ready for collection two weeks after I left it there.  Recommended.

Sorry for the late reply, but my Elite was up at Lotusbits, so I couldn't check the battery details of the one I fitted a few years back.  After some research I went for the Varta B24 Blue, which fits the confined space of the Elite's cubby hole perfectly, correct terminations, and the restraining bar fits well into a notch (after two minutes with a file to remove two moulding sprues).  It's still available but now as Varta B24 Black.

Drove Elite back south from Lotusbits today after cambelt service and lower temp thermostat fitted, should be good for the long trip to the Monaco Historic next month.  Shakedown this Sunday at Millbrook Proving Ground and Porsche track at Silverstone.

Dunc, on 06 April 2012 - 12:07 PM, said:

Hi Duncan,

You seem to be a year out.  V reg was from Aug 79 to July 80, which is why my Essex Elite was V reg dated April 1980.  Essex Petroleum was the main Team Lotus sponsor for the whole of the 1980 GP season, but only half of the 1981 season (when the Essex 'Ponzi' scheme started to unravel), so JPS came back into the frame as sponsors for the next couple of years.  But it seems the Eclat is a 79 V, 2.0 litre engine and non-facelifted spoiler etc.

By the way, it's 32 years since my car was used by the team and photographed in the paddocks of several GPs across Europe, including the harbourside at Monaco.  Well, I hope to recreate that photo in a month's time, at this year's Historique GP.  Kaz and I will take four days to drive down through western France in the Elite, then along the Med coast for three days in Monaco for the racing, then over the Alps for four days back up the eastern side of France, dipping into Belgium for the Ypres Lotus Day on Thurs 17th May.  An exciting prospect.  Car currently with Mike and Dave at LotusBits for a service/cambelt change, then a shakedown on the MK Tour to Millbrook Proving Ground, Prodrive and Silverstone on 22 April.

Leigh