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Walked out of a museum and into a lot full of exotics yesterday. (Well, there was one Bullit Mustang in the mix, but I guess that's different enough here)

My 36th or 37th Lotus, lost count around the 30 mark, could be nearer 40. A gold Elite S2.2, certainly in my top 5 of all Lotuses I have owned. Total restoration an incredible 30 years ago and still in superb condition having covered minimal mileage between many MOTs, all I have done is the usual re-commissioning process to ensure it can be used on a regular basis, which I intend to do in the coming months, just making a list of the shows I can attend, look out for it in the flesh. David

I know the bloke with the red Evora. He was probably taking 3 selfies a minute.

met some dodgy herberts at norfolk performance car meet today !!!! anyone recognise the culprits ??

Well…. They took up far too much time to do….. but I am really pleased with the result!

Isn't the reason it's a red warning light simply because the bulb is also used for low brake fluid? In some modern Range Rovers there is no (red) warning light, just a message on the dash. I guess you'd be allowed to continue then, as it's not an (immediate) safety critical issue. So true. The brake warnings have been around a long time though, I'd say around 40 years. We've come a long way from a car manual telling you how to adjust points or (Lotus content!) a sticker with the vacuum diagram in the engine compartment, to manuals just telling you not to drink battery acid and take the car to the stealer to get a light bulb replaced... Over here, you can be asked to check oil and coolant at the start of the driving test. I had to do this when I got my truck license, as well as checking tyre pressures and cargo securing. But a lot of moderns don't even have a dipstick, and getting into the appropriate menu for the digital readout can be quite complicated. If that's progress, I'm happy to stay a grumpy old barsteward. 😉

I struggled today. Wordle 392 6/6 ⬛🟨⬛⬛⬛ 🟨⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛🟩🟨⬛⬛ ⬛🟩⬛🟨🟨 🟩🟩⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

The early bird... 😉

My Evora is now listed for sale..... https://www.lotusforsale.com/ads/2011-lotus-evora-na-ips-22-sport-tech-premium/ £32'500ovno I did list back in March but quickly changed my mind and decided to keep it for my Summer road trip to Le Mans Classic. Now back on the market, in rude health and ready for its next owner to enjoy 😀 Please note, wheels are now matt black (as mentioned in advert and as per the last photo) Thanks Gav

Well deserved!

Agree with you Jep. We've become a nation of wimps led by a bunch of patronising tossers ! We must be the laughing stock of Europe and the rest of the world 🤔

Wordle 392 5/6 ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟩⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟩🟨⬜🟩 🟩🟩⬜⬜🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 I guessed this 5-letter word in 3/6 tries. 🟨⬛⬛🟨🟨 🟨🟨⬛🟩⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Can you guess this word? https://wordlegame.org/uk?challenge=cXVpZXQ

Wordle 392 3/6 ⬜🟨⬜⬜🟨 🟨🟩⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 I guessed this 5-letter word in 6/6 tries. ⬛🟨⬛⬛⬛ ⬛🟩⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛⬛🟨⬛ 🟨🟩🟨⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟨🟩⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Can you guess this word? https://wordlegame.org/uk?challenge=cm9ib3Q

🙄 Wordle 392 4/6 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜ ⬜🟨🟩⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Wordle 392 4/6 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩⬜⬜🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Lucky enough to see 4 of these a week back. Here’s 2 of them. Stunningly good looking car.

That looks great !

Lotus paint code CV-19

Thanks for the advice chaps, I’ll lay the other box down to be sure although both boxes have been stripped, cleaned and only had assembly oil when stored that way for a short period. This cars box is quite happy now filled with oil 🙂

@Freemason the cost of the admin hosting of tlf sure isn’t free. It’s a fantastic resource and many of us are more than happy to pay towards the running of the site. Like many things in life - there’s folks happy to contribute and those whom aren’t.

Hello Everyone, I thought I'd put my restoration blog up to record my progress restoring this unique and interesting vehicle. I found my car in a local junk yard around 2003 or so. I was there on a lunch break getting some parts with a co-worker for his VW. As we pulled into the junk yard I noticed the car right away. It was in a special side yard with some old Jaguars. It looked like a Ferrari 308 with the hood vent and flip up lights. So I went to check it out and found that it looked like a Gremlin had rear ended a Ferrari and they had become melded together! It was filled with junk and the wheels were inside the passenger compartment. The glass was all there though, and I'd never seen a car with so much chrome trim on it. I didn't know what it was at the time. I thought maybe it was a Fiat or a Triumph. So when we got back to work I started to guess at different European cars but nothing came up. Then I remembered the Lotus Europa and thought Lotus made some pretty ugly cars in the 70's, maybe its a Lotus! Lowe and behold I'd found a picture of it! A Lotus Elite! The Esprit is one of my all time favorite exotic cars and I was looking for a project car at the time, So I went back on the weekend to look at it again and see if it was for sale. That's when I noticed that it said "lotus elite" right on the windshield! It looked like a good project (little did I know!). It was very unique, not another Jaguar or Camaro or Mustang, and had all the parts, so I made an offer and they pulled it down off of its pilings (with a forklift and a pipe, which dented the chassis), mounted some old tires on it and put it in the yard. I was shocked at how low the overall car is, it came up to my hips! Very exotic! It had one windshield wiper! Like a Lamborghini! I had to call a tow truck driver to pick it up and deliver it to my garage. The driver had to park somewhere level and the car was a little up hill, so they had me get in and steer while some of the guys pushed the car down the hill to the tow truck. I felt like James Bond! Driving my sleek new Lotus! I've been working on this car for almost 20 years now and its come a long way. I'm going to add posts to this blog starting from day one and building up to the present. I opted for a complete tear down of the entire car. Every nut, bolt and stitch is being restored or replaced. The vinyl was fragile and the seat cloth just disintegrated when I sat on the seats. Both side windows had been in the down position for about 10 years. The carpet was crunchy and thread bare. The left hand kick panel seems to be the only part that was missing. Here are a few pics from the day I got it home.

@5pence @blindside @Tris... @SSurpal @AR13 MEO @Cooper @Mike150 @KeithK @1973 JPS Hi All Hope you are all well and enjoying your cars in our fine summer weather... Perhaps we might have had the best of the weather on our previous run in April! I'm sure some of you have attended the NI Supercar Sunday events in previous years (https://www.nisupercarsunday.com/) in aid of the Air Ambulance Northern Ireland and the Eoin Henry Foundation. I reached out to Aaron Cunningham, the organiser of this event, this week and co-incidentally he was also just about to put out a call to local car clubs. Aaron is keen that car clubs display at the events over the weekend - and yes, it's not actually just a Sunday event but there are a couple of Saturday events too. The full itinerary is at https://www.nisupercarsunday.com/itinerary, but in summary the schedule is: Sat 30th July, 9am - 1pm : assemble and display at NW200 Pits Portstewart Sat 30th July, 1pm - 5pm : drive Causeway Coastal Route to Larne, then A8 to Belfast and A24 to Newcastle, arriving at The Slieve Donard Hotel at 5pm Sat 30th July, 6.30pm : Gala Dinner & Auction at The Slieve Donard Hotel Sun 31st July, 8.30am - 10am (latest) : Displaying vehicles assemble at Bishopscourt Racing Circuit, Downpatrick Sun 31st July, 10.30am - 4pm : Bishopscourt event open to public, including static displays (car clubs and private individuals), live circuit displays and passenger laps available to purchase Sun 31st July, 4pm : Event closes I wasn't aware of this event in previous years so have never been, but I'm keen to attend this year - perhaps both the Saturday and Sunday car events. I might even be able to persuade my wife to go to the ball if there was enough interest for a table. Keen to know everyone's thoughts and availability. Could I please ask you all to respond on this thread - and please pass the message on to any other Lotus owners you know who would be interested in joining us. Thanks Ryan

Has been outlawed for a few years. They can probably do it off uni premises? I wondered how many students died as a result of such dangerous behaviour.

Another strategy is to un-bolt the slave cylinder while bleeding, let it hang down with the bleeder valve on top. That way you won't have any captive air pockets in the slave.

Its the new Ferrari Daytona Sp3 - 6.5litre V12. Yours for just $2.25 Million.

Thanks Jep, I totally agree. New photos as soon as I get chance. I doubt I'll have the opportunity today, family day in the sunshine planned 😎

Just completed the re-commissioning process, new cambelt, tensioner bearing, aux belt, otter switch, thermostat, hoses, rewired the engine bay loom to remove defunct alarm and hot wired fans, Evans waterless coolant, checked valve clearances, compressions, new plugs, timing adjusted, carbs rebuilt, new fuel filters ( I use three, confuses the hell out of people, god knows why), new fuel lines E10 compatible (not that I would ever use E10), new oil and filter, new air filter, brake fluid flushed, new pads and shoes, UJs inspected and greased, wheel bearings inspected, suspension and bushes inspected, diff oil drained and replenished, gearbox oil drained and replenished, etc. That’s just the mechanical side.

Are they sealed and pre-greased bearings? And I don't know why they would cost that much. That would be nearly $210AUD per bearing! I can't imagine that they are anything special. Where is that price from? A very little known thing about bearings is that a new bearing has an 80% chance of failing on first use. If you have a bearing that is running and everything is fine, leave it be.

I will be calling Hethel on Monday as the cut-off for my hotel is 19th & will update afterwards.

Hopefully @tailslides your still on for it. Their website bookings page hasn’t changed for some time now, showing 4th August and thereon still with available slots, which I find surprising as I would have thought greater demand? Will be calling them well beforehand. If yours goes ahead please let us know 👍

Green Exige M333 xxx spotted yesterday, Friday 15th stuck in traffic around Bicester / Banbury @Tex?

In the old days, you could just cut or pull the cable for the sensor and the warning light would go out. Now they have to be fail proof, so you'd need to short the wires to make the light go out. Still possible though.

I got one of the Covercraft ones from Greg's Race Parts : https://www.gregsraceparts.com/collections/car-covers-for-evora/products/covercraft-uvs100-windshield-sunscreen-for-evora-evora-s-400-410 Including the P&P (I escaped having to pay import duty and VAT, ) it came in at around £100 which sounds expensive but you get what you pay for - it's an excellent fit and top quality, and feels like it'll outlast the car itself.

Yes, there will be a final invoice to include any shipping costs.

Filled up Unleaded 3 times this week - same very cheap Garage. Tuesday - £167.9 Wednesday - £169.9 Thursday - £164.9

Just had 2 great days at Spa and Zolder, although was particularly hot in Spa. Was Using Nankang AR1’s which performed infinitely better than Cup 2’s, however did get EML warning on, but had use of an OBD reader and checked what might have been causing it. Fault was “System too lean at higher load bank 1” Could not clear the light as reader was not Lotus compatible although had a universal option, but after an hour or so with car in garage and out of the heat the fault just went away So anyone have recommendations for a Lotus compatible reader

Short update on progress: Slight delay in getting machining time. All necessary jigs have been produced and mounted on the 4-axis machine. Roughing operations on the first set of uprights should start next week.

A painful process of elimination... Wordle 391 5/6 ⬛⬛⬛⬛🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛⬛⬛🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Seeing this report today https://news.sky.com/story/why-do-men-have-shorter-lifespans-than-women-scientists-may-have-the-answer-12652261 No need to ask scientists, the real answer if that women don’t have to endure the constant nagging at them like us menfolk do 😉

Wordle 391 6/6 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩 🟨⬜⬜🟨🟩 ⬜⬜🟩🟩🟩 ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 A nearly nice pattern is the only consolation.

Try Lotus bits also for the latest generation fans, you tie wrap them through the radiator for the Esprit. Make sure they are running the right way for your car via the electrical connections….

More fool anyone that pays it.

Whatever next? Indicator leasing?

President Joe Biden unveiled this image of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723, known as Webb’s First Deep Field, during a White House event Monday, July 11 Webb’s image covers a patch of sky approximately the size of a grain of sand held at arm’s length by someone on the ground – and reveals thousands of galaxies in a tiny sliver of vast universe Webb’s sharp near-infrared view brought out faint structures in extremely distant galaxies, offering the most detailed view of the early universe to date NASA and its partners will release the full series of Webb’s first full-color images and data, known as spectra, Tuesday, July 12, during a live NASA TV broadcast NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has produced the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe to date. Known as Webb’s First Deep Field, this image of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 is overflowing with detail. Thousands of galaxies – including the faintest objects ever observed in the infrared – have appeared in Webb’s view for the first time. This slice of the vast universe covers a patch of sky approximately the size of a grain of sand held at arm’s length by someone on the ground. This deep field, taken by Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), is a composite made from images at different wavelengths, totaling 12.5 hours – achieving depths at infrared wavelengths beyond the Hubble Space Telescope’s deepest fields, which took weeks. The image shows the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 as it appeared 4.6 billion years ago. The combined mass of this galaxy cluster acts as a gravitational lens, magnifying much more distant galaxies behind it. Webb’s NIRCam has brought those distant galaxies into sharp focus – they have tiny, faint structures that have never been seen before, including star clusters and diffuse features. Researchers will soon begin to learn more about the galaxies’ masses, ages, histories, and compositions, as Webb seeks the earliest galaxies in the universe. This image is among the telescope’s first-full color images. The full suite will be released Tuesday, July 12, beginning at 10:30 a.m. EDT, during a live NASA TV broadcast. Learn more about how to watch.

Won an award at the Glamis Transport Extravaganza yesterday! Feeling very proud of the 40 year old girl!😉😎

How can a car look so nice and so much like a weapon at the same time?

Oh, I hope I don’t have to drop the diff. While I’m getting good at it now, it’s at the top of the list of “least favorite jobs”. 😛

Just back from 9 days in the South of France, including over 1,900 miles of driving thanks to Ryanair! We stayed in Bormes Les Mimosas which is a stunning village and managed a trip into Monaco and my first visit to Italy, even if it was only for 30 minutes!