Register

[BDA]

The existing registry is being maintained by Dan Morrison. He valiantly volunteered to maintain it along with the rest of Europa Central when the originator, who had not had a Europa for several years, decided it was time to move on. Unfortunately, Dan has not been as focused on it as he might have been.

That registry is the largest and most up-to-date one I know of - Andy keeps some sort of records for Lotus I think but I don't think it is publicly available. I think it would probably be better to update the Europa Central registry than to start a new one. I would think that Dan would welcome the help. It's a great site and it would be nice to keep it updated and bring it back to its former glory. Maybe bringing extra hands to help Dan out would help bring it back!

Just at thought...

[1970EuropaGuy]

I'll explore setting up a sample modern registry in the next few days. I've noticed so many of the Lotus and other car marque sites really haven't changed since around 2005, in other words... very primitive. Wouldn't it be great to search for a chassis number, transmission number or car location and find what you're looking for?

I agree to some extent that the old registry has lots of good historical information but I also rarely find any Europa that comes up for sale listed. Unfortunately maintaining a registry is a huge job, especially when it's been done manually by one person. I could see any owner being able to add a vehicle, images and pertinent information with editing possibilities.

Stay tuned!

[EuropaTC]

Personally I'm on the fence about an updated register, as you say for one to be hosted and maintained is a lot of work because even if you allow sign-up and member editing there's still going to be a moderating role  if only to help out new users. 

Again a personal view but perhaps the best outcome would be to work with the original register owner and demo a new format for the existing data ?  One advantage is that most folks know about the old register and the hosting/links are already there through this and the Yahoo Europa group.

Although going away from Europas, there's a modern and very slick Elan register which allows various search methods and the big plus is that you can enter as much or as little detail as you wish.   So the Elan registry is worth a look if you're scouting for ideas.

https://elanregistry.org/app/list_cars.php

and one for the Elan+2, not so slick but covers most bases.

http://lotuselan-plus2.be/register_type50.htm

Brian

[dakazman]

   Maybe it could be a topic at LOG 39. Since Europa numbers are dwindling as time passes.
They are also in a position to carry many different languages as some of parts suppliers do.
Dakazman

[Bainford]

Please excuse my ignorance on this matter, but does creating a new modern registry mean letting the data gathered on previous registries slip away with the sands of time? Or is previously collected data somehow integrated into a new registry? I'm all for a new and user friendly registry, but a lot of ownership history has been established on the existing registry, and it would seem a shame to lose it.

Just my 2 cents.

[dakazman]

Hi bainford,
  I did some digging in to the Lotus Europa registry footnotes and see that they copied segments of the regristry. I would hope we just add to it than delete anything. I would love to see the origins and the journey the car took in their lifespan. Seeing pictures of previous owners with the car is what antique archeology loves. Picture your car part of a strong race history. As many builds that occur here this would be a place to share that part of the cars life, past owners struggles and the labor of love they put in.
  That’s just what I would like,...or my 2cents worth.

[lotusfanatic]

Hi all,

we all appreciate the efforts that Dan and others have made which must be an enormous task?
Perhaps this could be made into a team effort to help to share the work (Dan,1970EuropaGuy + any others?)
It would be incredible if we all had something to rival or even surpass the Elan's equivalent sites?
Assuming there's no breach of data security etc, existing details must be saved as that's such a great source of information and historical details for all of us, including the limited staff at Lotus Archives, to benefit from.

I have found so much information whilst browsing: from repair and maintenance tips & "work-arounds" right through to full restorations (not to mention some of the incredible modifications to these fantastic cars)
I just hope that we never lose this as "once it's gone, it's gone!" 

 

Mark     

[1970EuropaGuy]

In response to a number of these comments, I think it's would be very important to keep all of the historical data, I find it interesting reading and good information as well. Even if a Europa has passed on to a new owner, the previous owners remarks are valid.

This would be one of the challenges. It appears as though all of the listings are added manually (I'll check with Dan about that). If that's the case likely the largest part of updating the registry would be to copy and paste many lines of information. Once the information is in a database life is good as changes in the structure of the internet can be accommodated easily. Many of the programs we run now can't run on older servers so that's another challenge.

I have looked at the Lotus Elan Registry https://elanregistry.org/app/list_cars.php. It's certainly a step in the right direction but still outdated by modern standards, for instance, does not work well on tablets and phones.

I've been looking at a few programming options but some more research is required as they all require substantial modification to suit the needs. Looking forward to additional thoughts about the possible project,