I have been asked a couple times, by members of this forum, to post a couple pictures of my S1 Elite; even though this is a Europa website. This is my 2nd Elite. I owned the 1st one about 35 years ago. It subsequently wound up in Europe where it is being raced as a vintage racer.
Anyway, I bought the current car from a gentleman that was only about 30 miles from my home. He purchased it in the late 60's drove it a little, burned a valve (common problem), and decided to restore it. Bearing in mind it had less than 20,000 miles on it. Left door damage and stress cracks. Anyway, it was totally disassembled (including the engine), and remained that way for the next 40 years. A mutual friend persuaded him to sell it to me, because he was never going to get it done, and he new I would. I have included some "before" pictures. The interior was almost completely gone. The only thing left of the seats, was just enough rusty tubing to allow me to build a jig to make new seat frames. The front suspension bolts were fused into the frame. I had to cut the bolts, and carefully,using progressively larger drill bits, drill out the bolts, until I could take off enough tension to drift them out. I could not risk damaging the subframe mounts, because the subframe is imbedded in the fiberglass monocoque. Gauges are all original rebuilt units. All switches are original and work (who says Lucas electrics are junk). I built a custom wiring harness from wire obtained from British Wiring, so it was properly color coded. Made new wood rim on the original steering wheel frame. The rear window was broken in the previous owners' storage, and I bought, what I believe, is the very last new glass rear window in the world. Wheels are new Daytons.
The car is really fun to drive, but legroom is a bit tight for me. I have about a 40 mile limit before my legs cramp up. The Elan is so much more comfortable.
