I have just returned from my first classic car meeting taking a Lotus Europa, 2520R.
There were around 250 classic cars there, 1 1967 Elan DHC, and a couple of Elises. Mostly MGBs, TR3,4,5 & 6, Ford Capris, Triumph Stags and just 2 E Types.
The thing about having a Lotus in Norfolk attended by dinosaurs, is people keep coming up to you having worked at Lotus. One chap, HS, used to build the cylinder heads, and they put their initials under #4 inlet port so when the heads were gas flow checked, they knew who was doing the best job at gas flowing the ports from the power output, normally in the region of 115-120 BHP.
There were lots of questions, and most looked at the engine bay with the luggage tray taken out, and said how easy it was to get to everything.
One chap was thinking of buying an S2, and wanted to see if he would fit in the driver's seat.
Generally most people were pleased to see one, having not seen another for a very long time.
I shall have to do this more often.
One chap who worked on the Elan production line told me they had to use scaffold poles to get the engines in, on the production line.
Apparently Chunky parked his car among all the worker's cars, and used to talk to a lot of the workers when he arrived at work, unlike the rest of the high ranking staff.
Apparently the Evira production line is nearly working, but the 2 litre Mercedes engine is too big and hard to fit in the space. One chap had an interview to work on the 2nd evening shift in the paint shop, 2 months ago, and will be recruited when they are up to speed.
