Why

You mean one of the finest handling, best driving, sporty revvy, ageless styled open top junk?

And all that is against all the current crop of open toppers such as the MX5, the Smart, the MR(2)S, the Boxster etc.

Some might handle better, some might cost less, and some might have more power, but you won't get a cost/style/performance/kudos anywhere close to that of an elan.

Hehe, someone's been reading this month's Evo methinks!..and it outlapped them all - well, the MX-5, Smart roadster and MR2 anyway, the Boxster funnily enough wasn't included in a c. £15k test ;-)

Amen brother! :-)

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Yup, I'm 34 next month. And starting to feel old :-(

...and a vague memory of the days when handling was about more than outright grip, and how many lateral G's a car can pull whilst cornering.

Chassis designers actually gave some thought to adjustability and predictability at - and beyond - the limit.

TR6 - love the sound, hate the shape. MGB - always thought they were a bit girly, maybe because my first-year home economics teacher had one ;-) E Type - far, far too popular. Too much the ubiquitous choice. I'll think of a criticism in a minute, er, I will...

Now, a 3-litre Healey on the other hand...:-)

Incidentally, a few months back, I followed a big Healey being totally hooligan'd - black stripes on the tarmac, redlining each gear, perfect drifts out of roundabouts - by a big, friendly middle-aged bloke in a leather flying helmet. Stopped for a blether at a petrol station and it turns out it's his wife's car - "I've been taking it easy" he said! 8-o

Actually, you can get the reliability of a zetec in a Lotus, if you go for one of the retro resto/rebulds. Not as frantic as a Lotus twincam engine on song, but much smoother, with more torque.

People have used Toyota TC's in many cars, so it wouldn't surprise me if there was a Toyota TC Elan running running somewhere.

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That just sounds soooooo scatalogical ;-)

(Maybe I'm just twisted)

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So you'd say no to a Ferrari Daytona, a Porsche 959, a Ford GT40, a Merc 300 SL Gullwing, a Lamborghini Miura, etc etc etc etc???

You're madder than Vamp you are!

And destroy that wonderful handling that Colin Chapman spent a whole week designing into it...Sacrelige!

As young Vamp has found out with his less than state of the art MR2. Simple basic solid fine handling structure, with a strong engine, that needs to be driven rather than merely occupied.

I don't think Vamp realises it, but things like the Mr2 and the MX5 and the Elise will be the MGB, Sunbeam Alpine, and Triumph Spitfire of the future. 30 years on, people will be looking at them as their first classic sports cars, becuase todays current supercars and full on Sports cars like Lambos, and Porkers will be classic supercars, just like the

Thats if they last long enough that is.

You can get some of it. Just buy a late Excel.

Richard

Wow, that Chapman bloke really gets around ;)

Richard

Brain delay...I was still in Elan swooning mode....

Phil

That'll be what was wrong with the sister's Beetle then.

...and the Miura is (IMO) the prettiest supercar ever. Imagine designing that at 25 years-old!?!?!

Indeed. If they want to talk sacrilege, then surely any cash-in retro re-build qualifies instantly!

Hehe, oh yes.

Ah Ron, we all know about the kids you have in your car ;)

-- Dan

How old is old? and how long is a car new?

-- Chet

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If they are slow and don't handle, why then did the Elan lap faster than the Smart Roadster, the MX-5 and the MR2?

Please don't group the Focus RS in with such wonderful cars.

-- Dan

LOL i was gonna say that, i also don't think what Ronnys says is all true. My MR2 is 1985 (dunno if that counts as old) but it's a bit basic yes but it keeps up with most things still!

i like to drive my cars, i like noise and handerling not PS2's and DVD's, if i wanna go play a games console or watch a DVD i'll do that at home. i love my MR2 and it's the most fun car i've driven (and i've driven quite a few new cars now from SAAB 93 to Volvo S60's) thanks to my dad's company hehe and to be hoinest there nice and yes there are kinda fast but i just don't feel involved, every day feels like race day in my MR2 and i step out of it sweating my ass of like i'd just been in an F1 car or something (no air con see hehe).

it depends what you want from a car, my MR2 handles damn fine and i'd go as far as to say better than some modern cars! which aint bad concidering most modern cars have some kinda skid control to help.

it all depends on what the old car is to me, i mean i'd still love an old Merc E190 as i think there cool :-P but outta the newer cars there isn't much that i could afford new that would gimmie the grin my £1000 MR2 does :-D

so there hehe