The Lotus Grand Tourers

Here's a good article by Keith Adams on the Car Magazine site https://www.carmagazine.co.uk/features/ ... tus-excel/

Good to hear you are in rude health K although I'd just assumed you were occupied some sweaty far flung corner of the globe and not brown bread!

Hawaiis and Alan M - thanks for your input......the cut off for LED's is currently 1986 (can't remember the date) and as mine is an '87.......so it'll be 7inch bowls with nightbreakers or whatever the equivalent bulb is at the moment. What about fog lamps - are people changing them to driving lamps...

I can't say I aspire to own an Eletre. The front of the car is pretty ugly in my opinion. Having said that if this is what the market demands I say good luck to Lotus if it keeps car output at a profitable level and allows them to make sports cars too. I think there's a bit of a popular misconceptio...

That's a very clean looking car you have there Jeremy

Just got confirmation today I've been granted the weekend off work so Claire and I are definitely up for the run

Great, not many of us get to have our car photographed by a professional!

Well I can say that when a lovely lady drove into my previous Excel years ago the crumple zone at the front of my car did seem to do its job. I found the deceleration to be very gentle. She managed to somehow suffer "whiplash" though...

Good stuff Shaun. Are they giving you any copies from the photoshoot for your own use?

Yes, I was quite surprised when I discovered that the DVLA will sell a vehicle keeper's details to pretty much anyone. They don't do any proper checking that the person or company buying the details is legit. There have been instances where details have been sold to criminals. I think all of us naiv...

I fitted a MGB gaiter last week and am very pleased with the result. The the four screw holes punched into the rubber even matched up with the Lotus metal securing ring! I chopped the top inch off the MGB gaiter before fitting. Maybe Pete's discovery should be listed in the forum's Alternative Parts...

I replaced my o/s fan a couple of months ago Malcolm. The faulty fan still was able to spin freely by hand. I did as has already been suggested and swapped the fan connections between left and right and then switched on the ignition and shorted out the otter switch with a small loop of wire and a co...

I'd also add the Excel's high quality fibreglass body, galvanised chassis, sturdy Toyota/Ford running gear and simple front engine/rear wheel drive layout make it a very usable classic. The Lotus engine if properly looked after is also reliable and long lived.

It's good to hear of an early Excel being saved Rafael. Excels do make viable daily drivers, mine is used 12 months per year and I'm not the only owner to do that. I use Maxxis AP2 all season tyres during winter. On the subject of plastic coatings this may be of use to you https://www.youtube.com/wa...

That is a very generous gesture, I think I can guess where it came from.