Excel riviera

[bash]

I wonder why they never made one, I always thought they were quite cool on the Elite and Eclat. Perhaps the panel wouldn't go in the boot ?

Bash

[richardw]

I wonder if it was to do with making a vinyl roof look ok. The Elite and Eclat have bright alloy trim defining the edges of the roof, while the Excel has more closely integrated body colour fibreglass trim, with which I don’t think a vinyl roof would look quite right. Of course Lotus didn’t have much money then either. A similar question is why they never fitted a glass panel roof, like on the Esprit.

Interesting speculation for a wet Saturday morning!

Cheers, Richard

[bash]

Mmmm. Could be, I can bring my jigsaw if anyone wants to donate thier roof !! I would think it would be easy to keep it body coloured. Esprit glass roof idea could work but the roof curvature probably isnt the same.

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[pistolpete]

Does the Esprit glass panel come out or is it just a bonded in clear/ tinted panel ?

[bash]

It comes out. Its a glass panel that can be tilted at the back or lifted out put in a bag and threaded into the boot, presumably using most of the boot space.

Bash