chrishill 0 Posted May 4, 2004 I have a vauge memory of some other company taking over production of the elan when lotus stopped, anyone know who it was, what they called it and if it was any good? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vr6storm 0 Posted May 4, 2004 IIRC it was KIA or Proton of all companies.............tho only offered with a N/A engine and not the ISUZU one as fitted by lotus.......tho teechnically they didnt actually take over production i think they just built them under license for their home markets Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VR6 0 Posted May 4, 2004 How many did they produce Rodders? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vr6storm 0 Posted May 4, 2004 How many did they produce Rodders? TBH.........no idea..........i even think it was a still-born idea :wink: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
munkay 0 Posted May 4, 2004 Roddy you should go on feckin mastermind when it comes to car trivia! :) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vr6storm 0 Posted May 4, 2004 Roddy you should go on feckin mastermind when it comes to car trivia! :) just the joys having lots of mag-reading moments.......and a collection of car mags that would scare you! :wink: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dinkus 10 Posted May 5, 2004 Erm not wanting to out g33k vr6storm there, but there were 2 runs of the 90's era Elan... The first run was made by Lotus who promptly lost vast amounts of money on every one they made due to the MX-5 coming out at the same time, doing about the same thing and costing a fraction of the price (hairdressers can't afford much). Eventually in 92 GM freaked and told Lotus to stop making them. Bugatti of all people then bought up all the left over bits of the Elan, realised they had pretty much enough for another 800 complete cars, did some mods to the lights etc and sold them in a second run, usually referred to as S2's. Then after Bugatti were done Kia bought up all the tooling and started making them in Korea. 8) so now you know :) I was thinking of getting one instead of a C, but the C is just so much more practical. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chrishill 0 Posted May 5, 2004 i thought it was some unlikly company, a Kia Elan just doesnt sound as cool as a lotus, not something you could shout about down the pub! what do you drive? a kia elan (then shouting over the laughter) THEY USED TO BE MADE BY LOTUS! :roll: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vr6storm 0 Posted May 5, 2004 Erm not wanting to out g33k vr6storm there, but there were 2 runs of the 90's era Elan.... hehehehehe.......a fellow anorak :-P :-P ...........aye remember the 2nd run well too about 94/95 with a whopping price too IIRC £20k+.............called the elan S2 and if memory serves me right they only offered the turbo :wink: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kevin Bacon 5 Posted May 5, 2004 The Elan was that wedge shaped convertible wasn't it? They were horrid looking cars, glad the roads aren't over populated with them tbh. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dr_mat 0 Posted May 5, 2004 They might have been horrid looking (I'm not disagreeing there), but by all accounts they handled fabulously. "The best handling front wheel drive car bar none." was about the sort of thing you would hear. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kevin Bacon 5 Posted May 5, 2004 In who's opinion? It's all subjective at the end of the day. The very same words have been used to describe the Pug 205, GTI 16V, Integra Type R, Corrado VR6, Elan among many others..... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dr_mat 0 Posted May 5, 2004 .. don't forget the Peugeot 406 (minicab of the year 2002). That's also the best handling front-drive car ever. To be honest I'm more inclined to believe a Lotus-derived chassis is class leading than a Peugeot (or even VW) one.. The brits make the best sports cars and the best hifi. We're crap at Cricket tho... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dinkus 10 Posted May 5, 2004 hehehehehe.......a fellow anorak ...........aye remember the 2nd run well too about 94/95 with a whopping price too IIRC £20k+.............called the elan S2 and if memory serves me right they only offered the turbo Yup yup yup and yup :D The S2's still go for £8-£9k on Autotrader, but even with the revised roof they still leak like a sieve. The engines tend to last forever though. At the time pretty much everyone that drove on (for the press) said it was the best handling car they'd ever and judging by the huge amount of work Lotus put into the development of them (hence the huge price tags) I'd say they probably are pretty good. The Elan was that wedge shaped convertible wasn't it? They were horrid looking cars, glad the roads aren't over populated with them tbh. The styling is a little interesting yes.. just to show prove my anorak status again, the car actually ended up being 4" too short and a bit wide all round because of mess ups in the design stage. It's still no looker compared to the C though. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
g-master 0 Posted May 5, 2004 The Elan was that wedge shaped convertible wasn't it? They were horrid looking cars, glad the roads aren't over populated with them tbh. Totally agree, i can't stand them :x Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
