I just blew a grand on something I hope I'll never use

...but doesn't it look completely badass?

Ya, so my Elan didn't follow me home from the big meet at the factory two weeks ago. Instead I dropped it off at a nearby fab shop who've been making some nice upgrades for these cars and had the rollbar in the above pics installed. Flew back and picked it up yesterday. The whole kit wasn't cheap, but as I plan on taking this car on trackdays and the Nürburgring I went for it anyway. No challenge budget constraints with this one.

It's not just cosmetic, it's a serious piece under the plastic skin: here's what it looked like before being installed. If it keeps my noggin off the ground just once, it will have been worth it, but I plan on never actually testing that. For now I'm enjoying the new look. In my opinion it really updated the lines of the car and made it look like a high-dollar exotic instead of an MX5alike (not that there's anything wrong with that.)

If you're interested here are some more pics from the drive home. Went through England, France, Belgium, Holland, and Germany. (BTW the top speed of an Elan M100, as-tested completely legally on an empty German motorway, is around 220 km/h with the top up. I pretty much had to at some point didn't I?)

very cool mna.

First thought " Whaaat? He bought that car for a GRAND!!" Then realized you meant the roll bar kit. Beautiful little car, anyway.

Makes me think someone may be able to make a similar roll bar for a Miata using fiberglass or carbon fiber covering a Hard Dog or similar rollbar.

Am I the only one who was hoping to see a picture of a Sig P229?

Nice roll bar. Fab work looks great. Cool car.

Thanks for the compliments guys! I also picked up a new heater core/blower assembly while I was over there. The next project now is to take out the dash, replace that, rip out all the bodged wiring some previous owner or other did (very crummy stereo install, alarm, and who knows what else), and fix everything else that doesn't work. Should be fun, and by 'fun' I mean 'a horrible PITA'.

Tyler H wrote: Am I the only one who was hoping to see a picture of a Sig P229?

If I had one of those I would hope I'd get to use it very very much.

(Note: on a RANGE! Not on people. Duh.)

cwh wrote: First thought " Whaaat? He bought that car for a GRAND!!" Then realized you meant the roll bar kit. Beautiful little car, anyway.

Same here. Nicely done roll bar!

Hahahaha, big me(at)et. Ok so that joke is a lot funnier if you were speaking instead of typing but whatever.

I thought Mazda made the Capri?

ducks

cwh wrote: First thought " Whaaat? He bought that car for a GRAND!!" Then realized you meant the roll bar kit. Beautiful little car, anyway.

My first thought was, "An Elan for a grand?!? Why does he hope he never uses it?"

I really like the look of that rollbar. Fits with the lines and makes the car look much more business-like.

Are those still AE86 taillights? I know that's what they used on the Espirits, and those look mighty similar.

And I thought the late Elan was an Izuzu Impulse, not a Capri...

ReverendDexter wrote: Are those still AE86 taillights? I know that's what they used on the Espirits, and those look mighty similar. And I thought the late Elan was an Izuzu Impulse, not a Capri...

They're actually from Renault:

If my Elan is an Isuzu Impulse then the new Evora is a Toyota Avalon. Lotus have never been ashamed about parts-binning.

Jay wrote: If my Elan is an Isuzu Impulse then the new Evora is a Toyota Avalon. Lotus have never been ashamed about parts-binning.

Actually, the fact that they use Toyota engines is one of the things I like about Lotus - assuming I can ever find and afford one at the same time, I'll be able to afford to repair the engine should anything ever happen to it.

You only pad a grand for the roll bars? They look really well done Good job

Well, more like €1300, which is pretty much your challenge budget if you convert that into dollars. Still think it was worth it. This is one of my childhood dream cars (seriously, I have drawings!) and I plan on keeping it for a long time. Also the guy who installed the roll bar said some very nice things about my chassis (such as, "one of the straightest and cleanest I've ever seen") so I'm not afraid to spend a bit of money on it.

Beautiful!!

The more i see pics of that car, the more i like it. It kinda reminds me of one of these, another design I really like. http://www.diseno-art.com/images_2/1996_Ghibli_II_Cup.jpg

Nice bars, they look like factory pieces really.

Oh, rollover protection! I clicked in to see what kind of fire extinguisher cost a grand.

Car looks good with it! I've always kind of liked the "new" Elans as well.

Tyler H wrote: Am I the only one who was hoping to see a picture of a Sig P229? Nice roll bar. Fab work looks great. Cool car.

Given the thread title, my first thought was of a firearm as well.

wow thats a sick piece of fabrication there. Is that 1000 pounds or 1000 euros or what?