As you read this, the 2006 Lotus Elise that we sold in May of 2013 is in a car transporter and headed from Connecticut back to SCM World Headquarters in Portland, OR. We first drove an Elise in 2009; Legal Files contributor John Draneas has one. We were entranced. Weighing just 1,984 pounds, and propelled by a 190-horsepower, 1.8-liter Toyota engine with a Yamaha-tuned cylinder head, the Elise was very quick indeed. The spartan — yet purposeful — interior made the Elise a car that was modern in execution but vintage in feel. In 2010, we found a 2006 model with […]
As you read this, the 2006 Lotus Elise that we sold in May of 2013 is in a car transporter and headed from Connecticut back to SCM World Headquarters in Portland, OR.
We first drove an Elise in 2009; Legal Files contributor John Draneas has one. We were entranced. Weighing just 1,984 pounds, and propelled by a 190-horsepower, 1.8-liter Toyota engine with a Yamaha-tuned cylinder head, the Elise was very quick indeed. The spartan — yet purposeful — interior made the Elise a car that was modern in execution but vintage in feel.
In 2010, we found a 2006 model with about 12,000 miles on it in Michigan in the color we wanted: yellow. We paid $29,000 for it.
During the next three years, we drove the Elise on several five-day, 1,000-mile rallies, and it was always a delight. One memorable moment was when we hit a large pile of fresh-from-the-source cow manure at high speed — and promptly slathered the sides of the car with stinky brown stuff.
Luckily, a nearby high school was having a car wash, and the kids held their noses while they wiped the car clean.
The Elise became my daugher Alexandra’s favorite car. It fit her well — a diminutive machine for a petite driver. When she took it out, people assumed it was a Ferrari or a Lamborghini because of its exotic appearance — and she didn’t do anything to dissuade them. She went to a driving school at Portland International Raceway in it, and her lap times were more than respectable.
In May of 2013, I got a call from someone looking for an Elise. At that time, the SCM bank account was stressed from the ever-accelerating costs of restoring our 1958 Giulietta Sprint Veloce — a car that “needed nothing” when I bought it. Well, $50,000 later, it was actually road ready. So I decided to turn the Lotus into cash. $28,000 was the sale price.
When I told Alex, she was crestfallen. “You sold MY car, Dad,” she said. Telling her she could drive our Isetta anytime she wanted to didn’t seem to mollify her.
Three years passed. I had our 2001 911 Twin Turbo out for a drive, and stopped by Ron Tonkin Gran Turismo in Wilsonville, OR. My good friend and the former GM Art Smith was there, and he greeted me by saying, “Don’t you miss your Elise? Come look at what we have.”
They had just taken in a blue 2005 model. As I sat in it, memories of our yellow one came flooding back. My love of driving has always centered on small-engined cars that handled well, and the Lotus would have to be at the top of that list.
I baited my own hook by contacting Doug Jackson, the head of the Evergreen Lotus Car Club, and asking him if he knew of any Elises for sale. He found a couple, but they weren’t in color combinations that appealed to me.
So I emailed the man who had bought the car from me. He responded and said he had driven the car less than 1,000 miles in three years, and it was still in perfect condition. I offered him $32,000 for it, which reflected the increasing values of these cars. He graciously accepted, and we have the title in hand.
When I mentioned to Alex that her Elise was coming home, she was ecstatic. When I followed up by saying that we should really sell the Turbo to make room for it, she became very stern with me.
“Dad, why do we have to choose? They’re very different cars, and we NEED them both,” she said.
I confess that having a daughter who is a sports-car-buying enabler is a huge plus. All gearheads always look for reasons to buy another car, and making a daughter happy ranks right up there with “I’ve never owned a red one” and “Everyone else has one, why don’t we?”
I have missed the Elise. On two-lane roads, when you hit 5,000 rpm and the variable cam timing kicks in, it accelerates like a spooked cat.
I’m used to cars with limited luggage space, so I could always get what I needed into the car. Its functional air conditioning was an unexpected treat. Having four airbags was a safety feature that none of my vintage sports cars has.
You might well ask, why, with all the sports cars in the world to choose from, would I buy a model I have already experienced?
As I become more thoughtful in my collecting, I am ever more appreciative of the cars within my budget that offer unique and exhilarating driving experiences. The Elise is simply a one-of-a-kind vehicle, and it’s unlikely there will ever be anything quite like it built again.
Welcome home, little Lotus. Alex has your former slot in the garage ready for your return. It’s next to the Turbo — which we still have, of course. Why should we have to choose? ♦
