> From: "J.Dunn" <bikehunter@icehouse.net>
> "as the Elan is the greatest sportscar every made "
>
> As long as you can keep replacing all the parts that break. Chapman may
have
> been a genius when it came to designing for performance , but he was sadly
> lacking in the durability/reliability department.;-)
>
> John dun in Boise
I remember once seeing a Holdsworth perched on one of those tiny boot racks that some Lotus owners used to fit to their Elans. The bike was almost as big as the car.
As for Colin Chapman not being able to produce reliable cars, I think Lotus' success in Formula 1 shows that he could indeed build cars capable of standing up to the most demanding circumstances.
The Elan's troubles were sometimes caused by those owners who bought the cars as kits to avoid tax and built them up (not very well) themselves. That said, they did break down a lot.
They're still, in the purest sense, the best sportscar ever, though-with or without classic bike on the back.
Bruce