The image on the right shows "Lotty" as she came to be known, in the mid 70s just after I bought her.
When she arrived there was a scrape down the drivers' door and the paintwork was looking a bit tired. So within a month of buying the car, I resprayed her in the original Carnival Red, which is as seen in this photograph
We had a few adventures in those days. The car was used daily and I was putting in around 15000 miles per year which is quite a lot for an old car, but I was an optimistic soul.
And so things started falling off; the battery stopped charging one night, a rear disc warped and then to thank me for the new discs the brake pads collapsed to metal backing about 20 miles from home.
An introduction to sticking rear caliper pistons and a good exercise in reading the road ahead.....
The throttle cable nipple wore and slipped through the Webers back-plate, which left me with no "go" one morning. An easy one; some insulating tape round the nipple and we're back in business.
The car leaked water at first sign of a dark cloud, the engine threw oil all over the engine bay after I forgot to tighten the cam cover filler cap, the differential tie rods broke away from the chassis but we soldiered on together.
An electric window fell into the door one night, and yes, it was raining with my new girlfriend in the passenger seat, who despite this introduction still married me (and is still making coffee and passing the plasters....)
I was beginning to understand just what was meant by an "enthusiast’s car". Every Sunday was Lotus Day, which meant I'd screw back all the things that had fallen off the previous week. I planned quarterly "week-ends" when major work would be done - rotoflex, wheel bearings, etc.
But the car never actually left me stranded - oh yes, I'd had a few roadside maintenance sessions, but Lotty always woke up eventually to take me home.
And most importantly the good days outweighed the bad. Here’s a shot of that new girlfriend with trendy oversize sunglasses and big hair at Donnington around 1979. It was the height of style and I was truly smitten......
