Time was passing, 1984 and I fancied a drophead Elan. But we couldn't really bear to part with Lotty, she'd become part of the family.
She was so practical after all - we'd been on holiday, carried bags of cement and even a small TV in her. (ok, so it was on the passenger seat, but she still managed...)
So after spending months talking about it and looking at a friend's drophead, we decided to give Lotty a bit more headroom.
The header rail was made and fitted by Chris Foulds, a truly enthusiastic and helpful guy and I did the rest, buying the parts from a wrecked S4 dhc. Chris actually found a lot of the trim parts new from the Lotus factory, now try that today !
The first shot shows the car just after the conversion. It looks ok but there are a few marks where the new frame has been laminated.
A lot of folks say you shouldn't do this, you spoil the car, it's not original, etc. But I can honestly say it increased my enjoyment of the car more than anything else I've done to it. The alternative was to sell it and buy another and as Helen said -
"we'll be starting all over again, at least this one's working now...."
So the next step was to freshen up the paintwork.
"You're not painting it again ?"
Ah, but it'll be quicker now, there's no roof to do love...... ouch
This shot shows Lotty with modern (well, it was then) colour-coded bumpers, and a slightly brighter silver than the original one.
I'd also decided that the bonnet which came with the car, the variant with the power bulge for Strombergs, could do with replacing and so Lotty got a new bonnet as well.
