With summer now officially in full effect, the long, warm days and mild, moonlit nights are great excuses to go for meandering, pointless weekend joy rides, and what better vehicle for these little jaunts than a classic British roadster?
The Elan S2, as the seller states in perhaps the most difficult to read listing ever found on eBay, is well regarded for its blend of S1 purity with many desirable refinements brought by the partial redesign. Very light, very small, and packed full of brilliant Chapman era engineering, the original Elan is early Lotus at its finest—the handling, ride, and in particular, steering quality offered by these little fiberglass gems is reportedly of the life changing variety.
The rather lurid green seen in photos is said to be more palatable in person, and is also claimed to be in decent driver condition, with a good overall condition, no cracking or hazing, and several inconspicuous stone chips. The chassis is described as straight, with a recent suspension rebuild including new tires and wheel bearings, while the engine is said to be 2,000 miles fresh in addition to being matching numbers. Further claims include recently attended to seats, a new top, and fully functional gauges and lights, bar an iffy gas gauge.
With a $43k BIN, this Elan seems to represent a decent value if as well-sorted as described, though that partially hinges on the paint indeed being more subdued then it appears in photos. Similar money will allow you to cross-shop for many other period British sports cars, but none of them will come close to offering a similarly brilliant driving experience—in fact, they’ll all seem prehistoric in comparison.
If skating inches off the ground in a big piece of green fiberglass sounds like your kind of fun, this could be the Elan for you.
Click here for the full Elan listing on eBay.
