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Is this even a Lotus?

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Sherlock

Sherlock

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I took this picture at the Ancaster British Car Flea Market (back in 2003) in southern Ontario... It caught my eye when I first saw it driving in, unfortunately I was unable to talk to the owner all day... The front plate says "Elan S2", kind of looks like an Elan, with a rather interesting body kit of some sort.

Someone in Flickr seems to think that it might be a Mazda Miata with body kit? Any other ideas? Anyone ever seen anything like this before?

7190178_12d41f55f6.jpg


bigger image at this url: https://photos6.flickr.com/7190178_12d41f55f6_o.jpg
 
Definitely an Elan. Look at the shape of the doors....it would be very hard to get Miata doors to look like that. Looks like the owner decided to build a 26R clone (the 26R was the racing version of the Elan), with the exposed headlights (they really should be behind plastic covers) and wider wheels. Real 26Rs also were hardtops-this ones a roadster. A nice looking car, but I'd have to see it close up to gauge the quality of the modifications.

The only other car I can think of would be a Vegantune Evante, which was a kit car Elan built around modern Ford or Vauxhall engines in the early 90s. However, I do not think any Evantes made it to this side of the Atlantic.

-Wm.
 
Course, now I think of it, there was a bodykit for early Miatas that changed the front and rear bodywork to Elan-like shapes. The advert I saw for it (in Japanese) had the car kitted out with perforated steel wheels with chrome moon hubcaps, extra chromy bits, the works. No, it's not the famous Pitwork Racing kit, which you can see over at rspeed.net.

-Wm.
 
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