On the general topic of the El Camino, there are times when a similar shape could be called convergent evolution rather than copying   ... View more

I remember seeing one of these cars on the street in Paris back in '77. It looks good but even then was a real "go slow but look cool" car. ... View more

According to one story I came across somewhere, the Corvair and GT40 use the same tail lights. Apparently, the 40 needed tail lights and the lightest light assembly available came from the Corvair so that's what was used.   I cannot guarantee the veracity of the story, but there it is.  ... View more

Bruce.         (Willis) ... View more

The cynic in me would call this the triumph of money over taste. I agree that less would be more, at least for enlightened fellows like us.   But, on the other hand, it's someone else's money and may not offend his taste so what's the problem? I don't have to like it, and I don't, but one of the better attributes of the car culture community is a general tolerance of other people's idiocies. Including mine.  ... View more

I'll become an expert by knowing more and more about less and less until I know everything about nothing.. ... View more

If I could have any of these magically appear in my garage it would be the Daytona Spyder, the cheapest car of the lot. Clearly, a man of simple tastes. ... View more

It's not a Chrysler but the 1.6 litre 4 cyl. in the Europa has hemispherical chambers, so that's a good enough reason to fire it up today in honour of the hemi engine. And, by the way, happy birthday to @noah300g     ... View more

No suggestions for a car but three things to look for if you want to use it to learn the techniques. And I'm ignoring anything else you might want to look for. 1. Pedal setup. You can't heel and toe if you can't use the brake and gas at the same time. You have to be able to put good pressure on the brake pedal with the ball of your foot and still reach the gas pedal with the side of the foot when you roll your ankle over. 2. Gear ratios. A close ratio transmission will be easier to heel and toe with simply because there won't be as much of a rev change between gears. If engine revs are fairly close between, say, 3rd and 2nd gears your mid-shift engine blip doesn't have to change much. It probably stands to reason that a small 4 cylinder car is going to have closer gears than a big V8 because it doesn't ave as much torque to power through a big ratio change. 3. Steering. You're going to be taking a corner as soon as you've finished shifting so if the car has fairly quick or direct it will be a bit easier to shift your attention to getting around the corner.   Like I said, I don't have a suggestion for a good cheap car to learn on but if I go back into the mists of memory I can tell you what one of the worst cars is -  a '73 AMC Gremlin like the one my wife had back when we got married.   The Gremlin did have a manual transmission but was just about impossible to do a heel and toe shift - apart from the fact that its overall braking and cornering capabilities were about the same as a fully loaded oil tanker. To cover the three points I listed, it would have needed at least size 15 EEEE shoes to hit the gas and brake at the same time. The 3 speed tranny had a stump puller 1st, 2nd for driving in town and 3rd was close to direct drive if you were brave, or in my case dumb, enough to take that death trap on the highway. At least the I6 had reasonable torque. And the unassisted steering in that nose-heavy beast seemed to be about 12 turns lock to lock so I could hardly dare to take a hand off the wheel to shift anyway. My apologies to any Gremlin enthusiasts, but I really didn't like that car. ... View more

Good article, a proper explanation of the three-pedal the technique needed to do this smoothly. But we can't overlook the benefit of practice. I've recently been driving my oldest car after having it tucked away for most of the winter and then off the road for a while for a mechanical refresh. I've been driving manual transmission cars in the interim but when I get into the '72 Europa the gear ratio spacing, shift linkage and clutch engagement point are all quite different from my newer cars.  As a result, I didn't exactly impress myself with my shifting prowess the first time driving it after several months although the memory does come back fairly easily after a while. ... View more

On the other hand, the 3.5 litre Rover/Buick/Olds V8 is not the same engine as the 3.5 litre V8 Lotus engine used in the last runs of Esprits. Same displacement, more or less, and both aluminum V8s made in England but different engines.   ... View more

If they extend the electric range into the RV segment, will it be a case of a Voltswagen pulling a mobile ohm? ... View more

How could I forget the Bizzarrini 1900 GT Europa. Not that I've actually ever seen one.  ... View more

Ferrari 250 Europa / Lotus Europa / if you want to go into high end accessories from back in the day, then add the Becker Europa radio   Lotus Esprit / Pontiac Firebird Esprit   And as a last point, don't overlook the overlap between Lucas electrics and AMC - both were beset by Gremlins ... View more

Beware the dreaded Nissan Leaf.  A couple of years ago I was driving my Esprit V8 in Vancouver, on an arterial road with a traffic light every four blocks or so. I was stopped at a light, with no-one in front of me, when a Leaf pulled in in the lane beside me. The driver gave a "Let's go" sign and floored his little Nissan as soon s the light turned green. Of course, with the instant torque of an electric he waxed me off the line. And stayed ahead until almost the other side of the intersection when I went roaring by. The same story repeated at the next red light. And the next, and the next. At that point the Leaf turned off, either because the driver was near his destination or his battery was nearly spent. Either way, we were both laughing our heads off by then. ... View more

Sounds like you got the real runaround, but I'm glad to hear you had the resolve to tell them to stick it. Politely, I assume.   I'll add the the general rants about HR departments. I spent most of my career in the corporate world and came to the view that the majority of HR types have the attitude that "we hire the brightest and we hire the best, but if you've been here more than five years you must be a bit of an idiot." I'm firmly of the view that if you want to understand most people's behavior in business you have to understand their incentives, or, more accurately, what they perceive to be their incentives. If you want to modify behavior, modify the incentives accordingly. This doesn't explain everything but it does explain a lot and I suspect that when the HR manager goes for her annual performance review she expects to to get more points for "we recruited the genius from out of town" than for "I agreed that Billy Bob in accounting was ready to take over." So they consistently shaft the in-house applicant. Not saying it happens every time but I've seen it more often than not. My rant is over.   Go for a drive. ... View more

I too am retired so the idea of driving to work is a bit academic.   But I did go out this afternoon and demonstrate that the week's grocery run for two people will easily fit in a Lotus Elise. ... View more

jonZ, I'm with you on the roadside assistance. The best way to deal with a flat is to watch someone else fix it on a dry, level concrete floor.   There are a bunch of things I did when young and broke that seemed reasonable,and even kind of fun, back in the day that I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole now. I don't like to be foolish with my money but I have learned that there is a lot of truth in the observation that there's no substitute for cubic dollars. ... View more

Thanks for that, jonZ. It always helps  hear the voice of experience.    I'll keep on carrying a can of the stuff around in each of the cars just in case it's needed as a last resort. And try to remember to replace the can every few years since it won't have an indefinite shelf life.   The other thing that might help is that when I go on a long trip I usually leave the useless spare at home and use the space for my roadside repair kit. That includes a 12V air pump to adjust pressures but could be used to keep a tire up if it is losing air slowly. And I agree with your approach of leaving the nail, or whatever, in the tire until it can be fixed properly. Taking it out just leaves a bigger hole in the tire.   ... View more

Sajeev, if you're really stuck for a topic how about a question on something that might come up in a case of dire necessity. I'm talking about the relative merits (which I suspect are few) and drawbacks (likely more) of using a can of fix-a-flat compound.   I'll use my '97 Esprit as an example as the spare tire is basically symbolic. The spare is a 125 width mini that just fits in the nose of the car. A 245 width front tire won't fit there, much less a 285 width rear. A road tire should fit in the trunk but only if any and all luggage is jettisoned. That ain't happening, especially if my wife is on the trip, and she wouldn't be too happy with a grimy wheel & tire on her lap in the passenger seat. So a lot of the time the idea of replacing a flat with the donut spare is a non-starter. Plus, I wouldn't trust the donut anyway.   If I get a flat, plan A is to call Hagerty Plus. But if that isn't possible for some reason, e.g. in the middle of nowhere with no cell reception, I carry a can of fix-a-flat as plan B. Luckily, I have never had to use it.   So the issue is, do those things actually work. Can you drive on a tire with that "fix"? Can it inflate the tire on the ground or do you have to jack the car up anyway? Even with the simplifying assumption of even weight distribution and no extra luggage or passenger weight a rear wheel on the Esprit is holding up about 840 lb of car and I wonder if a can could overcome that weight or if it would just deposit a big ball of goo inside the valve stem. How much of a mess of the wheel and tire would it make if it did work?    I'd much rather have these questions answered in your column instead of in real life. ... View more

That's two Christmas greetings from the South, and now add one from the Great White North (even though it will be a green Christmas where I live). Merry Christmas to all and let's hope and pray that 2021 is a better year then 2020.   Of course, we'd have to work at it to make 2021 worse overall than 2020.  ... View more

As for the beer thing, I have to admit to some lack of patience so when a buddy and I went to a local brewpub on Friday I managed to choke down an extra brew just to wish Mr. Guitar74 a bit more luck. Here it is, a fine IPA that fit one of my personal rules for a happy life - don't drink a beer if you can p*ss stronger than it: ... View more

OK,let's go back to the dreaded SALT.    It's still the rainy season here on this part of the west coast so last week I took advantage of an occasional sunny day to take the car out for a drive. Sunny and cool but no danger of frost. Why those knuckleheads at the city engineering department decided to put brine down, I have no idea. Must be my tax dollars at work. Still, I was not pleased to find wet de-icing solution on the road with no way around it.    Now we're back to normal with a few days of rain to wash the crud off the road and today it is bucketing down. Perfect excuse to take the car out again and use Mother Nature's car wash to clean off the undercarriage. I guess my 3 year old granddaughter isn't the only one in the family who goes looking for puddles.  ... View more

Good to hear the interview went well. Let's hope its now a short wait for good news. Good luck with it, and it should turn out to be an excuse for a celebratory beer (like I need a new excuse). ... View more

Don't forget that some of those cars ran on "cheater slicks" - essentially slick tires with a few grooves cut in to make them barely street legal. ... View more

Does this count? ... View more

How about a generic complaint about different makes that have done this on hubcaps or the wheels themselves. My issue is "directional" wheels or wheel covers - I guess they're supposed to look like turbine blades to draw in air to cool the brakes - that have the same orientation on both sides of the car so one side will only work backwards. My son just took a set wheels like that off his VW and it looks much better.    I know that one side could be pretending to draw cool air in while the other is pretending to draw hot air out, but it still looks dumb. ... View more

"Because we're in a one act play" ... View more

Canadian, more specifically Vancouver, group so not surprised you haven't heard it. May as well give them a plug anyway. And I'll add a couple of lines from another one of their songs even though not car related "We're here for a good time, Not a long time." ... View more

It's not a micro but it definitely is small and has an origin story that I'll get to shortly. But first, here is my '72 Lotus Europa Twin Cam   And to put the car's size in perspective, here is parked between a Nomad and an El Camino   My link to Lotus Europa goes back to the spring of 1968 when I was 14 years old in junior high. In the slack days at the end of the school year the powers that be decided that we young savages needed a dose of culture so the junior band class was loaded into a bus and taken to a cultural performance at another junior high school about 6 miles away. I have only a dim recollection of the concert but clearly remember the lavender Europa that one of the musicians had left parked outside. I knew what it was but hadn't actually seen one before and immediately decided that it was the coolest thing this side of a Miura. I resolved to have one some day.   What I didn't know at the time was that a girl attending the other school, and at the same concert, had also seen the little Europa and had come to the same conclusion (other than the Miura reference).   Fast forward two years to 1970 and she and I were now in the same high school and started dating. We broke up a few months before grad but got together again about a year later and have been together ever since. We had compared notes and knew we had both seen the same Europa back in '68.   Fast forward again to 1977. Married by now and I had just finished law school when the Europa (this time the one in the pictures) came on the market. It took a bit of creative financing since I'd only finished school two or three months before, but the Europa followed us home in July '77. We've had it ever since and it retains seniority over both of our two now adult kids, as I remind them from time to time.   In the years since then two other small cars, both Lotus, have joined the Europa. Here's the fleet   If I had to cut down to just one small car, the Europa would be my choice even if it is the least powerful and slowest of the three. And despite the fact that when I look at pictures from back in the day when we got it, there is some thin guy with hair wearing my old clothes.   ... View more

I'll go with the opening lines of the Trooper song "The Boys in the Bright White Sports Car" "Here they come, The boys in the bright white sports car. Wavin' their arms in the air, Who do they think they are? And where did they get that car?"   ... View more

I'll jump in to clarify things as David was a friend and I am familiar with the car. It is in fact a Seven S3. ... View more

Good article. It captures David well. RIP, my friend. ... View more

I'd have to go with the JPS or Gulf liveries for recurring use, with honorable mention to the Jordan F1 "7Up Bottle"' The 917 pink pig remains a classic for limited use. ... View more

I agree with Sajeev's suggestion as a good way to check out the market for your brochure - not that I have he faintest idea of what it may be worth. Otherwise, I know someone in the automobilia business who deals in brochures and sales material, among other things. I cab send contact info by PM if you think it would be helpful.  ... View more

A Bizzarinni brochure is a cool piece of automobilia unto itself. Dare I ask if you have the car to match? It's not quite from Torino, but even so.. ... View more

A challenge to a duel raises some serious questions.   Will the two of your be wearing your exclusive, and oh-so-fashionable, Hagerty Duel at Dawn hats?   Will you be reliant on an old foreign car to transport you to the appointed field?   You have challenged a Cad to a duel. In a worst case that he merely sustains a serious wound, are you willing to administer the coupe de grace ville to a Cad?  ... View more

I wonder if they would accept a trade of a '72 Lotus Europa and six lottery tickets?  ... View more

All good fun. The best part part will the next time I see the owner of the '67 Camaro and get to ask him why he drives an old foreign car.  ... View more

I don't know if I want to get back into this after the last exchange, but, @TeutonicScot , you have a point. The Lotus was the only trans-Atlantic vehicle it can be left aside for now. I'm not getting into a discussion of where the constituent parts were made other than to say that when I took the centre high-mount brake light out of the rear wing of the Lotus, I noticed that the plastic housing has "BUICK" embossed in it.    There were two Beaumonts on the trip so I guess that counts as domestic Canadian production.    That leaves 12 pieces of Detroit iron. Other than the three Corvettes, I don't know the history of North American car manufacturing well enough to hazard a guess as to which assembly plants put them together but let's accept them as having been made in the USA.   On that basis, the only mechanical problem that befell an "old foreign car" was a leaking heater core in a '67 Camaro.  ... View more

The link to the article is missing. I hope this is not an implication that in terms of automotive evolution, the Elise is the missing link. ... View more

Like a whole lot of other, and generally more important, events this year a couple of good road trips that my wife and I had planned were cancelled. One was a group tour of the Cascade Mtns. in Washington State and the other was just us on our more-or-less annual trip south to spend a few days on the Oregon coast. Maybe next year.   We did get in one good some single day drives with our local Lotus club and also managed a four day group tour through BC (a couple of pics already in the Hagerty Lounge https://community.hagerty.com/t5/hagerty-lounge/when-driving-an-old-foreign-car/td-p/30216/page/2 ). The longer trips gave us a plan for a trip next spring – we stopped for lunch one day at a diner in Little Fort, BC (pop. approx. 350) where I had the best burger I’ve had in decades. It’s only about 4 ½ hours from home, so that’s not too far to drive for a good meal.   Anyway, the point here is road trip cars. We are fortunate enough to have a choice but usually use one of two cars, both Lotus, for road trips.   The primary road trip car is a 1997 Esprit V8.   Great road trip car – comfortable, lots of power and enough luggage space for an extended trip. At the risk of a slightly less than tasteful comment, and one that shows my vintage, it is one of few mid-engine cars I’ve seen that pass the “Jimmy Hoffa” test. You could fit an adult person in the trunk. Jimmy's not, and never has been in here. But he could have fit. The second road trip car is a supercharged 2010 Elise.     Just about as fast as the Esprit, at least to the point that they’ll be taking me away in cuffs, and surprisingly comfortable over distance. The trunk fails the Jimmy test but we can still cram a lot of stuff in there in small bags. A few years ago we used it to attend a wedding in San Francisco, about 1000 miles each way.   Next April we’ll have to decide which one to take for a burger. ... View more

Good article - it essentially echoes what I found with a distributor upgrade on my Europa, after some history.    Some time back in the 90s I decided to try the upgrade route with a Hall effects ignition system inside the existing distributor. I ordered a kit from some manufacturer who will remain nameless (largely because I don't remember the name) and changed out the points and condenser unit for a couple of magnets and other parts that fit inside the distributor. Worked like a charm, strong spark, etc, until it just died one day and left me stranded at the side of the road. The issue was traced back to the new kit so the manufacturer was contacted and new parts installed. Again, it worked a charm until it quit again and left me stranded on the road. At that point the piece of junk promptly came out of the distributor and the old points went back in.   Fast forward to four or five years ago. I had the car in at my trusted mechanic and the discussion turned to ignition systems. The old points needed replacement so he suggested going to a Pertronix system. After some reluctance, based on the bad experience in the 90s, I decided to go that route. A new distributor was ordered and put in while the car was in his shop (my mechanical skills are ham-fisted on a good day so I was quite happy to have it installed for me).    After a few years I am happy with the Pertronix unit. As you said in the article:   " Now, I should say that, in general, electronic triggering by itself should  not   be thought of as a performance improvement. It’s really not. It’s a reliability and maintenance improvement. But having a distributor that actually advances without drifting around by an amount equal to the advance,  THAT’s   a performance improvement."   Well put.   ... View more

I feel your pain, if not perhaps quite as acutely.   I'm in Canada, on the west coast where the winters are usually mild but wet. The weather here looks good for a few more days until the rainy season gets going so I guess it's time to go out for a drive. At least I'll be able to get the cars out from time to time during the coming months but it is about time to start thinking about the fixes and projects that inevitably pile up during the summer.   Stay warm, stay safe and make some progress. ... View more

It's a V8. Flat plane crank with dealer installed "sport" exhaust - one of the world's worst cars for sneaking up on people. ... View more

A quick follow up to my last post.    Got back today from a 4 day, 1600 km. (~1000 mile) tour around parts of BC driving the only foreign car in a group of 16 cars. It's a '97 Lotus Esprit so not exactly ancient but well out of warranty. I did pack up a basic kit of tools but the only time I had to use one was to remove a small stone that had become thoroughly wedged in one of the headlight pods of the pop-up lights.    A couple of pics just to show I was there.   ... View more

" We have a lot of them to mail out!"   I bet that's one part of Hagerty's promotional expense that will be going over budget.  ... View more

Yes, that is my reality. And I am quite aware that I have much to be thankful for and little, other than a facetious comment about bringing a Bond girl, to complain about. Not that anyone would listen to me anyway. The upcoming trip is a group drive (scaled back for the Covid world) where we don't get any route info for the day until we meet each morning. It's put on by a restoration shop that does mostly street rods and muscle cars so our European ride will be in the minority. I've been on their events before and expect lots of time for side trips. Looking forward to it and I might be tiresome and post a couple of pics when we get back. ... View more

One can but dream - and perhaps Barbara Bach as a suitable Bond girl riding shotgun in the Esprit.   To return to the original question about travelling in an older foreign car, I will be heading off on a four day car on Friday. Driving the Esprit, destination unknown. I will dutifully have a kit of basic tools and replacement fluids in the car and my wife in the passenger seat. Reality lands with a dull thud. ... View more

Sound advice. I will keep it in mind.   To be a bit pedantic, the Elise is named after the granddaughter of Romano Artioli who was chairman of Bugatti Industries when it owned Group Lotus in the '90s. Bugatti sold Lotus to Malaysian interests before VW acquired Bugatti.   Elisa was only 2 when the car was introduced so an early production car was set aside and kept for her. Last I heard she still has it and now dries it around Berlin. ... View more