For years, Elan owners have put up with fragile running gear in return for the sublime looks and handling. Now a specialist is building powerful modern - engined versions that are unburstable.

Words: David Lillywhite - Photography: Malcolm Griffiths

For the next five days Spyder Engineering's Elan Plus 2 is mine. I can do whatever I like with it, go as far as i want, I've watched it being built up over the past weeks, and I know how special it is. And yet within 200 yards of Spyder's factory, I joined queue for a level crossing, and my eyes flick immediately to the temperature gauge.

Isn't it stupid how old habits die so hard? It's not like you typical Elan has any particular tendency to overheat anyway, but there's always the thought in the back of your mind that the engine problems could cost more than the car is worth £5,000 is a typical Lotus twin-cam rebuild cost nowadays, while an average Plus 2 will struggle to fetch £4,000.

This Plus 2, though, has done away with the reliability concerns altogether. In place of the Lotus twin-cam is a Ford Zetec engine, fresh out of a modern Escort of Mondeo. Where there would usually be either a soughtafter (and expensive) four-speed gearbox, or maybe a tricky half-Lotus, half-Austin Maxi five-speeder, there's a Ford MT75 five-speed box from a late-model Sierra. And, less obviously, there's also a virtually rust-proof chassis and modern differential, hubs, disc brakes and suspension uprights.

Never has a Lotus been so bomb-proof unless, of course, you don't accept that it's a Lotus at all after all those changes. It could be a fair point Spyder has built this car specifically for journalists and potential customers to find out.

So once I've escaped the level crossing queue, I pootle the little Plus 2 through town, trying hard not to stare at the gauges unnecessarily. At this point, it feels just like a decent Plus 2 - lively, taut, slightly jiggy over bumps, with light controls, limited steering lock and a much greater feeling of airiness inside the cabin than you'd expect of a small two-plus-two coupe.

That's partly because you sit further forward in relation to the long doors than you'd expect and partly because the initial design was pretty good with loads of glass and seating at exactly the right height for a car like this. The big, whippy, original steering wheel has long-gone though, temporarily replaced by a smaller aftermarket Mountney-brand one. A higher quality wheel of the same size is on its way, but the issue here is the extra precision that the smaller, stronger wheel imparts.

The noises all sound right, too. There's a loose zingy, rortiness coming from the back end, just like the original's, and muted gobbling from the airbox up front, as though this engine's still running on the twin sidedraught carburetors of old. But the truth of it is that the silencer on this car is a copy of the original's even built by the original Lotus exhaust supplier, but in a larger diameter for better flow. Nice touch.

As for carburetors, they're long gone. Instead, there are the modern day equivalent, four straight-through barrels of fuel injection throttle bodies. Controlled by electronics. It's this set-up that contributes towards a 175bhp power figure, which is combined with a possible 40mpg consumption - 35mpg if you push it hard. An original Plus 2 does 25 - 30. so there advantages to doing away with a bit of heritage.

Leaving the confines of town, though, the advantage i'm about to sample is much more interesting. Performance loke 0 - 60mph time of about 6 seconds and a top speed of 135mph against the original's 8.9 seconds and 118mph.

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Classic cars September 2002