Lotus: aahh, ooooh, (clear throat) hmmm (smack lips) erm, (cough and sharp intake of breath)...

 If there's one marque which is going to divide opinion, then it's the one founded by old Colin 'Chunky' Chapman; you see, you either love them or... Well, there's no room for dilly-dallying and splinters-up-the-arse sitting on the fence.  Personally, I've come close a couple of times; it's the badge, that clever engineering, ahead of its time handling and ride, and all those grand prix titles wrapped up in a gert lush chunk of perty bodywork.  Yet, when it came to the crunch - parting with the wad - I just couldn't do it.  Up pops the ghost of car bores past and drones: "Of course, you know that Lotus stands for: Loads Of Trouble Usually Serious" - and I bottle it.  It's one of those heart versus head chestnuts.

Luckily though, it's one which has been resolved by Spyder Engineering in Peterborough.  Who's Spyder? Well, they're Lotus specialists, experts in chassis and suspension R&D, and prototype and volume chassis production for sports cars and racing cars - and they've been going for around 30 years.  During which time they have become renowned for replacement Lotus chassis for Elans, +2 Elans, Europas, Elites and Eclats.

Today Andy Widnall, who looks after the car side of the business, is giving the first cutomer Spyder Elan +2 the last tweak here and there before it can cross the finishing line