There can't be many people out there interested in cars who don't know that Lotus produced kitcars up until 1973; although like their colleagues at TVR they seemingly do everything they can to mask the fact. Why be ashamed of such great products as the Seven, Elan & Europa to name but three?
Everyone knows the concept of kitcars too don't they? You either buy a body/chassis unit and built your dream machine or you can buy a product from one of the companies offering body conversions where you keep the existing floorpan and just amend body shape. Either way you hopefully end up with your dream machine. However, now there's a third option courtesy of Spyder Engineering who have a rather fiendish Ford Zetec Elan Plus 2 Conversion, which keeps the original Lotus identity and only requires a note to Swansea telling them about a change of engine. No SVA or Q plate.
It’s a conversion that has met approval from the majority of Lotus buffs, which is encouraging, and many old Plus Two’s that would otherwise have been scrapped have been given a new lease of life, thanks to Spyder thinking outside the proverbial square. There will be some of you shouting ‘heathen’ I guess, but the Plus Two has always been perhaps the best of all the Elan’s as a pure driving machine, and their weak point has always been in the chassis area where they suffer badly from rust.
Spyder Engineering are based in Peterborough and are right up at the top of the tree when it comes to chassis expertise and they have long had connections with Britain’s specialist car industry by supplying proprietary chassis to a whole raft of fledgling and established manufacturers, although they most notable claim to fame must be with the legendary Spyder Silverstone. This was perhaps the most capable LSIS-type car of all time, and although they only sold 23 examples it has still gone down in folklore for its handling, performance and levels of engineering. Although there have been rumours of a Silverstone 2, the company are concentrating on their bread and butter engineering work and also the Elan Plus 2 Conversion kit. Spyder can also supply replacement chassis to fit the baby Elan, Eclat and Europa incidentally.
‘Classic styling with modern technology’ Spyder call the conversion and they are not wrong. All parts are available separately as budget and/or space allows with the replacement spaceframe chassis costing £1595 plus VAT (£1874) and the full package to turn your tired old Elan into a re-born ‘new’ classic costs £5161 plus VAT (£6064). A rough Elan Plus 2 can be had for about £1500, with the added bonus of a kickback if you sell the engine, gearbox and Chapman struts, for about £700. The Ford Sierra parts you’ll need are front & rear brakes and CV joints and if you source them yourself will cost around £150, although if you haven’t the time or the wherewithal Spyder can supply you reconditioned parts off the shelf. A Zetec engine and MT75 box can cost you between £300 and £2500 depending on your budget and abilities to seek out a bargain, so adding together all the parts and costs involved, a DIY job could be completed for under £8500 if you cut a few corners here and there, although it is probably more realistic to allow £10,000.
totalKitcar.com