Purchased used in June 2000 from Barry Ely Sports cars
Bell and Coleville Super 160 S1 Elise
Mods
April 01 – LSS and Quickrack, new headlights, and harness
Sept 02 – Cambelt Failure – Engine Rebuild
June – 03 Car spun by dad – rear suspension and wheel damage
Nov 04 – Elise Parts Manifolds
Aug 06 – Cambelt Failure – Engine Rebuild
2008 – Car written off by drunk driver – rebuilt with S2 interior, rota wheels and martini paint job.
2010 – Exige s2 suspension and new (std) rack fitted
+ countless other repairs over the years.120,000miles, including the original Great North Fish and chip run, Tut Towers 1 and 2, countless trips to Le Mans and to my parents place in France (before they sold it). Stelvio 2002. Privately organised runs, holidays over the Alps to Tuscanny.
Happiest when shoved up behind or leading B3 EEP (Liam) or SIII ONF (SimonF) hacking across some deserted twisty road, preferably in France.
I have also in recent years tried to tick of all the best roads in the north of the country. I am pretty much there although I have not been to North West Scotland or done the Mountain on the IOM yet.
Week 1 of ownership
Its Tuesday evening and its about 5.00pm. I am about as nervous and excited as I have ever been. I have been waiting 25 years (and maybe 9 months) for this moment. This is because I am nosing my first sports car into London traffic and towards home. Not just the first sports car but the one I have dreamed of driving for 3 years. It’s a deep purple Elise with a Bell and Colevill 160 Bhp upgrade. Bloody hell, and its mine.
Friday, 6am three days and sleepless nights later and I am loading the Elise for Le Mans. It’s my second trip and I know how good the drive is going to be. I pick up Ben from Bromley and we head out towards Portsmouth as the sun is coming up. Even though I have the roof up and it’s my first time on the motorway, I am pleasantly surprised by the lack of noise. We are snugly fitted in with all our gear and we can hear the stereo. All is well.
We pull into Portsmouth and almost straight onto the sea cat. It is wedged full of sports cars. We have an Azure Elise in front and a TVR behind. There’s a monster MGB next to us.
Two hours later and there is excitement on the car deck when as we prepare to disembark. Soon all these bulges, scoops, exhausts and petrol heads are going to be lose on the French roads. No police, no cameras, no holds barred. This is going to be good. It’s still early and its already very hot. It’s going to be a glorious day so we take the roof off and strap in. All I can think of is the hill out of Cherbourg and I can’t wait to floor the car up it. We take the Rootes family shortcut through Cherbourg and are quickly at the bottom of the hill. The car has warmed up and we hammer up and out of Cherbourg in a line of sports cars but Its not till I get to the roundabout at the top however that I get to boot the Elise for the first time through all the gears. We are simply launched down the D19 south. Ben and I barely have had time to smile inanely at each other when I realize that the TVR behind me wants a piece of the action. The TVR is an old one and I recon the 160 should give it a good run to around a ton. But we are soon pulling around 125 and it is rapidly becoming apparent that we are struggling to stay ahead. As the car is only 3 days old and I am to young to die I let them cruise by.
Should I have bought a TVR for the sheer speed? My question will be answered in an hour or so. Much quicker than usual we reach our exit and ten minutes later I am rolling up the drive to my parents Chateau. My parents welcome me with photos and excitement over the new car. They have watched me play with toy cars for years (well I stopped when I was about 23) and it’s quite a moment for them and me. After all those bad school reports the boy has finally done good.
Thirty minutes later and Ben and I are back on the road. We are driving straight to Beaumont sur Sarthe about 10 Km from Le Mans and we intend to go via some of Frances finest back roads. We don't have to wait long and its at the bottom of the Cherbourg peninsular we find the dream road, a winding hilly road which is totally empty and all mine. Time to enjoy.
Now I had read the hype about the Elise so I knew that it is one of the best sports cars ever made. The question in my mind was ‘can I handle it? Will it be to much for me or will it just scare me? This road not only puts away these fears but also opens my eyes to a car that I have owned for three days, a car which is so good that I feel comfortable thrashing it across this fantastic road. The TVR question is answered. Ten minutes later we have to stop in a lay by to catch breath and change into some shorts to cool down. Neither of us can believe the car. Its looks cool and sleek, however neither of us had any idea it was going to be like this. We saddle up again and spin the wheels out of the lay by sporting Cheshire cat smiles. The rest of the afternoon is much of the same; fantastic stretches of road followed by unbelievable series of corners. Coming out of some of them in second and third is just so outstanding as to be untrue. We have long since turned off the stereo and are enjoying Bell and Colville’s finest.
Mid afternoon we come across a Clio that has been heavily modified and is being driven by a local. It has a max power exhaust, a roll cage and some seriously wide rubber. It is also being driven very well and we watch in amazement as the driver thrashes his car in a vein effort to lose his purple tormentor. But its easy for the Lotus, we are driving fast but its fairly relaxed as the car is simply responding to any input I give it. Here is the difference between a modified hatch and proper sports car.
A little later and it seems we have found again the mother of all roads. We are about 30Miles from Beaumont and hacking across some hills when Ben starts to notice something in his mirror that is catching us. I had long since stopped looking behind, as there has been nothing behind us for a couple of hours. I start to try harder but there is know escaping the Orange 911 that’s is slowly catching us. The 911 are Bens all time favorite cars so it is a bonus having one behind proving it can keep up. Sadly about three miles later we make a wrong turn and lose our friend for good. Back on track we rapidly cover the ground to Beaumont where we meet the main road and the traffic jam of exotica heading towards Le Mans.
The outdoor bars in Beaumont are already full of spectators as we pull off the road and head for the campsite. Twenty minutes later and Ben and I are sitting next to our tent sipping a cool beer and admiring the car from the outside like a pair of kids. The seats have caused Ben some grief but I feel remarkably fresh. We walk the campsite admiring the amazing cars parked up. There is a club in the corner who has turned up with some amazing cars. An Aston, a race prepared seven, an XKR, a very tasty 911 and many more. We are across from some other Elises who seem more interested in cleaning their cars than driving. We smile at each other knowingly.
Race day dawns and we drive down to the track. The streets are heaving with sports cars and the Elise and Caterham are two of the most common. As we park up in parking vert we hear for the first time that noise that anyone who has ever been to Le Mans will never forget. The sound of one of the racecars screaming through the woods down the Mulsane. Awesome.
Le Mans is an awesome place and the 24 hour weekend atmosphere is unreal. This year the race promises to be a good one. Audi have turned up with a fantastic team that is heavily tipped to win but the real stars are the Americans. As usual the Vipers are here in force but this year there are some Vettes to take them on and Cadillac are mixing it with the big boys. The awesome Panoz is back and sounding louder than ever. They also have Mario Andretti and he has something to prove.
As usual Houx is crammed full of tents and some very tasty motors. Ben and I stop and stare at a yellow Diablo with the largest pipes we have seen. There is also a tour bus plus swimming pool as well as rapidly growing beer bottle pyramid.
We have missed the vintage Ferrari and Maserati race but we get a chance to see them all being displayed in the show area. I also see the new Strathcaron. It looks better than I expected and I wander how it will compare to the Elise.
We decide to watch the start from the Esses and the waiting is finally over as we watch the cars surge down the hill from under the Dunlop Bridge.
The early racing is as usual close and very loud. I have a scary moment whilst I am at the top of the esses looking down the track. Someone comes around them and slides down the wall which results in me getting pelted with stones. Then there is a big Porsche crash right in front of us and some hairy moments as a trapped driver struggles to get out of a smoke filled car whilst sitting on the outside of a blind bend.
A Le Mans race is difficult to describe but memories include being woken up by a spinning Vette just before Arnarge, one of the pit crews changing a gearbox in 7 minutes and some fantastic driving by one of the Porsches towards the end. He finished minus both windscreens. The event hold to much and it takes a full race report to understand. Sometimes, three weeks later you can find out about a piece of driving brilliance that you didn’t even know was happening at the event. For example, in 1999 when the Mercedes flipped at 190 miles an hour, we didn’t even find out till we were leaving the circuit the following day. By 1Pm on Sunday we are itching to get in the Elise again. Once the race is over we steam back to the car for the run back to the Chateau. We repeat the same road and it is once again amazing. We really fly through the windy hilly section. I feel like the guy in the opening credits of the Italian Job. Its motoring heaven. Late afternoon seems to consist of long empty corners and the car screaming in third.
Then we have our ‘moment’. The scary one. I am on a straight main road following a brit Calibra who is following another car. Ben says he thinks the road is clear and I pull out. It looks ok so I floor it. Then as soon as I do a lorry comes out of a hidden dip. [Censored] . I keep the foot planted and squeeze in front of the Calibra. The truck rushes past and I come straight out again by the next car. It looks perfectly timed but was anything but.
We finally come up the drive in the early evening looking sun burnt and happy. My parents friends are already back in their Focus with trailer. We just sit through dinner with stupid grins on our faces. There is too much to tell and no petrol heads to tell it to.
Our ferry leaves on Monday so during the afternoon we decide to go for a last French blast. I let Ben drive the car for the first time and he is also instantly comfortable driving it quickly. Neither of us can get enough. About mid afternoon I create what probably becomes a local legend. We are behind 5 French youngsters in another car. All of whom (including the driver) are desperate to get a look at the car behind. Finally we get a small straight and I rocket past them. They wave and cheer. We feel that one day they will tell their grandkids about that strange purple car.
Our weekend epic ends with a last run to Cherbourg ferry, which ends in disaster when P&O claim no details of the car are on their computer and don’t let us on. Fortunately we jump ship (literally) and manage to be the last car on the Brittany boat next door. On the ramp at the back of the ferry is ourselves an Esprit V8 and a Ginetta. Chatting to the Esprit boys it turns out they have seen 185mph outside Bordeaux heading back towards Le Mans. Bloody Hell!
That sums up the weekend. Great cars, great racing, high speeds and very wide smiles.
Roll on next year!
