Lotus Club Queensland
Dedicated to the promotion and enhancement of the Lotus experience
Login
Register
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Membership
    • Member Login
  • Events
    • Calendar
  • Motorsport
    • Lakeside DTC Timed Laps
    • LAKESIDE DTC RESULTS
  • Magazine
  • For Sale
    • Merchandise
    • Classifieds
  • Posts
  • Galleries
  • Directory
    • Suppliers & Parts
    • Advertisers
  • Archives
tony-galletly-with-car

The Plus 2 that was meant to be

Story and photos by Vyvyan Black.

Sometime last year I remember seeing an ad on CarSales.com for an Elan Plus 2. It happened to catch my eye because of the fact that the photo of the car’s engine showed a mass of aluminium where the carbs should be, emblazoned with bright red lettering that read: Lotus EFI by Racecraft. Huh?

Out of curiosity I actually enquired with Racecraft about the cost of EFI for my own Elan FHC (not a Plus 2), but the $10k price left me a little shocked to be honest. I’m getting better at judging the cost of decent performance upgrades and now I don’t even consider such extravagances!

At this point I should say that the reason I was looking at CarSales ads is that I was kind of, sort of, vaguely thinking about selling my own Elan. And though the Plus 2 with EFI piqued my interest, I didn’t follow-up because, well, because it was a Plus 2. And I wasn’t in the market for a Plus 2. It was a good price though.

In truth, I was in a bit of a bind … my car needed some money spent on it but I just didn’t want to go there. I would endure sleepless nights wondering how I could possibly fix everything I’d like to without spending any more cash.

Then I went overseas for 3 months.

That period of time away from your everyday surroundings tends to change your perspective somewhat. I made up my mind to sell my car when I got back. After all, it was a toy that I didn’t really, really absolutely have to have and I could put all the stress aside. About a week after I got back I thought I’d test the waters. Most people don’t sell their cars that quickly, there’ll be plenty of time to get used to the whole idea. I decided on a slightly weighted price and put it up on CarSales about 6pm on a Thursday night.

7am in the morning the phone was running hot. I ended up with two guys telling me that they’ll give me cash money at a price I was happy to get – no questions about the state of the car and no need for registration certificates etc. Next thing I know it was around noon on the Saturday that I sat looking at a vacant spot in my garage.

What have I done?! As Greg Bray said, “Hard to find, easy to lose.” I was disconsolate. Not only that, I hadn’t really thought about the things I need a car for. There was only one thing to do – find a replacement. But what?

An Elan like mine in much better condition was just too expensive and too hard to find at a price I could even consider going to. But other options were possible. Months went by as I looked at old Elises, Europas that needed work and Lotus 7 variants. What I really wanted was something that I could use on all kinds of Club events from long day runs through to race days. Most importantly, I’m a classic-not-plastic guy, it has to be a 1960s model or thereabouts. I put the word out and hoped.

At one point I drove the wife’s 2012 Mini Clubman at the Lakeside Timed Laps (DTC). That was fun. But even a mini towers over Lotuses and it looked wildly out of place.

Then, at a Club meeting I was talking to Craig Wilson who suggested a Plus 2.

“They’re a great car you know and much better priced than a normal Elan. Some people even say they are better to drive.”

Not long after our conversation Craig dropped over to pick up some Club flags and mentioned that there was a Plus 2 for sale that he knew was a good car, restored and sold by Tony Galletly some 16 years ago.

“I didn’t see it on CarSales,” I said, “Let’s look online now.”

We found it on Gumtree. I’ve never looked on Gumtree for cars, but there it was. The same one I’d seen with the EFI, but now in Perth. This car was bought from Tony by John Luckie and his partner on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. They had sold it to Mean Machines (a new classic car/restaurant concept) in Perth.

So now it’s mine. And I couldn’t be happier.

The car is wonderful to drive, it’s in great condition, everything works and I cannot enthuse more about it. But best of all it gives me everything I want at a price I can afford!

I’ve since done some more research on the Plus 2. See my story on our website here.

efi
front-view
in-qld-again
the-dash
tony-galletly-with-car
two-extra-seats

[Show slideshow]
Early Lucas Ignition Systems Plus Tune Round 8 – ICC Lakeside DTC

Related Posts

duratec-banner

Articles, Homepage, Technical

Duratec Elise – better late than never

plus2-banner

Articles, Gallery 2022, Homepage, Technical

Unique +2 Road Trip to Brisbane

helmet-banner

Articles, Homepage, Racing

$10 HEAD/$10 HELMET

Random images

IMG_0776 20160522_111018 Jason & Garry 7-Road-trip-to-Mt-Mee George-Rowes-Lotus11-3 Col-McKays-winning-Elan meeting-now-underway Peter-and-Elise Rob-and-Clive MG_9611 P6210137 IMG-1007 IMG_8739 IMG_4854 121_2196_IMG 121_2124_IMG IMG_6878 IMG_6742 IMG_6552 image_082 Aug_F02_2399a Joe Criss-Elise-at-lunch-in-Innisfail Robs-rover Photo-28-11-20-8-31-56-pm Kerrie-Guy-Stevens IMG_2467 Start Line Phil Mal Kelson 1997 Lotus Elise - 1 Lotus_Only_Track_Day_at_Mount_Panorama_Bathurst_Februar_2018-404 James 20131005_175419 elan-tas IMG-0167 Timers original-dodge-patina Steve, Scott and Adam Clive with Lachlan Aaron dtc-21 dtc-2 2006_08_27_Gympie_Skid_Pan0064 image_040 IMG_8510 Jan-main-27 Greg-and-John-deep-in-discussion Mitchell- Geoff-watching-his-fuel-disappear-into-Clives-car- main-2 main-1 img_1571 IMG_3343 IMG_0358 2006_08_27_Gympie_Skid_Pan0018 P1060097 F1000022 Goodwood_Carpark2 IMG_0234 David_in_the_mighty_Cooper Ploughman's Lunch Ploughman's Lunch IMG_8025 IMG_7485 11e 6_Drivers_being_briefed 03a 36_MG_2632 1_Gathering_before_the_drive DSC05019 P1060544 P1060529 Greg_Maggie_Graham_John Club_Lotus_Dec_08_024 P8310157 P8310150 IMGP7345 P5250044 P5250021 IMG_8066 0068 DSC_0230 Whats-in-the-box P1020911 Perplexed Dick How_green_is_the_Valley image1-1 _MG_9557 as Smart Object-1 oversize-valves Mt Mee alfa-ready-to-restore Studying-the-times Plus-2-interior Dick 20181111_144442 Golden-Grove-Estate_GW Lamborghini main-19 Race-prepped-Porsche-356 Shane with no hub caps clubman

Recent Articles

  • Morgan Park Sprints R4
  • Kev’s Big Day Out
  • Duratec Elise – better late than never
  • Gold Rush Hill Sprint – 2022
  • Marburg Pub Run – 4 Sept 2022
  • Unique +2 Road Trip to Brisbane
  • Leyburn 2022
  • August 2022 DTC

Latest Gallery Images

20220220_093834 20220220_093818 20220220_093827 20220220_093743 20220220_093812 20220220_093730

Search articles by category

Archived articles

Lotus Club Queensland
© Lotus Club Queensland   |   Site by Black Eye Studios