Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious

I first saw an original Lotus Elan from the back seat of a coach travelling through London on a school educational trip. I loved the neat little sports car. When I heard that Lotus were planning to create a new version I put down a deposit immediately with Mann Egerton of St Ives before any specifications were known. I was entertained at the Motor Show launch and took delivery of one of the first M100 Elans, a turbocharged SE. It was Pacific Blue and had the opera glass headlamps. They were troublesome and I had issues with the exhaust manifold so when the Norfolk Mustard colour became available I swapped it. I drove the car for 117,000 miles and loved it. At the time it was considered to be the quickest car cross-country available. However the M100 was not well-received by purists as it was front-wheel drive and the styling was described as 'portly'.

MrQ has been sorting through junk in our former potting shed and found the 'diamond' in my pic. I don't remember it but it's obviously mine. I've photographed the paperweight on a pic of me driving my Lotus on the track at Goodwood.