Posts Tagged ‘english’

Exclusive, Live from the Streets: 1970 Lotus Elan Plus 2

February 8, 2012

On my walk between the cheap Chinatown parking under the 880 overpass and my office, there’s a Salvation Army lot where they sell donated cars. Mostly these are rather mundane sets of wheels such as clapped out Daewoo Leganzas and Mercury Sables – the most interesting thing before this car was a Miata missing substantial chunks of its dash that probably would have made (or was the parts car for) a great LeMons racer. But walking by the lot a few weeks ago, I saw an unusual looking shape in the lot. That was a Beetle, but two cars up from it was this:

1970 Lotus Elan Plus 2 front

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Cheap Auntie – 1957 Rover P4 90

April 21, 2011

Not only is this the oldest car featured here, I believe, but it is also arguably the most elegant. Featuring a beautiful chrome waterfall grill, all-wood dash, and leather interior, it’s quite a luxurious vehicle that has some of the features people most strongly associate with British luxury sedans. No doubt it also smells like a 50-year-old British car: oil, fuel, leather, and who knows what other chemicals.

This particular car appears to be a top of the line model originally sold in New Zealand, judging by the front plate. The 2.6-liter six-cylinder engine puts out 90hp and pulls the car to a top speed of around 90mph. Even better, 0-60 took an epic 19 seconds. What the heck was that car geared for? Any modern 90-hp car will better that – I’d even wager my 83hp Lancia Beta is quicker. Back to the car, it’s also finished in an elegant silver/black two-tone paint job. You can find it for $2900 in Monterey, CA.

1957 Rover P4 90 front left

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Weird cars come in twos – 1980 Rover SD1 3500 V8

December 16, 2009

Funny how this happens – two Renault LeCars popped up within a short time of each other (in fact, they both might be for sale at the same time since Black Beauty failed to sell), and here we have a second Rover SD1 in the Pacific Northwest. It seems only about 800 of these cars were sold in 1980 through Jaguar dealers – copy from the original press release is available thanks to the Netherlands-based Rover SD1 site. So having covered two out of those 800, I’m sure we’ve seen a significant percentage of the surviving population.

This car looks a lot cleaner than our last subject, although it’s quite possible it’s been subjected to a “craigslist detailing” – hose the car down with water to give it the new car shine it lost 5 years after its manufacture. That said, this color will look better than red when oxidized. The body also looks pretty clean, although the seller has neglected to include a shot of the driver’s/left side. Find it on craigslist in Port Orchard, WA (near Seattle) for the more reasonable price of $950.

1980 Rover SD1 3500 V8 right

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