As some of you may know im also the proud owner of a 1983 Eclat Excel. Its 2.2 litre with Toyota running gear. I believe Lotus made 186 of this type. I wonder how many are still going ? Liz has nicknamed it Bob, which stands for big old beast. Any similarity in this name and the name of the previous owner is a pure coincidence Its also fantastic fun. It was first bought for £14000. It did 50000 miles up to the first MOT. It has now done about 87000, so it has done 37000 in the last 20 years. I have every MOT to prove it. The original 0 to 60 time was 7 secs with a top speed of 135 MPH. Ive been trying to find the original bhp figures but im unable to find the as yet. I think it was about 160 ish. At the recent rolling road day it gave out 144 bhp. It did blow a bit of crap out mind. I should imagine it had not been reved up to 6800 rpm very often though. Ive been know to drive my Elise the way it was meant to be driven The old beast is getting the respect it deserves in this department. Starting it is an art form as those of you old enough to remember cars with manual chokes will understand.