'66 Lotus Élan (spirited self confidence; verve; dash) Holtville Aerodrome International Raceway, 1973. This photo was taken by a member of the sponsoring club. It appeared on a plaque, along with a brass plate engraved with event, class, and place (first!) information, as a trophy. Sister Sandy, who actually owned the car, earned a plaque, too.

Sweet, sweet vehicle. If it looks a little familiar, you may understand why when you learn the Mazda folks bought the best one they could find, took it apart to the last nut and bolt, and made its modern counterpart, the MX-5 Miata.

In this one I ran second to a cheater Porsche 911 on Saturday and second to a cheater Élan on Sunday, in the State Autocross Championships at Santa Maria, in 1971 or 1972

One of those years along there, Sandy and I each won the San Diego Showroom Stock class championship in that car, beating the Corvettes and 911s by consistently being the fastest entry on street tires. See an 8mm movie of us in action at a 1972 slalom ("autocross" to you whipper-snappers). My laps begin at about 00:56, Sandy's at 02:50.

More Lotus Elan stuff: 
a 1964 Mechanix Illustrated road test by Tom McCahill (Old Paper Page 5)
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