Well, if he had listened to you, Alexander Graham Bell may never have invented the light bulb.
And Patrick did listen to you about changing his Trigo wheel color and he wasted all that time, effort and money and he still has a beige ERA with two roll bars.
I think it MIGHT give Allen's car an English Road Rallye look to it.
And Patrick did listen to you about changing his Trigo wheel color and he wasted all that time, effort and money and he still has a beige ERA with two roll bars.
I think it MIGHT give Allen's car an English Road Rallye look to it.
That's because Sheldon is henpecked-those foam bars will never come off.
And I told Edison when we were walking to school together to invent a flourescent light-NOT a stupid incandescent...
Allen has already achieved perfection (except for puking stub axles with a tiny motor) and CAN NOT tamper with the ill-advised cosmetic whims of others.
Especially yellow 540 Vette owners...
You guys miss the idea that the yellow stripe is a very Team Lotus trademark from Colin's creation.
That's what contributes to Allen's very 'vintage English' coupe.
Ever hear of Hirondel? An 'into the night, over the road' very early (and English) precursor to the Batmobile.
Allen has achieved that romantic look.
I think it might turn your cool vintage theme into some sort of historical nancy-boy look.
My masculinity took a hit on that one, but I'll defend the honor of all the "historical nancy-boy's" out there.
Allen's car has gone through a mechanical metamorphosis. And now he's thinking about changing the exterior. So, Allen has asked us for opinions, even from a "historical nancy-boy" like me.
I'm sure he hates my suggestion too, but I used to be a Sunbeam Tiger owner. And IIRC, the Sunbeam Tiger's factory HT was typically painted black no matter what the color. And I know a few Sunbeam Tiger race cars came with white hardtops.
- I like the nose stripe as it's very distinctive, but the yellow seems a bit much and does not quite fit with the overall look of the car. Keep the green but repaint the nose stripe white or silver (a nice combo on a BRG TR250 for example).
And while I'm on the topic of Sunbeam Tigers, an English sports car, here's a green one with a slightly different nose stripe in SILVER from Jay Leno's garage:
Happy to report that I received a replacement stub axle from Coventry West on Thursday of last week, bathed it in Gear Oil, and installed it that evening, and went for a test run. Car ran fine save for the fact that I still had the charging issue, but I threw it on the charger and with the new yellow-top, I figured I would be fine for the upcoming wedding on Saturday considering I was running around for a few days on the old battery with a faulty charging system. I did some preliminary trouble shooting Saturday morning per the ERA guide for the charging system to isolate the problem between the voltage regulator and the alternator, and found (at that time) that there was no change in the Ampmeter when I looped the power and field wires at the voltage regulator plug....hence leading me to believe that I had a alternator problem. BUT!!! yesterday, I began removing the wires from the back of the alternator to take it for testing and found that my field wire was broken off inside the connector on the alternator post....so a quick repair there, and I now have a working charging system!! Lots of lessons learned here over the past week, but with each day I drive the car, I just fall more deeply in love with it...
So on to the wedding day....the weather was beautiful, and the bride and groom had a wonderful time using the car and things went very well. The car drew quite a bit of attention and questions from the attendees, and kinda-sorta stole the show...lol. The groom txt'd me this morning saying again how appreciative he was and how he thought it was the hit of the wedding...the newly wed couple used the car as their mock "get away" car post ceremony, but returned with it to do a few more photos before then driving to the reception at a local Country Club. The car then sat outside the Country Club entrance the remainder of the evening and continued to draw conversation..photos, etc... It was a fun time, and I was happy to be a part of it considering the tribulations leading up to the event....
Bride and Groom getting ready to set off:
Cool photo set up by the Groom for the wedding photographer...this was taken on the Groom's cell phone...
I contacted Peter at ERA a week or so ago, figuring that they would have their usual presence at the Carlisle Kit & Import show, and asked if they would like ERA#2124 as part of their display. To my delight, he responded quite enthusiastically to the affirmative and we set up arrangements. I drove the car there late morning this past Friday as they were setting up, and left the car there over the weekend to Sunday Afternoon. As I purchased the car from the original owner, I had never personally met Peter or any of the other ERA crew, so it was nice to finally do that, and I experienced no permanent scarring…real nice guys. Here are some pics. There were 6 cars in the display this year, two slab-sides, ERA’s street 427, two 427 SC’s, and my FIA:
That's why you shouldn't change a thing Allen. The car's got so much character that it does ERA proud.
You didn't even have to buy food to get Peter to accept the car!
Cobra Make, Engine: ERA #795 427 S/C completed Jan. '14 - '68 FE 427 side oiler
Posts: 1,051
Not Ranked
Allen,
I was there all afternoon Saturday and looked your car over. So, since we all have opinions (unsolicited, I might add), mine is to leave it the way it is - it's beautiful.
Regards,
Kevin
__________________
"Anyone who drives faster than you is a maniac and anyone who drives slower than you is an idiot" - George Carlin
Cobra Make, Engine: ERA140, ERA 267, ERA GT2038, ERA FIA 2045, ERAGT2077 ERA2893000EXP
Posts: 1,117
Not Ranked
Allen:
Your daughters are as cute as buttons... Lord help you when the young men start knocking on your door.
It was good to have your car as part of the display. It is a great example of an indivdual ERA owner's effort to build a car to his own vision and yet be very true to the character of the original cars.
...and I would leave the yellow stripe just the way it is.
Jim
Last edited by Jim Holden; 05-22-2013 at 02:38 PM..