The ELISE is sold! A Sad and Happy day for me.

So, as you may know I sold the Elise to a fella in Wisconsin. We spent a lot of time chatting on the phone about cars and we are very like minded people. I am confident that the Elise is in good hands and will be enjoyed for years to come. He plans on taking it to Road America once the snow clears up, and I am happy that the car wont just sit in someones garage not getting driven properly.

I don't feel like I went above and beyond, considering the guy bought the car from me, close to my asking price without ever having seen anything expect 30 or so pictures of it. But he was so excited about our interaction he wrote me this very nice email;

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The car arrived late Saturday (after dark) and it looks great. My son, Robert, came home from college for the weekend just for the occasion.

We still have a ton of snow here, but a stretch of warmer weather melted most all the snow from the roads. We just couldn’t resist, so we went for a short drive as soon as the truck pulled away. WOW!!! Was that fun. We both got behind the wheel, and I even got it on the second cam for a short stretch. The next day we got 5 inches of new snow.

The car is exactly as you described, and I couldn’t have asked for a better seller. Thank you for all of your candor and patience.

I’ll forward photos and updates as they become available. Your car has made us very happy. (The previous sentence was a vast understatement.) I hope you don’t mind me sharing some kind words about you on the Lotus Forum.
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Basically the guy is what my dad would call a "Mensh". Real great to deal with, totally on top of things, flexible when it came to payment. Just a great experience. But now that the Burgundy baby is gone I have some figuring to do. Buy a 2007 Exige S? (If I can find one in my comfort price zone) Buy a full race car? Do something I have always wanted to do, and buy an 1988-1991 e30 M3 replace the motor, and completely convert it to a fully prepped track car? buy an 01 or 02 BMW ///M Coupe and strip the interior, upgrade the suspension, add a roll bar and harnesses, a new seat, replace the steering wheel and have one of the fastest hatchbacks on the planet? Too many choices, too many choices.

I have been saying I am selling the Elise because I want an Exige S, and that's the truth. An Exige S is damn close to the pinnacle of a sports car. I am certain nothing feels quite as connected and fun as one (even though many cars are faster). It is fast enough though to feed that need I have to not deal with being passed all the time on the track. I dont mind people passing me perse, what I do mind is people holding me up in every turn, and then punching their 405HP Corvette's down the straight keeping me from passing them just to be holding me up again at turn 2. The Exige S with a tune pushing 250HP or so (and weighing 2150pounds wet with driver) I hope would be a VERY fast car around a track. It might not have EXPLOSIVE acceleration like a Z06 or a GT3, ubut it has SOOO much handling capability that you should be able to maintain so much speed through the turns that you can get to the end of a straight at a higher speed than an even faster car who has to come onto the front straight at a much slower speed.

So decisions to be made, but in the interum I am shopping for a daily driver, than a house, than a track car!