previous projects

I struggle with loving cars and hating to spend money.  It is always a tough balance.  My goals for each project are:

1)  Take a bold step difficulty:  Take on something that is a stretch so I can learn

2)  Spend a small enough amount of money that I can cut bait and throw the whole thing away.

3)  Have something that I am proud to own

4)  Have something unusual

My first project was a 1999 SVT mustang that I bought in 2004 after finishing school.  My plan was to put a supercharger on it.  I formed my goals while owning this car.  This checked box 3 and a little bit of 4, but it was too expensive for my inexperienced mitts to start breaking things off of it.  I changed the springs to lower it a little and improve the handling, but that was about it.

Next I bought a Lotus Europa.  All 4 goals were perfectly met with this car.  There are a few

Lotus cars that nobody cares about:  The Eclat, and the Elite II are at the top of that list, but they are so ugly that I didn't think I could keep my lunch down while working on them.  The next tier was the elan +2 and the Europa.  I always loved the Esprit, and the Europa was the model that preceded it.  I liked that it was mid engine, was inexpensive, yet unusual, with relatively inexpensive parts (Lotus twin cam engine was used in many cars over the years).  I looked at Ebay and saw lots of cheap parts.  I searched and found several companies that specialize in supplying Lotus parts.  My bold goal at the time was to rebuild an engine, So I set out looking for a twin cam Europa with a bad engine and a pretty good everything else.  Score.  Best project ever.  I still can't believe how much I learned for almost no money spent.

In fact, I lost more money on depreciation of the mustang than I have spent to date on the Europa, and The Europa is now worth twice what I paid for it.  When I sell it it will have been free fun for all these years.