As you can see i have been a member of exiges for along time now and have watched and read on with great interest, some of the projects and things you all get up to are really inspiring.
I have always loved lotus since i first saw the mk1 Elise. while all my friends had Ferraris and lambo posters on there walls i was the odd one with an s1 Exige.
Finally at the age of 21 i got my first lotus. A very rare coloured s2 Exige
I loved this car but i don’t think my inexperience and the green was very lucky for me as i ended up in few mishaps.
I tried very hard to find another car that could fill the gap that the lotus once filled. Alas there is no substitute for theses great machines so i went down to Christopher Neils and give them the specs of car i want and after 6 months i got a call out of the blue.
This one is here to stay.
You have all been very welcoming and accommodating to me when ever i have met you on trackdays and meets so i would like to thank you all as you have made the experience of owning a lotus more special.
Anyway the real reason i started this subject is because i am part owner of furniture manufacturing company called http://www.newenglanddesign.co.uk we have been going for over 30 years custom making sofas and other furniture to any specs, size or materials.
Coach work has been something we have done on request but never advertised.
So on a visit to a friend dealing in lotus parts i noticed he had just had some Elise 111s seat re-upholstered and was not happy with the finish. i had never considered mixing my work with my hobby but asked if he had a spare pare of seat i could have to see if it was possible to do a better job.
These are the seats i ended up with.
The leather was corse, hard and like cardboard.
When i removed the the old leather i noticed all the foam was shot so replaced all that with new reflex top spec foam. But when deciding on the materials to re-do the seat in. I wanted to do something different then just plain colours and materials e.g. leather and suede with diamond stitch. Every recover i see these days has it whether its a lotus or a golf they all have this Bentley stitching.
So for one seat i decide on leather hide on the outer edges as its hard wearing and blue tartan made from 100% wool on the centre section. result is a look dating back to the early mk1 esprit interiors.
For the drivers seat i wanted to show that there is other options out there instead of suede so i picked this dimpled pattern that i think gives a great effect and gives the look of modern automotive interiors.
With us being a furniture manufacture we can give massive scope to what can be done and the designs that can be had. we have over 10,000 fabrics you could choose from and 1000 different leathers. If the diamond stitch is your thing we have a rare twin needle machine to make proper Bentley stitch.
I reckon that if its a seat i have done before i could have it done within 5 working day.
This is all just an idea as i love doing everything lotus and jump at the chance to work on them.
I really welcome all your advice and even criticisms on this.
Although not quite my taste either of the above it’s great to know an Exiger can offer such a valuable service, good stuff. I hope you get some good business out of us. Next time I whip out the dash I’ll be giving you shout
Nice cars. Where are the splitter and sill extensions from?
Been really interested in your car jonny as im an NA lover.
the splitter and sills was all made by myself. I have pattens for them at home if you want a copy. Keep thinking to make a load but im never sure on the amount of interest.
Although the engine, interior and front are all good, I need to redo the rear wing pylons and repaint the car not black after another good sand down. Had it weighed at Track-Club yesterday 815kg half tank, not what I was hoping for but room for improvement I’ll be in touch if that’s ok over winter regards those sill extensions. Good luck
Interested in the sill extensions, but only if they are light, I have worked hard to remove weight from my lardy SC car and don’t really want to add any back
i used sign board material to make the sills and splitter. it is made of aluminum and polyethe. its very light and strong. they have been on the car for nearly 2 years now and haven’t had any issues. i can take them off and get them copied if you like. have to price it up but it will only be a fraction of the others you see on the market.
Seats look great, i have a single seat here from my 2-11 in black and yellow which i would like to have the yellow bit retrimmed in black leather or possibly some type of fabric if your interested?
some times its just as hard to change one or 2 panels as it is to recover the hole thing as you have to make the panels smaller to mask the original sowing holes. but i will be more than happy to do it. with it being a 211 seat, will that make it one of the probaxs with the harness holes?
I tend to keep one in the window when I’m out on the road. Last 3 lotus I haven’t bothered with a front plate at all and no problems. Tried the same on my Z4MC and got pulled over twice in as many weeks!!
