Honestly not sure what is next, car market being crazy and just not really having the urge to drive means I’ll sit it out for a few months and see where we are - cars are there for enjoyment, so not pressuring myself and half the fun is looking isn’t it?
You’ll be back …muhahahahah! I think we all go through phases, but I see a lot of folks rejoining our lot after years away where they’ve either not bothered with the car or they’ve sold up and come back. Some take 10 years or even more while kids grow up and situations change.
Anyway, done for now but thanks for a great read 
Cheers, chaps, I’m sure I’ll be back. Nothing quite like a Lotus, so I’m sure I’ll get the bug back
Hopefully they won’t all be £200k by that point based on current price rises 
Good work….I’ll miss being tagged on Instagram to post under the Exiges banner!
Keep posting on here 
I don’t know if the right thing for me to do is update this thread or start a new one but anyway…
As I posted in the wanted thread, I was fortunate enough to be offered this car by the guy who bought it from Paul. When that happened, the morning after I’d gone through the whole of this thread marvelling at the work being put in, I wasn’t going to let it get away. The deal was done very quickly (I bought unseen from the other end of the country 
) and I finally drove the car for the first time this afternoon, after it was delivered from Scotland before Christmas. Its bloody fantastic but the Larini clubsport that is currently on is way too loud. So I’ve ordered a 2bular with H1 chamber similar to the one I had in my previous S2 a decade ago. Hopefully it will be a lot quieter but still sound sporty… been told it should arrive by the end of next week(!!) If anyone is interested in a Larini clubsport that’s done less than 1000 miles then please let me know. (I’ve also got an older 2bular in the garage that I understand was on when Paul originally bought the car. It has twin tips and doesn’t have the H1 chamber and I want that as if/when it goes on track its likely to be at Snetterton or Bedford.)
Otherwise I’ve noticed that it isn’t easy to select 5th and 6th - not sure if the cables need adjusting or they are all like that and I just need to get used to the S2 again after the Evora 400 mechanism. And a piece of rubber trim came loose when I got out the car so I pushed that back on. Otherwise, what a thing. Loving the S3 steering wheel also.
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Excellent great to see her again, hope you have years of fun with her 
Re the cables, it might be worth checking if the cables are free on the floor. The cables have a tiny gap to get through due sheer panel that’s integrated into the floor, when the floor is put back it may have pinched a cable - worth a look
Small update. 2bular H1 fitted, turned up a few weeks after ordering so no complaints there. Sounds mega although was a little too loud for Bedford so I spent most of the day short shifting in the usual places. Add on silencer arrived last week although I’ve only got a couple of evenings at Snett booked currently and am hopeful it won’t be needed there as I was only 89db on the Bedford driveby. Snett has a 92 dB limit.
Drove it for the first time yesterday for a month. What a machine! Needs a wash though, Paul would be having kittens if I posted a pic of it currently! Brakes were very grumbly yesterday, I think its pad transfer from the trackday but the discs actually look like the same ratty ones that are in the pics on page 1! Think I need to get the wallet out. Would some Seriously Dave 308 alcons would be fit and forget? Any pad recommendations appreciated also. When I had my first S2 I was a fan of the standard pagid blacks that lotus used to fit with the big brake upgrade (RS14s I think?), so I will probably go with them unless any alternative suggestions? The car is still not going to be used as a track slag(!) but I am going to do a few…
Thanks for the update on a special car
I think pads are a personal preferenve TBH.
I like Federo DS1.11 personally. Had a few in my experience but these seem best to me
Not updated this thread for a while, but as I approach the end of the first year of ownership I thought I’d muse over a few things.
I’ve no regrets over buying this car. It’s a credit to Paul’s work in the restoration and I’m just doing my best to keep it there - unfortunately its currently away from me at Hangar 111 having some paint done after a self inflicted scrape, but the bodyshop said the current job is fantastic and they will match that standard. I had a scrape in my old Evora a few years ago that they fixed perfectly so I have my fingers crossed with confidence at least. Such is life, it will be fixed and its also being serviced, all fluids changed, new tyres (AO52s) and, most importantly, an incredibly loud and annoying rattle from the roof on the drivers side resolved (hopefully - I suspect applying a shed load of grease will help!). After doing another evening at Snetterton over the summer on the hottest day of 2022, I thoroughly baked the tyres and have decided a coolant change was required after I saw 106 degrees on the in car Thermostat that day! I have a second set of wheels which will have some Avon ZZRs fitted to them before the next trackday.
I see elsewhere threads about S2 exige prices. I can’t keep away from them but they do my head in. These cars should be driven, not shut in a garage as an ‘investment’ - and let’s face it, as a car its a depreciating asset in most circumstances so you might as well drive and enjoy rather than worrying about values. In current times with inflation at 10%+, even if you break even on a sale you would still have lost thousands of pounds of real value… Anyway, I’ve done close to the 2,000 mile insurance limit this year, some on track, some on the road and every one has been mega. I can’t see myself selling it, though I guess there’s always something over the horizon, but I’m going to add a Cayman GT4 as a daily driver in the next few months and I think that’s going to be a pretty epic combination. For what it’s worth, having had a V6 exige previously, the S2 is a better thing to drive, better balanced and more communicative and a heck of a lot cheaper to run - not being as outright fast in a straight line is a small price to pay. The brake discs that Paul described as ‘ratty’ way back at the start of this thread aren’t even lipped and the pads are about half worn; so my plans for a set of Alcons have gone on hold for another year.
The plan for next year is… another 5 trackdays, as many road miles as I can find the time to squeeze in and just continue to enjoy the car in the way that the maker intended.
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Awesome update. Fully subscribe to your preference to drive not garage the car
Amen.
Nice to meet you at Silverstone, please keep us updated with the H111 progress over the Winter and hopefully I’ll see you at a trackday next year.
Great update. Very jealous of the Cayman GT4
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Darth is back! It cost more money than I expected, although two sets of tyres, servicing, mot, new battery etc also contributed significantly to the cost but it looks a1 again. Oh and anyone with a cup carbon fibre splitter, you really dont want to damage it. Reverie are sorting mine but the cost is absolutely mental. Ive put the spare elise shop one on for the time being. Anyway I’m back in love and all thoughts of V6s have gone.
Put some Yoko v105s on the unobtainium cup wheels, and some ao52s will go on my second set of wheels shortly. Cup wheels will be saved for road use now. Might try out the 2bular add on can at bedford in the next couple of months, it needs to reduce noise by 2db…
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Looking great 
I dread to think how I would cope with a carbon splitter. I cracked my big standard grp one within a few days of ownership 
How unobtainable are the cup wheels? They’re favourites of mine, but I’m not aware of how rare or limited they were.
@Elise_Mark I dont think anyone is making the cup wheels any more, so they are basically impossible to get hold of unless someone is selling an existing set. I was told yesterday the forged elise cup 250 wheels are going the same way.
Great recovery, car looks amazing.
Plywood is where it’s at for splitters.
Cheers!
Dont think anyone makes a cup 260 shaped plywood splitter!
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Did someone hear a gap in the market open just then?