Close Federal Chrome Orange Elise Encounter !!!!

7132 Views 103 Replies 33 Participants Last post by kestrel74, May 22, 2007

mikester

Discussion Starter · Jun 13, 2004 (Edited)

...of the first kind.

Today I was driving down the main road to my house when I saw a CO Elise coming the other direction. I U-turned as soon as I had a safe opportunity but it was too late, the guy driving it was already gone. Still I was excited, it was definitely a federal car and it looked really really good !

Then, about on hour ago I was driving back from the market, coming up another main road near my house (Jamboree for those who live in The OC), when I see the CO Elise AGAIN, out of the corner of my eye, in traffic at a light. I was already committed to turning left and the Elise was going straight, so I turned, did a quick u-turn and a left (thank goodness the lights were all in my favor for once

), chased the Elise down at a fairly high rate of speed, and managed to catch him. The car has Georgia distributor plates. BTW a note to CO purchasers - the bright color made tracking him very easy indeed. I could literally see the reflection of the car off the asphalt, underneath the higher vehicles that were between us !

So I followed the driver to his house, apologized for chasing him down and asked him what the story was. Turns out the very understanding and patient guy works for a testing firm, and they're evaluating the Elise for a magazine. The car had the LSS package, no luxury package. So it had the basic black interior. He let me sit in it, and it was SO COOL ! I've been in the Euro version cars, and in the prototypes at the LA show. But it was awesome to get another fix, while I wait.

The fellow said that the car was really, really good - I believe he said the car did a 13.5 second quarter mile, does that sound right ? He said of course it won't beat a Corvette in a straight line, but on the twisty bits....I know none of this is news to anyone, frankly I was so much in a daze I couldn't think of any real good questions and besides he probably couldn't really tell me too much anyway. One thing I remember him saying is that he's driven pretty much all of the newer sports cars and this one is about the best he's ever experienced !

Good thing I caught him today because he said the car's going back tomorrow (monday).

I tried to go back and snap some photos, but when I did he was gone, probably trying to get in as much fun driving with the Elise as possible. It was really cool to see it.

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Robert Puertas

· #2 · Jun 13, 2004

OK Mike, what did he look like and where was the house?
Just so I can call and harass somebody from AMCI...

Vantage

· #3 · Jun 13, 2004

Good find Mike. If that's the same guy my flat mate saw over a month ago...lucky bastard! He's had the car for too long.

Robert,
If you are going to take a look at the car, give me a call and I'll meet you there (if that's okay).

offroadr35

· #4 · Jun 13, 2004

so aside from visability, what did you think of the color? How did it look when you weren't expecting it? Man i wish you got some pictures

Robert Puertas

· #5 · Jun 13, 2004

There's a good chance that "going back" means it's going back to Newport European. Either that, or back to the magazine, but I'd bet it'll be at the dealer's on Monday.
I'll call tomorrow and let you know.

Z0650TH

· #6 · Jun 14, 2004

Now that is

Thanks for sharing.

mikester

Discussion Starter · #7 · Jun 14, 2004

Robert check your PM. I don't want to put his name/location out there.

Offoadr, I really really liked the look of the car in CO, much more than I thought I would. The test guy said he liked it too, also said the krypton green looked pretty cool in person.

The testing company he works for has had the car for one week - since last monday. I too wish I had been able to take pics, believe me !

OneFastLotus

· #8 · Jun 14, 2004

Cool, Im glad he likes it. I bet I'd like it too

Lotus F1

· #9 · Jun 14, 2004 (Edited)

OneFastMiata said:
Cool, Im glad he likes it. I bet I'd like it too

:

amcmahon

· #10 · Jun 14, 2004

mikestr, if it was indeed a fed car can you tell us if there were any interior differences from the Euro cars you sat in? Like someone mentioned the door sill is lower on the fed car for easier in/out access. Thanks for the post.

offroadr35

· #11 · Jun 14, 2004

amcmahon said:
mikestr, if it was indeed a fed car can you tell us if there were any interior differences from the Euro cars you sat in? Like someone mentioned the door sill is lower on the fed car for easier in/out access. Thanks for the post.

there are numerous interior differences. Try a search and you should be able to answer your own question

Patricko

· #12 · Jun 14, 2004

amcmahon said:
mikestr, if it was indeed a fed car can you tell us if there were any interior differences from the Euro cars you sat in? Like someone mentioned the door sill is lower on the fed car for easier in/out access. Thanks for the post.

They are not lower...have a look at this thread.

http://www.elisetalk.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=57423#post57423

mikester

Discussion Starter · #13 · Jun 14, 2004

Okay gang, I went back and he was there ! More importantly, so was the Elise. I took digital photos ! I tried to post them but the filesize is too big (around 600+ kB). What's the easiest way to get them into a manageable size ? Sorry but I just bought the camera and new to doing this (p.s. it's a Nikon Coolpix) - I will read the manual but figured somebody here would know immediately.

P.S. The sills are the same as prior S2s AFAIK. These are lower than the S1s. It is a full federal car, including the interior bits. The Momo wheel rocks, BTW. Oh and the tester guy repeated that the car was "awesome" !

offroadr35

· #14 · Jun 14, 2004

mikester said:
Okay gang, I went back and he was there ! More importantly, so was the Elise. I took digital photos ! I tried to post them but the filesize is too big (around 600+ kB). What's the easiest way to get them into a manageable size ? Sorry but I just bought the camera and new to doing this (p.s. it's a Nikon Coolpix) - I will read the manual but figured somebody here would know immediately.

P.S. The sills are the same as prior S2s AFAIK. These are lower than the S1s. It is a full federal car, including the interior bits. The Momo wheel rocks, BTW. Oh and the tester guy repeated that the car was "awesome" !

:bow: :clap:

HURRY!

You can host the hi-res versions here and then link them:

http://www.imageshack.us/

Vantage

· #15 · Jun 14, 2004

You can try the photopost but I can't find the upload button!
http://www.elisetalk.com/photopost

I usually use photoshop to size down my images. I'm sure there is an easier method.

Randy Chase

· #16 · Jun 14, 2004

It does not say UPLOAD PHOTOS in the upper right???

http://www.elisetalk.com/photopost/uploadphoto.php

Vantage

· #17 · Jun 14, 2004

No. I've been meaning to ask you this question for a while. In fact, when I click on your link, it tells me that I don't have permission to upload. It might be isolated to my account, but I don't know.

Randy Chase

· #18 · Jun 14, 2004

Shinoo mentioned it to me, but I just thought he was nuts.

Interesting. I will have to do some research why it thinks you are not logged in. Is there somewhere to log in on that page?

P.S. In the meantime, email me the pics two at a time.

[email protected]

Robert Puertas

· #19 · Jun 14, 2004

I can't post photos there either.
I was able to create my own album, but not add any photos to it.
That's helpful...

offroadr35

· #20 · Jun 14, 2004

FYI it works fine for me. Anyway, like i said you can just upload here

http://www.imageshack.us/

it's by far the easiest place and even gives you links in ubb code to copy and paste

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