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About Brian Buckland...

Brian at the wheel of his first Lotus Elan in 1966

Brians interest in Lotus Cars, the Elan in particular, began in 1966 when he bought his first Elan a 1964 Series One in Medici blue. Just out of college with an engineering degree he could not afford to take it to the nearest Lotus specialist for service and / or repair. So armed with just a few basic tools, a workshop manual and a small but very friendly local garage owner, who helped when he got stuck, he began to journey along the long road learning about this magnificent car.

The initial interest  became a passion which 40 years has not come close to extinguishing and whilst he would say he is still learning , he believes today, not many people can match him for his Elan rebuilding / repair knowledge. The first chassis change was completed in 1980 and the first full rebuild 2 years later. It was at this time that Brian began making notes in his Lotus workshop manual to amplify what Lotus wrote. These notes were transferred after a few years to their own file which eventually formed the basis of his manual, The Rebuilding of a Lotus Elan.

Now that the book is finished Brian is beginning to work on Elans again doing what he loves most. The original few basic tools has grown to a full professional collection plus some special ones that he has detailed in his manual. He also runs an Elan technical help e mail service and replies to all parts of the world on a daily basis.      

Today he still runs a 1967 Elan fixed head coupe as a normal daily use car, driving it on average 20,000 miles a year. The car has completed 650,000 miles in his 32 year ownership of the car. No other person puts a spanner on it. Brian confesses that in the last year the car has been neglected as he struggled to finish the book, however the car never let him down. Replying recently in an interview by Classic and Sports Car magazine he said he would drive the Elan till he could not get in and out of it anymore. It would then be parked in the garage where he could just look at its timeless beauty.