The Black Wolf

Family Forces Sale

June 2013. That's when I sold my Series 1 Lotus Elise - ‘Family Forces Sale’ the advert read. The replacement family wagon?  An E46 M3. A legend on paper but I never really gelled with it; not special enough to sit in, the controls were too heavy, no real personality. 

Having ultimately replaced the M3 with a proper workhorse, in 2019 the opportunity presented itself to buy another Elise (under the guise of a prime man-maths equation) and this time I had no intention of letting it go. I wanted a Series 2 for the more modern looks and the benefit of a bit of development to iron out (some) of the niggles from the previous model. The budget would only stretch to an early Rover-engined model rather than the later Toyota but I was fine with that having had one previously. 

The Search

Slightly keen, the search started a year early to judge the state of the market. I spotted a black S2 111S with gold wheels which had been fitted with the fabled Turbo Technics supercharger conversion shortly after leaving the factory. “The perfect car.” I thought, and swiftly scrolled on. 

A year later the search was in full flow, and seemingly endless scouring of the classifieds to find the ‘forever car’. Then came the Excalibur moment. That black S2 with the gold wheels and fabled Turbo Technics supercharger conversion. Slightly over budget but I had to see it. 

With hindsight, the test drive and negotiations were a mere formality. My mind was made up.

And I love it. It’s the antithesis of the M3. Every journey feels special, whether it’s a trip to the shops for milk or a trackday at Donnington. The tactile steering makes you feel part of the experience, those curvaceous front wings dip from view - echoing sportscars of a bygone era - particularly at night when the headlights (dimly) frame the vista ahead. Young children point as it passes. Every journey is an event, if you know what I mean.

What's in a Name?

I’ve always named my cars with the same formula; I learned to drive in Blue Thunder, my first car was Red Sonja. The M3 was the Dark Destroyer. For this Elise, the name was easy - the ‘Black Wolf’ fits perfectly. The supercharger whines and the exhaust howls. Like many things about this car, it feels like it was meant to be. 

Things have evolved over the years - a wheel colour change here, a front splitter there. It's let me down on occasion; a bout of sporadic 'cutting out' forcing a flatbed pick up on the M18 (traced to a faulty Multi-Functional Relay unit) and a fried alternator at Le Mans...another flatbed, disillusioned mechanics and ultimately, a EuroStar home for me and a 6-week holiday for the car awaiting a transporter!

But all this can be forgiven. For starters it’s a Lotus. A Lotus that’s over 20 years old no less….a car that’s made from window frames and bathtubs (aluminium extrusions and fibreglass). But above all it has something that modern cars lack. It has personality. 

And in the words of Jules Winnfield in Pulp Fiction, personality goes a long way.