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Post by Larry Madsen on Apr 3, 2023 11:08:48 GMT -5
Story from work for Mike. We have had a steady stream of very high-end cars on display at work for the past several months. We recently had a car come in and put on display in the esplanade between the two sides of our property. We have always had a Security Officer standing by with these cars 27/7. When this car came in they told us, "You won't need to do that with this car" My thoughts ... Right! Now keep in mind this esplanade has one of the highest rated night clubs in our city just about 80 feet down the way. So on day one we have some knuckle-head and his girl come walking down the esplanade. Step over to the car. The guy hops in the driver seat, cigar in hand. The girl get is the passenger seat, Chickentail in hand. They make a mess in the car. The girl runs off and the guy is held there. Needless to say, we have had a security officer posted there 24/7 ever since. This is the $2.7 million dollar Mclaren Elva "Gulf". mclaren by Larry Madsen, on Flickr This is not the exact car we have, ours is a pearly white and orange. I couldn't find a PIC of "our" actual car on the innerwebs. I stood the post for 2 hours yesterday. We just got in a (about half) scale version of a Bugatti valued at $180,000.00. Along with a scale version of a Ferrari valued at 150,000.00. Both I believe are fully functional cars. Edited to add: I just noticed after posting. The title did not revert to "Chickentails"
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Post by RufusTeleStrat on Apr 3, 2023 12:12:52 GMT -5
Are the scale versions kids cars?
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Post by Larry Madsen on Apr 3, 2023 12:26:33 GMT -5
Are the scale versions kids cars? Don't think I would call them (the Bugatti & Ferrari) "Kids Cars" per-say. But they are clear scaled down versions. I don't know what the power plant is in them. To your question though, I did have a man and his son stop and talk to me yesterday. He did question where he would go to talk about purchasing the Ferrari. Last Fall we had a McLaren displayed at our main entrance and someone did purchase that car right out of the Casino. The Mclaren "Elva" we have in the esplanade though is an actual roadster racecar. They produced an additional 12 cars of the "Gulf" design for sale to the public. The blue one pictured would be one of those. Those are 100% real cars. As I understand these are the lightest weight McLarens ever made. In the PIC it almost looks like some sort of toy car. Also: when I use the term "our" car ... My employer does not own the car(s). I just mean they are on our property and on display with our oversight.
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Post by Laker on Apr 4, 2023 9:55:05 GMT -5
I have a question about the “Elva” in this car’s name. Back in ‘63 or so my friend owned a car called an Elva Courier. It was similar to an MGB or Triumph Spitfire but, he told me, came from a racing lineage.
Is this Elva related to the Courier?
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Post by Larry Madsen on Apr 4, 2023 10:04:39 GMT -5
Is this Elva related to the Courier? That I do not know. Could be some nostalgic connection there with the name. They don't give us a lot if info on these cars when they come in. We do have opportunities to learn just by virtue of standing there for hours at a time. I'm sure some officers don't give a crap about the cars. For a car hobbyist like me, I find talking to people interesting. The thing is, we get people walking up that actually have involvement with some of these cars. Those people in particular can be very informative.
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Post by RufusTeleStrat on Apr 4, 2023 11:17:52 GMT -5
Fun facts from Wikipedia: The name Elva is derived from elle va, which means "she goes" in French. The car is named after the lightweight early open top race cars developed by Bruce McLaren. The M1A, M1B and M1C were produced between 1964 and 1967. Due to limited staff, production was outsourced to British automobile manufacturer Elva.
Elva Courier The main road car, introduced in 1958, was called the Courier and went through a series of developments throughout the existence of the company. Initially all the cars were exported, home market sales not starting until 1960
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