My First Elise Siting, in Jax, FL

[cbelcher]

Driving down I-95 in Jacksonville, FL and I saw my first Elise! It was Magnetic Blue and it was awesome! Every single car on the Interstate slowed to look at it. I drove behind it for 10 miles or so and I've never seen so many girls gawk at an automobile. Two girls actually drove next to the car ( I-95 south of Jax is 2 lanes) for about 10 min and back up traffic for about 1/2 mile. They didn't care they just wanted a ride in the Elise!

I have some pretty crappy pictures, it was hard to hold my heavy Canon 10D and drive at the same time.

It just makes me want mine even more. 42 in Jax.

Cheers
cb

[fredg]

cbelcher,

Do you think that Matheni received and delivered this car today? I should call them and ask if they got their demo so I can try to go drive it.

Fred

[darkSol]

Notice that the Elise is way up on the trailer and is STILL lower than the tow SUV's roofline? ;)

[fchap]

Also notice right below the roof line of the SUV the sticker that says "AUBURN". War Eagle!

Sorry, couldn't help it.

[irwin]

Was the car going North or South? Matheny said they havent gotten their demo in yet, and neither has Palm Beach, so the only other dealer in the area is Dimmit, unless they got the car at Prestige or the Collection, but they are about 300 miles away.

It cant be from LOA since they put a Bimmer store temp plate on the car that they just delivered.

Were you able to make out what county in Florida the plates on the Trailblazer were from?

[Thomas Praetzel]

Do the Viginia plates on the trailer indicate anything? My Elise will "theoretically" be here in two weeks. Kind of like the contractor who tells Tom Hanks in The Money Pit, "Two weeks, two weeks, what am I, a parrot?" You had to see the movie. Am still waiting for more info on the Stage 2 exhaust, it seems that it retains the original headers, in which case I doubt it could add 10 HP.

Aloha,
Thomas Praetzel
When it absolutely, positively, has to be there sometime in the next six to twelve months, give Lotus a call. Hell, the wait is half the fun. Can't wait for the second half!

[irwin]

No the VA plates mean nothing. You can go to any Uhaul place in the country and most of the time get a trailer or truck with plates from other states. Florida probably more so, since so many people rent them to bring cars down here for the winter.

The license plate on the Elise is a temporary one that FL puts on cars until the regular ones come in. They are good for a month, and this one expires on 8/15, so the person got the car on 7/15.

[cbelcher]

The trailer was heading south bound and had Orange county plates (Orlando area). I guess he was heading to I-4 then across to Orlando.

I was driving south to Daytona from Atlanta and saw the Elise from a 1/2 mile away. I originally thought I didn't like the blue but its finish was phenomenal. The color changed from every direction in the wonderful Florida sun, from deep purples to a fabulous sky blue.

I have about 10 other shots if anyone’s interested in seeing?

Can you guys (and gals) believe that their finally here?

Peace All
cb

[nxm150]

Yes, please post all your pics. Thanks!

[duetto]

Shortly after 8:00 am this morning, north of Baltimore I saw a blue (Magnetic I belive) Elise driving north on a secondary road (Beaver Dam) in Cockeysville MD. This road runs parallel the Rt 83 north of Baltimore and is in the vicinity of McCormick Spice Co. in basically an industrial park type area. Just got a glimpse as went by. Very nice. Also for some reason did not look as small as I would have expected.

Hopefully going for a test ride Thursday.

Saffaron Yellow w/Touring and LSS on order.

[nxm150]

Cool. My wife works at McCormick. I told her to be on the lookout for it.

[Steven]

I was the person towing the Elise. To clear things up, I picked it up from Matheny (BTW, Bill Barton is a great salesperson) and was driving it to Orlando. They do not have a demo yet b/c they ordered it with a sport package and no Elises with the sport pack have been delivered yet. The Elise is a lot of fun to drive and defitely turns heads. I was downtown with it the night I bought it and everyone was looking and asking questions. It drives like a go-kart and is most exciting on winding roads. Good luck getting your Elises, you will ejoy driving them. (Just beware of rain--the roof leaks terribly.)

[sophocle]

Thats not a 111R!!! I leave in Cyprus so we have the European 111Rs (no airbags) and I just saw a 111R. In the back is a Lotus Badge. The 111S has the word Lotus written. So unless the US version is different thats a 111S. I think the letters are 'cheap'. The badge is much better since the letters look like stickers up close. Of course, who will see that on the highway :D

[Miguel]

Originally posted by sophocle
Thats not a 111R!!! I leave in Cyprus so we have the European 111Rs (no airbags) and I just saw a 111R. In the back is a Lotus Badge. The 111S has the word Lotus written. So unless the US version is different thats a 111S. I think the letters are 'cheap'. The badge is much better since the letters look like stickers up close. Of course, who will see that on the highway :D

Nobody claimed it was a 111R. This is a US website, so they were talking about the Fed Elise (111R Federalized for US). And we get the lettering on the back (cheaply done as far as I gatter from other posters) instead of the badge.

So it's a Federalized 111R US Elise or S3 as some people used to call it too. But what's in a name, I just want my CAR!!!!.

[Kevin368]

Autostrada USA in Austin Texas has received their demo car. An ardent red hard top. The cars look even better than they do in the photos. I test drove the demo and it is phenomenal. It is different than anything else that I have ever driven before. The steering is so tight, and the car is so responsive it truly does have the go-cart feel. Wow, what a car!