A posting on the Lotus List on the generosity of an enthusiast willing to
lend his Mazda sports car to a compete stranger reminded me of Mike Ostrov's
own gesture, when I had the pleasure of meeting him in 1996.
After the Monterey Historics in that year, a group of us from the Manila
Sports Car Club visited Mike, who had agreed to meet us at his workshop past
Berkeley. Mike is of course well known (even in far flung places such as
Manila) for his Lotus Elites.
Now the Elite is, in my opinion, the loveliest Lotus road car ever, and I
would dearly love to own one. However, I had never drven one or even been
inside one. Mike did not mind the invasion from Manila at all and showed us
his shop in great detail - particularly progress on his then favorite
project - the Elan-chassised Elite! Then he had us push two Elites out -
including one which must be the most original in the world, down to the
carpets - and an original Seven, and coaxed us to get in and drive them,
even lending us caps and gloves for the open Seven. We drove for more an
hour in the lovely mountain roads around the reservoir, swapping places and
cars. That was my first time to drive an original Seven as well, and I was
very, very impressed and ... confused! If I should save the sheik's
daughter from drowning, and he asked me what I wanted, do I say "Elite" or
"Seven"?
We were total strangers to Mike, but he gave us the opportunity to drive
these wonderful cars in such a lovely environment. I have not had a chance
to see Mike again, and if anyone out there knows him, please let him know
that we really appreciated the experience.
Regards to all,
Andres
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