Hello from Hartlepool

[Karl]

Evening everyone. My name is Karl, and I am the owner of a UK based Elgrand owners club, ElgrandOC.uk. Some of us were having a discussion about the Largo, and I thought I would go out there and educate myself a little on them.

As you might have guessed, I don't own a Largo, but I own a '98 Elgrand 3.2 QD32. I have only ever seen ONE Largo on the roads, and it's another one local to myself in Hartlepool. I met the owners son (if memory serves me right), he worked in a local tyre shop that I'd gone into. I've never actually had a chat with the owner and to be honest, I have to hold my hands up and claim ignorance on a massive level when it comes to the Largo.

So, seeing as the Elgrand and the Largo are sort of related, I thought it might be wise to for me to get clued up and maybe, if at all possible, look to arrange some Largo/Elgrand meets.

Anyway, here is my Elgrand. She has been dubbed "project marmite" seeing as most people either love it or hate it, but it's certainly different. Looking forward to getting to know some of you.

[jimmyrev3]

Hello karl and welcome,nice bus on inside not sure on outside lol

[Karl]

A lot of people say that when they see the pics. But most of them decide they like it when they actually see it. The stickers don't look great in pics, and the wheels are not done justice, the paint looks liquid and there is a beautiful metal flake in there too that is really set off in the sun.

But as I said, each to their own, it's called marmite for a reason. I like it, and that's what counts

[charliepie]

Hi Karl, nice pictures and certainly one of a kind! I was thinking of "upgrading" to an Elgrand one day preferably a five door model but am reasonably happy with my largo which I've had for 5 1/2 years. I love your drop down screen - have you got something taped on it like a screen guard? My one is going a bit funny(probably a loose connection) so might have to get another soon but don't want to spend too much. Is yours a 15 inch screen as it looks massive! Perhaps a beige coloured one would have blended in more, I've got black too and will go for beige next time:-)

[Subsoil]

Interesting Van you have welcome

[Cueball]

Nice looking van
Went for a meet in Blackpool once with Elgrand, Lucida and of course Largo owners.

[Karl]

@charliepie - If you want to go for a "5 door", you'll need to get an E51 ('02-'10) rather than the E50 like I have. The E50 only has one sliding door, whereas the E51 has twin rear sliding doors (plus front, plus tailgate makes 5).
Yes, it is one of a kind. The stickers were added because she was in a pretty poor state when I got her. Knocks, dents, scratches and rust bubbles galore! Rather than payout for a respray on a 16 year old van, I opted for the much cheaper stickerbomb option It certainly turns heads, but not sure whether that's a "wow, look at that" or an "oh dear, what the hell has he done!?" kind of look. Kids seem to love it though, doing the school run is always fun!
There is no screen protector on there. I took that when I first installed it and removed that plastic sheet after the photo. Yes it's a 15" HD Eonon screen. No DVD player built in, it's hooked up directly to the head unit. I didn't want the kids arguing over what was going on, so I have full control over what get's played and they can't argue!

I didn't see a beige coloured one when I was looking, but I have seen some installed. It looks like the colour has tried to be matched, and done badly, so IMHO looks worse than going for black. At least it doesn't look like I've tried to blend it in! I could always wrap it with stickers as I have with the dash...

And thank you for the welcome guys. Looking forward to learning a bit more about the Elgrand's little brother.

[charliepie]

I have seen a nice E51 parked around my way sometimes, looks great in black(very hitech looking dash too) - I'll try to snap a pic next time I see it:-) Fair point about the colour matching as it's never going to be perfect but I think my black one looks odd so the beige should blend in better...I'll probably hate it as soon as I put it up lol.

[Karl]

Where is "round your way"? I might know who owns it

The interior of the E51 is so much better than the E50, but a lot of the Elgrand owners prefer the front end of the E50. There has been a lot of discussion about putting a 51 interior into a 50, but for the effort involved, just not worth it!

[charliepie]

Edinburgh