My first encounter with an Elise was 1996 in the Co-op car park in Werrington, Peterborough. Living in the flatlands I'd only ever seen a handful of sports cars outside of the relatively commonplace 911s. Cue a slack-jawed 17 year old, stood in disbelief at this amethyst wonder before him. It looked like nothing I'd ever seen. 'How the hell did they fit the engine in that? My god, it's at the back. How bizarre!?' As I said, Peterborough wasn't exactly a sports car hotspot. The seed had been planted.

Forward to 2004 and I'd been piloting a Eunos Roadster for two and half years, taking part in lots of Surrey Runs and organised hoons. At the time, aged 22, the gloriously chuckable MX-5 was the most engaging car I could afford to insure, though I dreamed of the day I could call a Griffith my own.

Frequent outings in the company of assorted TVRs, Porkers and Ultimas was serving as a fine apprenticeship in the trade of rear wheel drive and as capable as the car was I pined for something more in line with the company I was keeping.

At the time, though I appreciated the delightful handling of the little Mazda, I was consumed with the idea of a hairy-chested, man's car. I'd been smitten with the Griffith since I first heard one roar past from the rear seat of my parents' Cavalier, as an impressionable young lad in 1990. I only caught a fleeting glimpse of that curvaceous rump as it disappeared off to 'headbutt the horizon' but it was enough to develop an obsession.

September 2004 saw a spur-of-the-moment trip in the Eunos to Monza and the Italian Grand Prix. On the way back we took a detour east to tackle the Stelvio Pass in the Italian Dolomites. When we arrived I was glad to find that the huge detour had been worth it, with a ladder of beautifully smooth tarmac snaking its way up to the summit at 9,000ft. What I wasn't expecting was to pass 130+ Elises coming down the mountain in the opposite direction. Unbeknownst to me, the Stelvio Pass was the site of the original shakedown tests for the Elise and on the 13th of September each year Lotus owners from all over Europe converge on the Pass. Memories of that first Lotus experience came flooding back as once again I stood in awe, captivated by the sight of so many of the curvy little go-karts tearing down the mountain side.

With another six months to go before I had paid off the finance on the MX-5 and the Griffith dream could be realised, I was growing impatient. Bored one weekend, I convinced a friend that we should head off on a blagging session at the local Lotus dealership (thinking that I'd be shooed off of a TVR forecourt) and we made our way to Bell & Colvill in Surrey.

20 minutes later and I'm buckling myself into a stock S2 for a test drive, my cohort in the passenger seat. The front end felt light and the brakes were less than inspiring. I loved the looks of the new model, but it fell short of expectations once I'd got behind the wheel. When the feedback hit the salesman's ears he changed tack. We got chatting about my Stelvio adventure and I could see in his demeanor that I'd been mentally upgraded from the casual 'poseur' category to the 'driver' one.

I was introduced to the Sport160, a trackday-oriented variant of the original S1 Elise. That was more like it: tight, quick and so communicative. Now I was in trouble. What started as a way to fill a Saturday afternoon had suddenly become a whole lot more expensive. I expressed my serious desire to own the car and then spent the journey home trying to convince my accomplice (and myself) that it was a perfectly justifiable purchase.

The decision was made for me when I had a phone call two days later to say the car had been sold. It was too late for me though, I'd been bitten with the bug. I visited dealerships all over the South of England, driving 14 examples over two weeks. It was quite amazing how differently each car behaved, but when I drove number 14 I knew instantly. A 111S in Nightfall Blue - I'll take it.

Two torturously long weeks later (with finance finally approved) I made the train journey to Essex to collect the car. Eight years after first seeing one I was now the owner of my very own Lotus Elise 111S. Driving it off the forecourt was a bizarre experience - surely it wasn't right that I was able to own such a fast car? The step up in performance from the Mazda was vast and I found myself regularly stabbing the accelerator to reassure myself that it really was as fast I thought it was.

The journey home threw up one more surprise. The Dartford Bridge was closed for maintenance and southbound traffic was directed through the tunnel instead. Windows down in anticipation... It may have looked like a racer, but it sounded like a Fiesta. I'd have to get that sorted. Little did I know at the time quite where that would lead, but more about that in future entries.

'Lots Of Trouble, Usually Serious'. How many times had people spouted that when they heard I was buying an Elise? I'd rubbished it off, having done my research on SELOC and PistonHeads. Time for a portion of humble pie on the second day of ownership though...