50/0763

[aussieelan]

Next weekend at the Annual All British Day will be my Plus 2's first public appearance for almost 10 years, and its first in my ownership. This weekend it got a polish, a detail and a few happy snaps.

Wont be any concourse awards this year, but it came up OK.

[oldokie]

Beautiful car!

[gordonlund]

That's a nice car. A very early 67/68 car I see. Did the wheels come with the car or did you fit them? Non std but they look good. What make are they?

Please give more details. I am always interested to see the older +2's. My car is 50/1007. A friend of mine in England has 50/0007.

Best Regards

Gordon
Club Lotus North West
England

[aussieelan]

Thanks Gordon and Gene,

I was reasonably happy with the way it polished up ... probably its first paint rejuvination in a long long time.

The wheels are 14" x 6" 3 piece composite Simmons, all alloy, made in Australia. They are quite rare with (apparently) a very small batch produced in the early 70's to suit Lotus knock on hubs. The spinners are also unusual being lightweight aluminium (I assume). They came with the vehicle.

0763 left the factory on 4th July 1968, and was sold through a UK dealer. Its trip downunder is currently undocumented (if anyone reading this knows more please contact me). I have the history from the mid 80's.

During the last 20 years it has had a couple of different owners who have all done pieces of the restoration. It parted company with its original engine at some stage and currently has a 1700cc 711M with a big valve weber head and an Isuzu 5 speed (original 4 speed in the shed). Not sure on the original colour (not recorded by Lotus), but it does look nice with the "green and gold".

There are a number of early Plus 2's around Oz. 50/100 is in Adelaide (forum member), and another local club member currently has 0026 for sale in Sydney. Next weekend there will be atleast 2 early ones (mine and Stuart+2) on show ... I will post some piccies after the event.

Andrew

[john.p.clegg]

Andrew/Gordon

That shine puts mine to shame....I have 50/0813 or 50/0819 the DVLA can't make their mind up.
As someone once remarked "looks fast standing still".

John

[bengalcharlie]

Hi Andrew,

Very nice car! You mentioned the installation of a isuzu gearbox. Is that an improvement over the original 4 speed???
Being japanese it probably is.
Cheers
Robin

69-70 elan plus two

[aussieelan]

Hi Robin,

Thanks for your comments. The addition of a fifth gear is a definite bonus for the open road and the unit itself is probably a better option than the "factory" 5 speed.

A quick search of the forums brings up lots of discussion on the pro's and con's of the Isuzu conversion v's other options. I am happy with it.

Andrew

[rdssdi]

As received from shop. No mirrors yet.

What Is that the original color and if it is original what is it called?

I picked a BRG color for my +2 and it was not the color I expected. I always thought the shop used the wrong code. My car appears to the same color as yours. I will post a picture.

Bob

[aussieelan]

Hi Guys,

It's been a while since I popped into these forums.

Thanks for the comment on my old Plus 2 .. looking at the piccies for the first time in a while makes me smile. Unfortunately, I parted company with this one a couple of years ago. After seeing the results of an accident in a friends Plus 2 .. and given that I was driving my family around in mine ... I purchased something a bit more modern (and a bit safer) .. RS Megane.

However, I have recently got back into the Lotus fold and have purchased an Exige .. which is awesome!

The web page for 0763 is still up and contains all the history of the car http://elanplus2.webs.com/

Current whereabouts of 0763 is unknown .. if you know, let me know

Andrew

[jhonnyrockets]

Hi,
Can you please tell me about the tires. Or can anybody for that matter help me with tires? I have standard Lotus Alloys for my Plus two and I wanted to get some serious rubber like you have on there. Choices are slim over here across the pond. The only Tire really available thy seems to suit my needson that is available in this country that wouldn't break my bank, is the Toyo r888 s . I'm looking at 185/60/13 . I read that they are 7.4 inches tread. Does anyone know if it will fit on a 5.5 standard plus two alloy, and will it foul the wheel arches? I'm looking for a 185/60/13 and it's pretty much the only Tire I found. Much cheaper is a Federal 595, but their 185, measure 8 inches across ! I don't think that will fit under the wheel arches or will it.? Does anyone know what the max width you can fit under there? I plan on putting the narrower adjustable coil overs so as not to foul the inside rears..

[billwill]

It wou;d have been best to start your own topic for this message.


However I suspect that you also need to say exactly which version of the Plus 2.

Personally I doubt if 185 tyres will fit.

On a 2-seater S3 Elan even 155 tyres will rub on the wheel arches unless they are widened a little like on the S4.


<later>

Oh I see that you did have a separate topic.
lotus-suspension-f42/plus-two-rubber-t37395.html