Over the Labor Day weekend, a group of Lotus Elan owners celebrated 50 years in the USA during the Lime Rock Park Historic Festival. There were 10 Lotus Elans in attendance. Several of our members attended and actually had photos taken.
Congrats to Greg for wining 1st place in the concourse. The main picture features Greg’s Sprint, David Porter’s S4 and Phil’s Sprint. The secondary picture shows Greg’s winning car.
The Lotus Festival was held this year in Brands Hatch GP over the August 24th and 25th weekend. The Lotus Festival is a celebration of all things Lotus. From Formula 1 to those other Lotus vehicles. Of course, we think the Elan is the most amazing vehicle in attendance.
One of our members won 1st prize in the ‘show and shine’ competition with the white Elan S3 Coupe in the picture above. Great job.
The festival has been scheduled for August 16/17 in 2014. Get your car ready and have a great time.
This Lotus Elan 26R is going up for Auction on September 8th. ?The Auction information is located at RM Auctions. ?The auction is a no reserve auction.
The following write up and pictures are from the RM Auctions website. ?The photos are taken by?Neil Fraser. ?The write up and photos are copyrighted by RM Auctions.
160+ bhp, 1,558 cc DOHC four-cylinder engine with dual 40DCOE Weber carburettors, four-speed manual gearbox, independent front and rear suspension with sway bars, wishbones and adjustable coil-spring dampers and Chapman struts, and four-wheel hydraulic disc brakes. Wheelbase: 2,133 mm.
Lotus hit the big time in 1962 with the introduction of the Model 26 Elan; it was a tiny, lightweight road car that brought all of designer Colin Chapman?s racing lessons to the street, at last. The fibreglass, monocoque Elite Coup? of 1958 had been a successful race car, but it was harsh and uncompromising on the street. Car & Driver described the cockpit as being ?as noisy as the boiler room of a tramp steamer?.
By comparison, the Elan Roadster was small and solid. It was only 12-feet long and weighed only 1,485 pounds. The steel backbone frame was bonded to the fibreglass body, the suspension was soft and compliant, and it had disc brakes all round. The 1,558-cubic centimetre Ford twin-cam engine cranked out 115 brake horsepower in Special Equipment form, and 0?60 mph came up in 7.1 seconds, with a top speed of 120 mph. The Elan?s glamour was assured when the Emma Peel character (actress Diana Rigg) drove one in The Avengers spy-spoof TV series.
Chapman wasn?t interested in racing the Elan, as he was in pursuit of his first Formula One Championship with the Lotus 25. But privateers like Ian Walker and Chequered Flag modified the Elan?s steering and brakes, and soon Chapman uprated his own cars in the same manner. The little cars turned out to be giant killers, and Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart, and Sir John Whitmore were very successful racing them from 1963?1964. The Lotus Elan was homologated in 1964 as the 26R, and it continued to be competitive for about 10 years, with John Miles winning 15 races and the Autosport championship in 1966. An estimated 97 Elan 26Rs were built, and many of them still dominate vintage racing.
The car on offer is an important part of Lotus Elan history, as it is the last Series I 26R built, and it was used as a development mule for the Series II, which had wider rear wings and many period modifications. It was documented as being supplied to Lotus Developments, and it was driven by Ray Parsons from 1964?1965, with numerous photographs in existence. Gerry Morony worked for Lotus for several years at that time, and he has confirmed its history.
When the car was rebuilt in 1985, it was clear that it had been modified, as it was now fitted with a Borg-Warner gearbox, a Salisbury limited-slip differential, and even a differential oil cooler. The Elan was also fitted with a dry-sump engine, knock-off wheels, and covered headlights instead of the street car?s pop-up lights.
This competitive Elan is still registered in the UK, and it is accompanied by its original engine with the preferred BRM cylinder head, but it is currently powered by another engine with a Cosworth head, in which form it has been raced. Also included are six additional wheels, four of which are fitted with rain tyres. The present owner tested the car at Donington Park, ran the Tour Auto and the Le Mans Classic, and also raced it in the U.S., principally at the Sonoma Historic races. The Cosworth engine was recently rebuilt by Paul Hasselgren, in Berkeley, California, whilst any other necessary work has been attended to by Jim Groom.
The car has full FIA papers, and all of the appropriate taxes have been paid in the U.K. Its provenance is established, and a recent investigation has determined that Team Lotus also road-registered this car as HJH 171C. It was most likely used to promote the road car, though it must have been a startling performer to anybody that was used to a street Elan.
This Lotus Elan 26R was raced for 10 years, and some of that history remains to still be discovered. But enough news and photographs have surfaced to make this Elan a welcome addition to any starting grid for which it is qualified. As an eligible street car as well, it would also make for some hair-raising forays through the tight and twisty country roads.
For the non-Lotus fanatics, this picture might puzzle you. ?For Lotus fanatics, it is A Thing of Beauty. ?The backbone chassis. ?Lotus created the backbone chassis to use with the Lotus Elan and continued using it for 40 years. ?The picture to the right is the backbone chassis for a Lotus Turbo Esprit.
This one off model was built for one of our members as a gift. ?The model is built by hand out of brass.
It doesn’t have to. Come follow Vernon as he restores his 1966 Elan Coupe. And don’t worry, as you can tell from the image on the right, the Elan is looking much better.
A Lotus Elan can be taken from a collection of bits and pieces to what will be an amazing looking Elan. It takes a little time and patience. See what Vernon has done with his Elan.
Nico, who lives in Italy, is restoring his 1970 Lotus Elan Plus 2. His Plus 2 has an unique front upright bracing. There are also some good pictures of a body without any paint. It takes a lot of work to take an Elan body back to glassfibre.
Nico, keep up the good work. We are looking forward to seeing the final product.
Follow the restoration history of a 1973 +2S 130/5 JPS. The JPS cars were special edition Lotus Elan Plus 2s created the commemorate Lotus’ first 50 Grand Prix wins. At the time of the 50th win, John Player Special was the sponsor of the Lotus Grand Prix cars. The John Player Special used the famous black and gold paint scheme.
Innes has done a wonderful job working on restoring his JPS Plus 2. Come read about the work to date and give him a hearty congrats on a job well done.
It is time for road trips. The winter is behind us…..Well some of us are still getting snow, but it is time to plan and prepare for those wonderful road trips. Here are some pictures of David’s Elan on a road trip Wales and a visit to Elan valley. (he apologized for the corny photo.)
And then Dave chimes in on how he misses the Elan. See, Dave sold it to David. Dave gets to keep living and remembering his Elan days through pictures and posts like these.
Did you used to own an Elan? Post an old picture or ask about the car. We have had several old friends reunited.
If you want to read more about the trip to Wales, visit Only a few months till summer.
There is this myth that Lotus cars are not reliable. We disagree with those claims. Our member Jeremy, just finished his second 100,000 miles in his 1972 Lotus Elan Plus 2S/130.
Come congratulate Jeremy on a major milestone. Whose Elan is next?
James has a nice example of a 1972 Lotus Elan Sprint. The car is painted in traditional Sprint color scheme. It has been fitted with a TTR roll bar.
Come visit the article and see more pictures of this car. There is also a bonus pictures of another members car that is almost identical and a photo next to a modern elise. Guess which car is smaller?
Come see at 1972 Lotus Elan Sprint.
