Nose badges - some data

[mikecauser]

Thanks to a rainy afternoon I've just examined 142 published Lotus road
tests and noted the date, country and nose badge colour. What emerged
was surprising.

62 - mid 68 everywhere yellow/green
mid 68 - mid 71 UK & AUS black/silver, USA yellow/green
mid 71 - 74 everywhere yellow/green
74 - 83 everywhere black/silver for Elite/Eclat/Esprit

Yes, most of the tests of USA-spec cars in the USA had yellow/green badges
while the rest of the world had black/silver for three years!

Now we have the caveats. The road test cars are really only a snapshot
of production, and indeed the importer may have changed them to their
own specification. However, within these constraints the data are very
consistent.


There always has been more veneration of black-badged cars in the USA
than in the UK, maybe they really _are_ much rarer there?


Raw data available as a CSV on request.


Mike
--
Mike Causer Email - mailto:***@***.***
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[lotuselan2]

My '69 (at least that is what the title says) +2 has a black and silver
badge. Original, who knows?
Ken

[rdssdi]

My 1969 Elan +2 has a black badge and horn push. Seems original to me. Car
mfg date 10/69.

Bob