jim clarks lotus elan find 30 years ago

[yargnitram]

hi all,i was going through my photo album from 20-25 years ago looking for tiger photos and came across this one which i thought may be of interest to you lotus people,i found this in a local scrapyard in Nottingham,it had a tree growing through the gearbox tunnel which me and my mate had to cut through to get the car free from its long nesting period,the only reason i saved this car because of the low number on the chassis plate,i had no idea which car it was till i got it home.At the time the scrapyard man thought all his Christmases had come at once when i handed the princely sum of 80quid for such a wreck ,so it so nice to see it restored,i have had a few lotus elans in my time and they are the best for handling and will always hold a place in my all time greatest classic cars,(well actually it was Emma Peel who first put me on to them)she was my first love then followed by the elan,but sunbeam tigers and Jensen interceptors got in the way and they ruled the next 40 years,anyway enjoy the photos.

[Mazzini]

Welcome to the forum!

I think I can recall seeing a picture of you and your pal with the car in one of the classic car mags at the time.

LesHems, a previous owner of 997 NUR, was on the forum a few years ago, by coincidence I think he ended up in your part of the world, well Australia. He posted on here once and doesn't seem to have come back.

[elanfan1]

Interesting that it was painted as a Sprint

[tedtaylor]

and do we know where this car is today??

[richardcox_lotus]

I recall reading about this in Lotus World.

Thanks for posting

[trw99]

[quote="tedtaylor"]and do we know where this car is today??[/quote]

Ted, yes. Often seen at Lotus events here, usually in the hands of Brian Buckland, who looks after it for its latest owner, as he did for the previous long-term owner.

This year I have seen it at Castle Combe, Ricketts Racing Open Day and the Lotus 70th at Hethel.

Tim

[Quart Meg Miles]

So how much of "Jim Clark's Elan" is actually part of Jim Clark's original car?

It's sobering to see the wreck; who were the owners after Jim?

[Thornts]

I think it has changed hands relatively recently but not sure if the current owner is happy for all to know. I'll let someone else chime in if they know he is OK with that.
Nottingham you say yargnitram? I had heard Northampton but just hearsay I guess. Interesting as I was scrubbing around in scrap yards near Nottingham at around that sort of time - not my favourite local Podders was it?
Cheers
Rob
S3SE FHC
S2 7
22
S1 Elise

[yargnitram]

No it was found in stapleford I was looking at another car when I saw this buried . Must have been there for years as the trunk of the tree growing up through the gearbox was quite thick . Took ages to get it out and got no idea why I did this but for 80 quid I thought it was worth the effort.

[elanfan1]

So how much of "Jim Clark's Elan" is actually part of Jim Clark's original car?

It's sobering to see the wreck; who were the owners after Jim?

Not much by the look of it!

[pharriso]

No it was found in stapleford I was looking at another car when I saw this buried . Must have been there for years as the trunk of the tree growing up through the gearbox was quite thick . Took ages to get it out and got no idea why I did this but for 80 quid I thought it was worth the effort.

That's both interesting & frustrating!

20-25 years ago you say... that puts it around 1993-1998 & it had been there a long time... My first car was a PoS mini & I used to go to the Stapleford scrappies around 1980 (i.e. before they were called Vehicle Distmantlers or recycling facilities) for parts... maybe it was there then.

Also interested to know how much of the car is now original... it looks to have no seats etc, but it does have a dash & steering wheel!

[yargnitram]

Not much of anything apart from a few bits.chassis was toast body was behond repair no running gear except diff but did have the number plate and chassis plate so at least it had a ID I was told it was sold 3 x in less than 4 days by different dealers for total of 5000 quid because of the ID which I thought was wrong as to me it was about saving a lotus and I was told it was lotus specialist that sold this on not sure how true this was,

[reb53]

Hi to a fellow Kiwi !
Whereabouts in NZ are you Martin ?

Ralph
Napier.

[yargnitram]

i am in that awful place auckland,was down in napier for a holiday about 6months ago love the place but hey this is where the work i,what sort of lotus have you got,here is my email [email protected] drop me one,

[types26/36]

Thanks for posting the pictures, it?s really interesting stuff.
Do we know any details of who had the accident, when, where etc.