Correct Elan Sprint Colors?

[Oasis1]

Hi, I see pictures of a Lotus Sprint in Gold leaf colors in BRG. Is this a correct option? It seems like that would be a popular good looking combo I just dont see that option as an actual historically correct option or on the old color chart? I know sometimes the rules go out the window with an old lotus but I want to know if a BRG elan sprint in gold leaf is an actual correct option. Anyone who knows , please let me know, Thx Jim

[nmauduit]

in case you have not seen that

http://www.lotuselansprint.com/index.asp?pageid=41827

will give you pointers as for official colors - then back in the days it was also possible to get your car painted the color of your choosing...

[Oasis1]

I saw that color card . That card was the one I was referring . So if there is a BRG sprint in gold leaf colors it was a special request? So really in general there are no limits on what the factory could have painted the car? It was whatever requested and here is a standards card if you want to go this way? Thx

[greg40green]

Hello Jim
On the front cover of an old parts catalogue issued by Paul Matty Sports Cars there was a coloured picture of a BRG over white Sprint and very nice it looked to.
Don't take my word for it as I think tawny brown over white is the the best colour for an Elan Sprint FHC.

[Oasis1]

Thanks! Has enough time past that Pistachio green is a great color combo? I am really drawn to it but not sure if I can pull the trigger. I will look for the Paul Matty image. Thx

[elansprint71]

Hello Jim
On the front cover of an old parts catalogue issued by Paul Matty Sports Cars there was a coloured picture of a BRG over white Sprint and very nice it looked to.
Don't take my word for it as I think tawny brown over white is the the best colour for an Elan Sprint FHC.

How many did they sell in that dreadful combination?

[trw99]

None of the factory records for Sprints, or my own, show any BRG over white cars leaving the factory. However, the records are incomplete since some were lost in the flood at Hethel in the late 1970s. So it is entirely possible that a very small number of cars were specially ordered in that colour combo, but I'd doubt more than a couple, if I was to guess.

Of course, a number of subsequent owners have had their Sprints resprayed and I have to say BRG over white looks pretty good to me! To specifically answer your question Jim, no; BRG over white was not an official Sprint colour combo. BRG was dropped as an Elan colour by Lotus in Oct 1970.

Pete, to answer your totally unbiased question, of the 804 Sprints I have records of that include known original colour, 40 were Tawny Brown over Cirrus White and 13 were mono colour Tawny Brown. So 53 in total. The colour was introduced at the London Motor Show in 1972.

Tim

[Oasis1]

Thank you Tim.

[Spyder fan]

I would like to see BRG over white, it doesn?t sound a great combination but sometimes things look a lot better in actuality than they do in descriptions or in photos.

Pistachio over White is my own favourite combination, but only after I saw a nicely presented car at one of the Club Lotus shows, previous to then I had only seen pictures of the colour scheme and thought that it looked hideous.

[Oasis1]

Funny, I like the pistachio sprint colors too...?.

[Evante]

Here is a previous thread on this topic: viewtopic.php?f=36&t=42239&start=

Jay S.

[MarkDa]

My Sprint drop head came off the line pistachio in 1971 but was blue flake (not quite lagoon blue) by the time I got it in 1982.
I suspect that not many pistachio were produced and a lot of those were changed which is why we see so few.
I liked the blue and had it fully redone lagoon blue over white a few years ago.
I actually preferred the blue I inherited to the lagoon and assumed it was and specced.
Too late now though!
I do at least have a standard and period colour.

[Oasis1]

Yup, that's the image. It does appear to be the same car in at least one other picture on line. The BRG looks great...the gold leaf stripe is sagging in the middle though, not on straight. So BRG or pistachio.. that's the question

[jimj]

Of course you`ll be aware that Sprints were available in a single colour too, for those with a more discerning taste who didn`t feel the need to shout SPRINT to the world.
Jim

[Oasis1]

Nice!!