New member looking for a previously family owned Elan Sprint

[FiremanAxe]

Hi Guys,

My dad used to own a Sprint, he sold it approx 35 years ago to fund a family business, at the time it meant nothing to me other than it was pretty cool.

Now that I'm a little older I have started to appreciate the sacrifice he made in selling it

I've looked on the gov MOT checker and it appears to be sorn but not MOTd for a long time so it's probably scrapped or in a garden/garage somewhere.

My plan is to make a model of it as fathers day/birthday present (I'm quite into making airfix type stuff but this would be my first car as I usually build model planes)

I already have the Gunze Sangyo Lotus Elan S3 kit which I can convert to the Sprint colours etc

As this will be a surprise I cant ask him for any pics/info specifically about his car although my mum is going to try and find some photos of it so I can model a decent copy of it. but I thought I'd join this group and see if anyone had any recent history or even knew where it was (if I could build a model then hand him the keys to the real thing that would be the best birthday present I could give him)

The original reg was DKT666K

I'm really just after any pics of it but if it still exists then I would be interested in buying it as well.

Drop me a line if you can help, even if you have owned it but have no pics I'd ben interested in quick chat


Axe

[elansprint71]

Hi, hope you find the car: where was it when your Dad sold it and what colour was it? Maybe someone's memory will be jogged.
Good luck.

[trw99]

Hi Axe and welcome.

The only record I have of your father's car is that it was at the 2008 Lotus factory 60th anniversary meeting, in lagoon blue over white and a DHC. I have attached a photo of the car.

It was first registered in Canterbury on 1st June 1972, probably through the Hammonds & Oakwood dealership in Beckenham. It's last MoT is recorded as having been tested on 5 September 2008 with 54k miles showing. As you say, it is currently SORN, so just waiting to be refreshed!

See my website below for additional info.

Tim

[FiremanAxe]

Hi, hope you find the car: where was it when your Dad sold it and what colour was it? Maybe someone's memory will be jogged.
Good luck.

It was sold from Saddleworth near Manchester, another reply today has a pic of the car as it was in 2008 and that's exactly as it was when my dad sold it. Exciting times it's fantastic to see a pic of it, there doesn't appear to be any family photos with it in, so I now have something to build my model from.

[elansprint71]

First registered 22 days after my own Sprint!
It looks kind of familiar to me and I may have seen it "around town" back then but the memory is not what it was.

[FiremanAxe]

Hi Axe and welcome.

The only record I have of your father's car is that it was at the 2008 Lotus factory 60th anniversary meeting, in lagoon blue over white and a DHC. I have attached a photo of the car.

It was first registered in Canterbury on 1st June 1972, probably through the Hammonds & Oakwood dealership in Beckenham. It's last MoT is recorded as having been tested on 5 September 2008 with 54k miles showing. As you say, it is currently SORN, so just waiting to be refreshed!

See my website below for additional info.

Tim

Hi trw99

That's amazing!! I'm so chuffed to actually have a pic of the car, it looks like we have no family pics of the car so this is going to be a massive help for my modelling.

It's exactly how I remember it.

I have already read most of your website which is a brilliant source of info, it was from there that I then found this forum.

I honestly cant thank you enough for taking the time to find this pic and reply. It's going to go a long way towards helping me give my dad something back from all the trails and tribulations I've put him through over the years.

Many Many Thanks.

If anyone is interested in the build process and pics of the starter kit to the finished model then let me know and I'll post them as updates on here.

Axe.

[The Veg]

Welcome Axe!

Very interesting, great thing to do for your dad! I'd be interested to see pics.

[trw99]

[quote="FiremanAxe"]Hi trw99

I honestly cant thank you enough for taking the time to find this pic and reply. It's going to go a long way towards helping me give my dad something back from all the trails and tribulations I've put him through over the years.

Many Many Thanks.

Axe.[/quote]

Very happy to help and I look forward to seeing your completed model, which I'm sure your father will be well chuffed with.

Tim

[richardcox_lotus]

Good luck with the model. I was thinking about doing the same with a Gunze Sangyo kit, but their kit is an S3 which of course has different wheel arches.

I thought I’d wait until someone actually produces an S4 shell model, which can then be painted.

Still waiting 12 years later !

You’d think there was enough demand !

Regards
Richard

PS - my Elan is the same colour scheme, and was also sold by the same dealer. I’m pretty confident they would have been at the dealer the same time.

[FiremanAxe]

Hi Guys,

I've managed to get a pic of my dads Sprint before he sold it.
It seems my memory has faded a little from not being 12 years old anymore

It wasn't the lagoon blue over white in the 2008 picture (although I'm sure that would have been it's original colour scheme) it was a lighter blue over silver, prior to that it was a single colour blue (but I don't know which particular blue) and it seems it didn't have the original black wheels with silver trims (which I have already painted for my model and will now have to re-create )

I have managed to find a sprint display model in 1/72 scale which I am going to use a donor/template for the sprint wheel arches which I will form/graft onto my Gunze Sangyo kit.

Here is a pic of the car before my dad sold it. (I'm not sure how to add a pic so hopefully this has worked, if not it's included as an attachment)

I'll try and add some pics of the start of my model build tomorrow, but TBH there's not a lot happening other than the wheels at the moment so I might leave it until there is something more interesting to post.

Axe

[StressCraxx]

I'm sure your dad will be very pleased and will be touched to see the model of his car in his hands.