Lotus Elan Shapecraft

[cabc26b]

I read this thread twice on humor value alone !

Ed,

Ok you proclaim to have a S2 lotus 26R - a very trick piece of kit, the S2?s actually got some development . I recall reading about them being quite controversial ( I read somewhere a quote from Dave Bean saying the SCCA banned them in 66.)

Not only that it?s an ultra rare LHD 26R. Universe of know cars just got a lot smaller.

Seems this rare car got in an accident , and then got a back dated nose treatment ( most people wanted to run the Chinese eye version because its what Miles was running , and heck he was winning ever-thing) universe of possible cars just got infinitesimal.

Car shows up in Canada , with ONE race entry - unusual , no conspicuous .

Ed , your 26R should very easy to document because it is so unusual. The flip side is it could be just a plain old ?lan, and that?s not so bad either. But just to be clear ? grease pencils won?t cut it -about 7 years ago I sold an S1 with S2 doors the numbers on the doors were about 250 units off. ? You need to look at your firewall , that?s where the body number for an s2 will be ? if its not there, and it?s a race car, and possible the damage went that far back, then you search just got easier , because the driver got hammered, possibly killed . I positive id?d a race car I had this way, grim , but effective.
I also have a Canadian S2 ?lan racer, I have the logbooks, pictures of the car in period on track with original color scheme complete with Labats Beer logo?s on it . A google search on the driver in period brought up more information on the history on the car , some of it pretty cool . Lotus told me where the car was shipped when it left them. I have pretty close to an unbroken chain of ownership .

Your car deserves more than plausible deniability. Do the home work, its fun. Really .

Kind Regards,

G

[twincamman]

here is one page of the 5 year history of the car --ed

[theelanman]

hang on...I'll just suspend myself from the ceiling

ah thats better...I can read it now

[twincamman]

heads up - -ed

[types26/36]

wont be a prob for the guys in OZ

[twincamman]

ok

[RichardS]

Ed

I too have followed the thread - you obviously feel passionately that the car is genuine and have some supporting evidence which people have debated for and against.

Keep enjoying your car in the knowledge you love it - and don't get too wound up about other peoples opinions - its not good for your blood pressure although it does make an entertaining thread for the onlookers!

Richard

[handi_andi]

Ed
Probably a silly question and you might have said you have done so already. Have you contacted ShapeCraft to see if they have any of the old files that would allow tracing. If it didn't come in via "Sports cars unlimited" then via where did it come into the country, if you know the approximate year it was imported then you might be able to trace it via import dues as these should be on record.

The main thing that sprung into my head overnight is are there any pictures of it racing as that would give you a trail back to when it first appeared on the scene.

I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to find out that it did not get imported as a whole car. Are there any obvious bodywork modifications from a standard car? Any tell tale aluminum body sections? As if there are then there is an interesting possibility.

Cheers

Andy

[twincamman]

Aok

[cabc26b]

Ed

- surprised not mentioned before but something else to consider ( and in the spirit of helping)

"---was in the country some time in 1964----"

I have had 4 early cars, time of manufacture vs time of import and sale lags quite a bit - all my cars made in 64 land here in 65, my 65's landed here in 66.... for yours to land in canada in 64 in the very least makes it an early 64 or 63 model may be first 300 made.

You may not have the body number molded in because your car's body was originaly molded by bourne , they used a metal tag that usualy gets lost, but it does leave behind two holes people don't get around to filling in.

Your frame will have an identification number , righthand side top in front of motor mount ( unit number) , next vertical surface down from first number ( they will not be the same number).

Maybe the shapcraft experts out there can verify , but my recolection is that the shapecraft modifications did not last on the track because lotus homologated the car with their hard tops - read between the lines here -

Looking good as early car, with some cool body work and race history-

but -

" ---26R s2 33---"

Can not be racing in 1964 in North America with that serial number.


Sorry, just puting your info in the context of a time line.

[twincamman]

ook

[elancoupe]

Ran across this on the web the other day-

http://www.classicdriver.com/uk/magazin ... p?id=13001

[elansprint71]

I have in front of me the spec for the 26R Series 1 (52 units produced during 1964)
Body: Lightweight body laid up with less laminations than standard shell. Hard top fitted. Grp racing seats. Pop-up type headlights initially fitted.

Series 2 (43 units produced)
Body: As for Series 1 but fixed headlights under plastic lenses.

[twincamman]

aa

[elansprint71]

and these specs are from the competition dept or some other 'authority'????ed

In Mike Taylor's book "The Complete Lotus Elan" it looks like an extract from a factory spec.

In Duncan Wherret's book "Lotus Elan" he reckons that about ten Shapecraft Elans were completed, all S1's, and says "usually their special roofs were mounted on 26R bodies".

I have a photo from 1964 showing Jackie Stuart in Graham Warner's 26R, it had plastic covers over the standard headlight openings and is fitted with a standard wrap around front bumper(!), also in the shot is Peter Arundell in the team Walker Gold-Bug 26R, this one has pop-up headlights. On the facing page is John Miles Elan with the oval plastic light covers as used by Shapecraft. None of these look like the lights on your car and I don't remember having seen any the same shape as yours racing here in the UK at that time; although I recall a French 26R with similar lights to yours running at Le Mans, as it was a French car the scrutineers overlooked the fact that it did not have homologated lights!

I don't know what you have got but it has not got the Shapecraft ally fastback and does not have the front end of any photo of a Shapecraft that I've ever seen, that of course does not mean that it was not made by them, it's just different in every respect from all their known bodies.

I'll be seeing Tony Thompson and Pat Thomas in a couple of weeks I'll have a chat with with them and see if they can shed any light.

Cheers,
Pete.