Vehicle Identifaction Help

[smalls38]

I was able to pick up an Elan +2s. Had no title or ne way to identify the year. I'm looking to restoring the car, only has 9,709 mile, but the frame is rusted. Seems like a fun car to restore. My question how can i find the year of the car. Also if any one might be able to guide me in the direction of company that makes thes chassis. any help is appriciated.. Thanks, K.W.L I do have the unit # and Engine #

[blueseamonkey]

If you want a Lotus chassis, Christopher Neil has them... http://62.73.160.224/acatalog/Christopher_Neil_Lotus_Parts_2.html
Or for the Spyder chassis try here http://www.spydercars.co.uk/.
If by unit number you mean the VIN, you can use that to date the car, or even get more info on original owners and colours etc. see here... http://www.lotuselan.net/publish/lotus_elan_history.shtml
I'm not going to delve into the debate on which chassis is best, you can follow that elsewhere on this forum!
Hope this helps
Rick

[1964 S1]

Hello, if it is indeed a +2s it was (probably) built between December 1969 and January 1971, giving it very good odds it's a 1970. However, some countries title their new cars by sale date, not manufactured date.... or as is common, next year's cars come out in September. Add in the Lotus Fluid Factory Modification Oh What's This On The Shelf factor and it becomes very difficult to pin down model years precisely. The engine number may help, (if it's the original.) Do you have any six digit numbers that start with 50?

[inxs]

Hi,
I had a similar situation and i contacted Mike at lotus and he was most helpfull. Mike did tell me that in the early years they used to write the chassis number on the inside of the doors so when they where assembling them, worth a try, here is a copy of the original email


-----Original Message-----
> From: Pomfret, Mike [mailto:[email protected]]
> Sent: Monday, 1 August 2005 5:33 PM
> To: Darren Hill
> Subject: RE: Chassis Number
>
> Darren,
> Good to hear from you. I'll try to help with vehicle ID but
> unfortunately it probably the worse case senario with only the engine
> number and key number.
> We did not list engine numbers to cars. Engines can be changed / replaced
> etc. Another possibility is that we used to mark most of the body panels
> with part of the Vin number. If you check behind the door panels you might
> see some numbers maked on the panels with a maker pen or chalk. In the
> meantime I will check some records that I have.
>
> Get back to you in a couple of days.

[M100]

The original poster said they had the unit number, that is all Lotus need to provide the history. It should be the same number in the "usual places" on the body but that's not always the case