ElanRegistry - How to represent the 26R

[types26/36]

Use this free program, you can select which format and size you want to use.
http://pixresizer.en.softonic.com/

[Unibrain]

Hi Jim

The first 26R left the factory on 25/2/64 and was actually chassis 26-R-2
The S1 26R's are all of the same sequence 26-R-* or 26-R-**

The first S2 left the factory on 5/5/65 and was chassis 26-S2-3

The S2 26r's all followed that sequence ie 26-S2-* or 26-S2-** if higher than no 9

The last S2 left the factory on 23/7/66

From a data entry perspective I'll use this as the template and convert the existing records to this format. I'll not try to enforce dates other than production year.

Thank you everyone for weighing in,

Jim

[twincamman]

Brian --programme cannot run on dos--Dave-even the factory has no numbering system for the cars or customer records or dsitribution information so we are at a dead end and this pissin contest is taking WAY too much of my time with no concrete results -- -hope the BBQ was a success for old Liz's sake. I also hope she has 60 more years so were not saddled with that nutter Charles as King -my Scottish born Dad 4 uncles and Gramps all noded in agreement when Gran said ' THE SUN NEVER SET ON THE BRITISH EMPIRE SO YOU COULD WATCH THE BASTARDS TO SEE WHAT THEY WERE UP TO ==[actually she said 'see what they were stealing' but thats too harsh] ==ed

[bigvalvehead]

Hi ED
My email is [email protected]

cheers
Dave

[bigvalvehead]

Hi Ed
Thanks for the scan of the book. It confirms my dates exactly , probably from a copy of the same list

Cheers
Dave

[twincamman]

your welcome there are more books including the development of the gold bug as a mule and Sir Stirlings involvement and the first 40 odd cars from 1963 .------------ I saw some of festivities on TV nice show---- good for the Queen ---I checked the memorial book at the castle in Edinburgh . Many Laws from Glasgow and Edinburgh are in it. Gran was from Murray Hill Barracks in Glasgow as her dad was in the Artillery and the family were in most campaigns from the late 1800 s up to and including WW2 my dad and uncles signed up and went from over here and she always said the Monarchy spent young mens lives like tupney bits for their own gains ------ed

[twincamman]

heres the 1967 GP support race note the 2 sp 8 elans

[trw99]

Ed, I suspect that you may be confusing the early standard Elans raced by private entrants during the 1963 season and the following season?s entrants, most of whom had bought a 26R during the first few months of 1964, when it became available. As Harvey says below, it was Graham Warner's Chequered Flag team that developed the standard Elan from which the factory then formed the 26R. From the books you listed:

Chris Harvey, ?Lotus: The Elite, Elan, Europa?, Chapter ?The Elan in all its Forms? says: ?The modifications, which were mostly Warner?s work, were incorporated in the 26R (type 26, R for racing) built by Lotus Components for ?2,450 between 1964 and 1966, Ian Walker taking over the works Elans in 1964?

Mike Taylor, ?Lotus Elan The Complete Story?, Chapter ?Elans on Tarmac? says: ??Lotus Components Ltd began marketing the very special 26R and Peter Westbury took delivery of the first car on 20 March 1964. Thereafter, some fifty one Series 1 cars were supplied before the Series 2 version was introduced. Forty one of these were built before production ceased and the last car despatched on 23 July 1966.? (I find the Taylor book is not as good as others on the Elan in a number of respects).

John Bolster, ?The Elan & Europa?, p113 details some of the race entrants for 1963 in their standard Elans, some modified for racing. He does not refer to them as 26Rs.

In fact, Lotus Components first let it be known they would produce a Type 26R at the January 1964 Racing Car Show and the first press release was indeed dated January 1964, quoting a price then of ?1,645 ex works in component form.

Tim

[garyeanderson]

A few people have pointed out that the Elan Registry does not accurately represent the Elan 26R. How should I record the 26R?

I'd like to suggest the following rules for the 26R

Year = 1962 to 1966
Series = S1 or S2
Variant = 26R
Chassis = xx Two digits

Does this cover the possibilities?

Smells like bait!

Gary

Yep Bait, caught some crappies with it
http://www.google.com/search?q=crappies ... -wkhBto-q4

[twincamman]

Hi Gary ---Well I have the car . Lotus doesn't know what went where or when things were built so its all conjecture books or no books . Who cares !!Time with my Grand children is more important than this and if my kids decide to sell the car it will bring a good price --I haven't sat in the thing for a month -BUT if 26R cars were announced for sale in January 1964 Lotus must have built 40 odd cars to keep the lads employed and cars ready for sale in 1963 [ the s1 in 1963 and the s2 in 1964 ] you must have stock to sell . The auto industry just works that way. I bought a few Fiats that were built the year before and sold as the year registered . That was a common practice then so I stand by 1963 and 1964 build years , last year the claim was that there was no R in the serial number now some folks have added an R -----evidently the s1 and s2 cars were differentiated by a dash in the s1 serial number and an oblique in s2 this from a well respected lotus supplier --truth or more myth ?-ed

[garyeanderson]

Hi Gary ---Well I have the car . Lotus doesnt know what went where or when things were built so its all conjecture books or no books . Who cares !!Time with my Grand children is more important than this and if my kids decide to sell the car it will bring a good price --I havent sat in the thing for a month --ed

Get out in the Elan please and put a smile on your face. Better than this re-run that we have all seen a few times before. Right?

Gary

[twincamman]

may be Ill go fishing with my grand daughter today there is no preschool ----for crappy ed---nice couple hours -fishing but she wanted SNACKS and Gran

[bigvalvehead]

BUT if 26R cars were announced for sale in January 1964 Lotus must have built 40 odd cars to keep the lads employed and cars ready for sale in 1963 [ the s1 in 1963 and the s2 in 1964 ] you must have stock to sell . The auto industry just works that way. I bought a few Fiats that were built the year before and sold as the year registered . That was a common practice then so I stand by 1963 and 1964 build years , last year the claim was that there was no R in the serial number now some folks have added an R -----evidently the s1 and s2 cars were differentiated by a dash in the s1 serial number and an oblique in s2 this from a well respected lotus supplier --truth or more myth ?-ed

Hi Ed
Lotus probably didn't have the money to build 4 cars never mind 40, Fiat, Ford etc build thousands of cars every week not hundreds every year!.
Who made the claim there was no R in the serial nos. I have always stated S1 cars 26-R-** s2 cars 26-S2-** and if you actually ever see a real one with the correct chassis plate you will see that this is true.

Go fishing for everyones sake.

Dave Hughes

[twincamman]

I believe it was on the original 26 R thread that the statement was made ----and you are proving Granny right =====BTW the refrigeration 26R claims to be a 1963 car- but we will never know as anyone in possession of stolen Lotus records faces time with tattooed guys who spend too much time in the showers and must be in the cells in time for lock down ----the number system can be anything anyone wants it to be so as Lotus states 'we don't know what the numbering system was' =page one of Gary's 26R thread and all the rhetoric about numbering and equipment supplied etc etc is just so much unfounded and personal opinion =but we have chewed this cud before--and I see a real one every day in the garage --and ' probably 'doesn't mean squat its just lame attempt to defend a weak position in an argument --ed

[trw99]

the number system can be anything anyone wants it to be so as Lotus states 'we don't know what the numbering system was'

Ed

I don't think that is the case, in fact. The 26R had it's own VIN plate, which was fixed into the car and scribed on by Lotus Components Ltd. It is they who dictated what the numbering system was at the time the car was produced and we should accept it as so. In the same way, we accept what Lotus Cars put onto the VIN plates of standard Elans as the numbering system.

We also ought to bear in mind that Lotus Components Ltd disappeared as an entity at the time of the Lotus stock market floatation, if I remember correctly. It's entirely possible that a good deal of it's associated paperwork got thrown out at some some stage thereafter, but not necessarily before copies of certain documents had been made. I understand this to have been the case for Elans, for example. In the 1990's the Lotus archivist had at his disposal a good deal more information on individual cars than Andy Graham does now. What happened to the paperwork? It probably got thrown out. But there are rumours that a microfiche copy of records was made; we would all love to know where that is now, of course.

Tim