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S3 Elan with S4 Wheelarches

PostPosted: Wed Sep 18, 2013 8:21 pm
by adigra
I've seen this car a couple of times and am really curious about it. Anyone on here own it or know the story behind the wheelarches?

Regards,
Adi

Re: S3 Elan with S4 Wheelarches

PostPosted: Wed Sep 18, 2013 9:43 pm
by stevebroad
Being a D reg it isn't a late S3, so I am guesing someone has re-shelled an S3, but the S3 lights are interesting as the rear panel isn't an S4 panel. A bit of a mongrel :-)

Re: S3 Elan with S4 Wheelarches

PostPosted: Wed Sep 18, 2013 9:45 pm
by stevebroad
Being a D reg it isn't a late S3, so I am guesing someone has re-shelled an S3, but the S3 lights are interesting as the rear panel isn't an S4 panel. A bit of a mongrel.

I went the other way, fitting an S4 rear panel on my S3 :-)

Re: S3 Elan with S4 Wheelarches

PostPosted: Thu Sep 19, 2013 10:24 pm
by Quart Meg Miles
They parked near me on Sunday Goodwood Revival. It is a S3 SE with replacement S4 body after a PO accident. They also have a FHC and an Elan they do or have raced and are inactive members of the forum. His comment was that there are lots of sources for Lotus information which I didn't disagree with.

Edit: Not sure it is an SE, I may be confusing it with nebogipfel's.

Lotus Elan S3 SE [JFL 139D] 109-1091.JPG and
Flourescent yellow!

Re: S3 Elan with S4 Wheelarches

PostPosted: Thu Sep 19, 2013 10:39 pm
by billwill
Mine is not that car but mine is also an S3 (coupe) with S4 wheel arches.

The front arches happened because only 3 months after I bought it secondhand in 1969 from Ian Walker I pranged the front and had to have a new nose section. Ian Walker's did it for me and changed the wheel arches to S4. It is possible that they could not get hold of an S3 nose part at the time and anyway it was in the days when no one worried about originality and concentrated more on making a good sports car. Lotuses Elans were S4s by then and There was obviously good reason for bigger arches so it was obviously good for my car too, right.

Later in 1982 on a major refurb by Vegantune of Spalding I asked them to widen the read arches too, and they fitted S4 ones.

See my main thread to get an enlarged picture.
lotus-elan-f19/getting-ogu-roadworthy-again-t26101-105.html#p189868

Image