Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Can anyone tell me what colour options were available for the 1967/8 S4 SE Elan Fixedhead Coupe?
My car came with oatmeal carpets and black vinyl trim, but I am told that the only carpet option was black.
is that correct? I need to replace the whole lot they are rotten.
Thanks guys.

Any colour you want as long as it's black..

My 68' S4 has not very well fitted Black carpets which cover very worn original carpets which are an Oatmeal colour.

Seems odd that when the (black) carpets get old, they take on a sort of faded beige colour. I wonder if they were originally poorly dyed and even started out as beige. Just a thought...probably wrong

faded from black to brown

Wow! That black faded to a pretty good oatmeal.

The answer to your color question depends upon your purpose. If you're making a trailer queen, color is limited to at most the two available Lotus colors, Oatmeal and Black. However, carpeting a Lotus from indoor/outdoor stock commonly available in home centers and auto shops (AutoZone here in the colonies) is a one-day effort, so why not have some fun?

I did my Europa for the cost of an afternoon and two ten-dollar rolls. Looks better, smells better, feels better, installs more easily and gets more positive comments than the original black (in a box in the attic because my PO bought new replacements.)

I'm thinking a nice grass green would inspire some interesting paint combinations.

denicholls2 wrote:The answer to your color question depends upon your purpose. If you're making a trailer queen, color is limited to at most the two available Lotus colors, Oatmeal and Black. However, carpeting a Lotus from indoor/outdoor stock commonly available in home centers and auto shops (AutoZone here in the colonies) is a one-day effort, so why not have some fun?

Agree completely. While we are trying to keep our S2 S/E as authentic as possible, there are some easily reversible updates we are doing. For example, we did the same as you did with your Europa. We needed to replace the carpeting so off to the Home Depot. Grey looks great in the car and since my wife made it all herself, she can make it again someday in black. I love what she did with this:



And the floor mats she is making will really be "out there"!

Mazzini wrote:faded from black to brown

Fading from black to brown is better than fading from black to green like the Marcasite used on Esprit/Elite/Eclat does when sun bleached.

I am about to carpet my +2 in as close to oatmeal as I can find in the carpet warehouse. Did the original carpets have bound edges for the floor piece . It seems that there is not a lot of edge visible once the seats are fitted so binding may not be necessary,
Mick

DrinkMan wrote:And the floor mats she is making will really be "out there"!

I giggled when I read that, but knowing her impeccable taste, I'm sure those are gonna be the coolest mats around!

For the elan the choice was black.

Lighter shades are faded black as natural wool requires dying and black dye is not UV stable.

LotusArchives wrote:

Mazzini wrote:faded from black to brown

Fading from black to brown is better than fading from black to green like the Marcasite used on Esprit/Elite/Eclat does when sun bleached.

Christ on a bike.