Chop or not?

[davidj]

Evening,

I am now the proud owner of a pile of bits, which is allegedly is a s3 dhc. Serial number on the chassis plate and the log book is 45/6440. I assume the 45 signifies a dhc. However, the log book also says it is a coupe. Can someone please put my mine at rest and I have not brought a chopped hard top s3? There is not any sign of modifications so if it has been hacked, it has been well done. There is a loose hood tray behind the seats, and unusually, the chassis plate is a Cheshunt one.

Thanks in advance,

David

[TomR]

A chopped coupe (like my S4SE) would have a 36/xxxx numberplate on the body. Unless someone swapped plates your in a dhc.

TomR

[Mazzini]

DHC = Drop Head Coupe (type 45) or FHC = Fixed Head Coupe (type 36).

Back in the day local registration offices were sloppy.

[Elan45]

And a type 36 is a FHC, or Fixed Head COUPE. And even my S3-Super Safety has a Cheshunt VIN plate. I suspect that some of the later S3 models which might have been assembled at Hethel, probably left the works with obsolete VIN tags.

[Concrete-crusher]

You have a similar chassis number to mine beginning 45 / 7###

Mine is also registered supersafety dhc according to lotus records but is a coupe according to dvla, and is a coupe in real life

Steve

[theelanman]

I thought the type 45 was the S4/Sprint....and was either FHC or DHC......

Lotus Type 26 drop head coupes (convertibles), marketed as the Elan 1500, Elan 1600, and Elan S2 (Series 2)
Lotus Type 36 fixed head (coup?s) and drop head coupes, marketed as the Elan S3
Lotus Type 45 fixed head and drop head coupes, initially marketed as the Elan S4 then, later, in a higher performance model, marketed as the Elan Sprint

[theelanman]

Lotus Archive will tell you....
Andy Graham......

[Mazzini]

I thought the type 45 was the S4/Sprint....and was either FHC or DHC......

Lotus Type 26 drop head coupes (convertibles), marketed as the Elan 1500, Elan 1600, and Elan S2 (Series 2)
Lotus Type 36 fixed head (coup?s) and drop head coupes, marketed as the Elan S3
Lotus Type 45 fixed head and drop head coupes, initially marketed as the Elan S4 then, later, in a higher performance model, marketed as the Elan Sprint

Type 26's are roadsters as the hood is fully detachable and goes in the boot.

S3 dhc's were also type 45's.

[rgh0]

I thought the type 45 was the S4/Sprint....and was either FHC or DHC......

Lotus Type 26 drop head coupes (convertibles), marketed as the Elan 1500, Elan 1600, and Elan S2 (Series 2)
Lotus Type 36 fixed head (coup?s) and drop head coupes, marketed as the Elan S3
Lotus Type 45 fixed head and drop head coupes, initially marketed as the Elan S4 then, later, in a higher performance model, marketed as the Elan Sprint

Nope

36 was FHC and 45 was DHC when the 26 Convertible S2 was replaced with S3 and these numbers continued on for S4 and sprint

cheers
Rohan

[davidj]

Thanks for all your replies. In summary, as my S3 IS a type 45, it IS a dhc, despite the log book just stating "coupe". (I have no reason to think otherwise, other than "coupe" on the log book rather than "dhc".

Ta,

David

[theelanman]

I thought the type 45 was the S4/Sprint....and was either FHC or DHC......

Lotus Type 26 drop head coupes (convertibles), marketed as the Elan 1500, Elan 1600, and Elan S2 (Series 2)
Lotus Type 36 fixed head (coup?s) and drop head coupes, marketed as the Elan S3
Lotus Type 45 fixed head and drop head coupes, initially marketed as the Elan S4 then, later, in a higher performance model, marketed as the Elan Sprint

Nope

36 was FHC and 45 was DHC when the 26 Convertible S2 was replaced with S3 and these numbers continued on for S4 and sprint

cheers
Rohan

hey....every days a school day
so you can get a type 36 in S3 S3ss S4 and Sprint......
like wise you can get a type 45 in S3 S3ss S4 and Sprint......

until they changed the numbering system............

altho' I suppose that apart from the few S4's that were made into sprints then the sprint would have had the later numbering system.....not the 36 or 45 prefix......????

[trw99]

David, your car was invoiced by Lotus in November 1966, a week before the move to Hethel, so it quite correctly wears the Cheshunt VIN plate.

Here's some homework for you on Elan VIN systems, an article I wrote for the Club Lotus News magazine last year.

Tim

[Mazzini]

Thanks Tim, that's definitive, though I still stand by type 26's being roadsters and not convertibles. Convertibles have hoods that fold into the body, roadsters on the other hand had detachable hoods. I think Jaguar used that system on the XK's as well.

[RogerFrench]

Thanks Tim, that's definitive, though I still stand by type 26's being roadsters and not convertibles. Convertibles have hoods that fold into the body, roadsters on the other hand had detachable hoods. I think Jaguar used that system on the XK's as well.

I think it would be more correct to say that 26s are roadsters not drop-head coupes. Roadsters and DHCs are both convertible.

[Mazzini]

Possibly...maybe...