Classic Lotus Elan Register (CLER)

[trw99]

Along with several other Elan enthusiasts (known to most of you on this forum) we are in the process of establishing a new website dedicated to the classic Lotus Elan, particularly with regard to its originality and true story, as opposed to the many apocryphal tales that get told about it!

We are calling it the Classic Lotus Elan Register (CLER) and hope to organise the odd event, as well as encourage owners and enthusiasts to participate via the website in other ways. The site is slowly getting populated and is currently 'soft' at http://www.classiclotuselan.com

We do not wish CLER to be in competition with LotusElan.net, the ElanRegistry.org, Club Lotus, or any other site or club for that matter. Indeed, we very much hope that CLER can go forward in friendly co-operation with them.

We welcome feedback, comments and help. Please do bear with us whilst we continue to grow the site.

Our first event is to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the launch of the Elan, with a Picnic at Hethel. Please see our separate post.

Tim

[webrest7]

Hi all,
When I first read 'Classic Lotus Elan Register' I thought it was going to be a list of owners and their cars, details etc. Such as the TVR and SP 250 owners have.
Maybe such a list page already exists and I am unaware of it if so I'm only too happy to be put straight.
Having owned my Elan in Australia for nearly 30 years I never come across one and if one is out there somewhere I'm only too happy to provide my details.
Having owned my SP250 for over 33 years they actually post out a an annual booklet to all owners around the the world with details of the vehicles and their respective owners, a fabulous resource to all in the fraternity.
Cheers Dave

[SENC]

https://elanregistry.org/

IMG20220729092058.jpg

Hi all,
When I first read 'Classic Lotus Elan Register' I thought it was going to be a list of owners and their cars, details etc. Such as the TVR and SP 250 owners have.
Maybe such a list page already exists and I am unaware of it if so I'm only too happy to be put straight.
Having owned my Elan in Australia for nearly 30 years I never come across one and if one is out there somewhere I'm only too happy to provide my details.
Having owned my SP250 for over 33 years they actually post out a an annual booklet to all owners around the the world with details of the vehicles and their respective owners, a fabulous resource to all in the fraternity.
Cheers Dave

[webrest7]

Thanks SENC.

[UAB807F]

Well done, that's a very clean looking website. Easy to navigate, plenty of interesting comments to read and I like the idea of period b/w photographs rather than going for modern colour ones.

If you want nit-picking feedback (and it really is nit-picking) then on my browser (W11/Chrome & also W11/Firefox) the page with Type 50 has the second photo positioned just slightly too high and across the bottom line of the text about George Best buying a Europa. (was that deliberate ? )

That's a very, very minor point. I like the website, have it bookmarked and look forward to seeing more.

Brian

[Andy8421]

Tim,

In respect of your event at Hethel, all credit to you and your team - and as I have posted earlier, shame on Lotus Group for not making more of this event. I am sure if you had approached your local Sainsburys, they probably would have lent you their carpark - which seems to be all the support you have got from Lotus.

Looking at the Google satellite view of the venue, I did notice that Classic Team Lotus are adjacent to the main Lotus Group site, just off Potash lane in what appear (from above) to be a collection of old chicken sheds.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Classic+Team+Lotus/@52.5594918,1.1801512,426m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x47d9dd7d4724f221:0x956a3db4f76b5342!8m2!3d52.5590967!4d1.1816523

Have you tried approaching them to see if they want to be involved? With the purchase of Matty's, they might want to actually meet some of their potential customers, rather than just lending you their carpark. From a selfish perspective, I would be very interested in seeing their collection, if that could be opened for viewing. Even if Lotus Group did deign to unlock their front door, looking at some 'Elete' Frankenstein electric 4x4 SUV that has Chapman rolling in his grave has little interest for me.

Andy.

[trw99]

Thanks all for your comments to date.

In addition to the elanregistry run by unibrain, a useful resource, I also have a full register of all Elans known to have been made. I update this on a regular basis and attempt to keep abreast of all adverts, changes in ownership and so forth. However, the only way I can do this is via Unit Nos. Registration numbers (in the UK) only tell half the story and so are not reliable sources for data in general. I make an exception for Sprints, my pet subject!

As most folk now know, a good many of the Elan records were lost in a flood in the old fire engine garage at Hethel in the late 1970s. I therefore share my register with Andy Graham, the Lotus archivist, in an attempt to rebuild those records for our cars. On behalf of Lotus Cars Andy has a duty, quite understandably, to maintain the current corporate reputation and to prevent fraudulent activity where he can. He is therefore reluctant that too much of the register is made public, which in turn could lead to criminally minded individuals incorrectly claiming an identity for a car.

Having said that, I am very happy to help owners with any data I may have on their car and I know Andy is helpful too. I am also able, where I can, to help prospective buyers verify a car they are interested in. CLER will therefore continue in this vein, much as I am sure we would all like to be able to view a full register of all Elans. I believe it is easier for other car marques, such as the Daimler SP250 register referred to above, to make public to their members their register, where data on all the cars produced is already known by the manufacturer.

I would also wish to assure you that Lotus have been supportive. Indeed, I made an initial approach to CEO Matt Windle this time last year via email, on a Sunday. Within a couple of hours I was surprised and delighted to receive a response from him indicating that he would be happy to host us to celebrate the 60th. I was then passed to the PR & Media department, who have been very busy in the intervening period with car launches and so forth. Our wee celebration must have appeared rather less significant to them than it does to us and so what I had hoped to be a meeting on a larger scale has been reduced to where we are today. I shall of course be inviting Matt Windle to join us at some stage during the day.

On a brighter note, since we went public, Richard Parramint at CTL has offered to do a group tour of their collection on the 25th. I currently have no more details from him, but he has said that it will be restricted in numbers. In addition, Guy Munday has kindly offered to get permission to lead factory tours, more of which will be available when we know. Finally, we have had an indication that CTL will be opening up their new classic stores for us on the day.

Thank you again for your helpful comments; please keep them coming.

Tim

[SimonH]

Nice website. Just tried it on the computer rather than the phone and saw it properly. Doesn't really work on my phone for some reason.
Otherwise its a good factual history page. Interesting for me that my +2/130 is 365L so a fairly early on. Shame it lost its engine to an escort before I got it.

[Spyder fan]

Well done, that's a very clean looking website. Easy to navigate, plenty of interesting comments to read and I like the idea of period b/w photographs rather than going for modern colour ones.

If you want nit-picking feedback (and it really is nit-picking) then on my browser (W11/Chrome & also W11/Firefox) the page with Type 50 has the second photo positioned just slightly too high and across the bottom line of the text about George Best buying a Europa. (was that deliberate ? )

That's a very, very minor point. I like the website, have it bookmarked and look forward to seeing more.

Brian

Thanks Brian,
I'm owning up to colloborating in this venture to provide back room support in setting up domains and starting a very basic website as a placeholder for CLER.
The website was hastily cobbled together and is very much a work in progress that only gives a taste of the content that will be added when time permits. And thanks for the comment on the layout, I have reduced the size of the photo on the type 50 page, it displays correctly on my chrome and safari as well as working in mobile format, but HTML code is a dark art and all sorts of things happen locally on different machines and formats.
It's intended that technical detail will be added for each model with articles that can be downloaded and shared by members. At the moment we are harvesting the contact details of all those who have clicked on the contact form and when we have the membership software running we will invite people to sign up. Membership will be free, donations will be gratefully accepted, but only to cover costs in the same spirit as Lotus Elan Net.

So why is Spyder Fan the modifier involved in this? It's because I have a deep interest in the History of Lotus cars and can appreciate what was originally cutting edge design and engineering. And I like organising a picnic or quick blast around the lanes

[Spyder fan]

Nice website. Just tried it on the computer rather than the phone and saw it properly. Doesn't really work on my phone for some reason.
Otherwise its a good factual history page. Interesting for me that my +2/130 is 365L so a fairly early on. Shame it lost its engine to an escort before I got it.

Apologies Simon,
I just did a very quick rehash of the mobile site and it should now display correctly. Feedback always appreciated.

[valerio]

Thanks all for your comments to date.

In addition to the elanregistry run by unibrain, a useful resource, I also have a full register of all Elans known to have been made. I update this on a regular basis and attempt to keep abreast of all adverts, changes in ownership and so forth. However, the only way I can do this is via Unit Nos. Registration numbers (in the UK) only tell half the story and so are not reliable sources for data in general. I make an exception for Sprints, my pet subject!

As most folk now know, a good many of the Elan records were lost in a flood in the old fire engine garage at Hethel in the late 1970s. I therefore share my register with Andy Graham, the Lotus archivist, in an attempt to rebuild those records for our cars. On behalf of Lotus Cars Andy has a duty, quite understandably, to maintain the current corporate reputation and to prevent fraudulent activity where he can. He is therefore reluctant that too much of the register is made public, which in turn could lead to criminally minded individuals incorrectly claiming an identity for a car.

Having said that, I am very happy to help owners with any data I may have on their car and I know Andy is helpful too. I am also able, where I can, to help prospective buyers verify a car they are interested in. CLER will therefore continue in this vein, much as I am sure we would all like to be able to view a full register of all Elans. I believe it is easier for other car marques, such as the Daimler SP250 register referred to above, to make public to their members their register, where data on all the cars produced is already known by the manufacturer.

I would also wish to assure you that Lotus have been supportive. Indeed, I made an initial approach to CEO Matt Windle this time last year via email, on a Sunday. Within a couple of hours I was surprised and delighted to receive a response from him indicating that he would be happy to host us to celebrate the 60th. I was then passed to the PR & Media department, who have been very busy in the intervening period with car launches and so forth. Our wee celebration must have appeared rather less significant to them than it does to us and so what I had hoped to be a meeting on a larger scale has been reduced to where we are today. I shall of course be inviting Matt Windle to join us at some stage during the day.

On a brighter note, since we went public, Richard Parramint at CTL has offered to do a group tour of their collection on the 25th. I currently have no more details from him, but he has said that it will be restricted in numbers. In addition, Guy Munday has kindly offered to get permission to lead factory tours, more of which will be available when we know. Finally, we have had an indication that CTL will be opening up their new classic stores for us on the day.

Thank you again for your helpful comments; please keep them coming.

Tim

Tim,
thanks to you I was able to track down my Elan Bodyshell.
The fact is that YOU have those document not disclosed (which make sense) but as far as I understood you do not share those documents with US, owners. Correct if I am wrong. So what is the purpose of this new register then? I have hunted for my car for years, I finally found it and all I had were racing documents, a bodyshell, an original frame and numbers of the car write on them. So If I do not provide a lotus plate (easy to reproduce but with unit number engraved by hand) I am not allowed to say that my car is what is actually is?

[SimonH]

Nice website. Just tried it on the computer rather than the phone and saw it properly. Doesn't really work on my phone for some reason.
Otherwise its a good factual history page. Interesting for me that my +2/130 is 365L so a fairly early on. Shame it lost its engine to an escort before I got it.

Apologies Simon,
I just did a very quick rehash of the mobile site and it should now display correctly. Feedback always appreciated.

Wasn’t a criticism as I am very aware of how hard it is to get a site to work on all viewing methods having worked alongside a web developer over the last few years. Wouldn’t want to have to do what he does in any way at all!

[trw99]

Tony,

Thank you for your comments. I have no idea where the notion that I don't share data with US owners has come from. It is not true. I am happy to help anyone, anywhere in the world, if I am able to.

The purpose of 'this new register' is as stated on the CLER home page, basically to act as a repository for originality of the Elan in all it's types. The term Register is merely a way of referring to what we are attempting to do, alongside maintaining my own register. This is an idea that started in my mind years ago, prompted by what the likes of the Bugatti Owners Club, Frazer Nash Club and others do with their archives. We actually investigated the possibility of doing the same, leasing a property and keeping a mass of ephemera, records, items and even display cars. However, we decided it is not a sustainable business model without sponsorship, a well endowed trust or other means of paying for the costs. A website and, in time multi-media, seemed to fulfil most of these requirements.

We also hope that the Lotus Heritage Centre, in plan to be built at Hethel, will act as a focal point for the collection of ephemera and display cars. I hope it does and it indicates that Geely and the current Lotus Cars executive have an appreciation of the importance of heritage to a marque, much as Porsche, Ferrari and others have already done.

As regards your car, I am afraid that is a matter between you and Andy Graham to conclude. If it is the car we corresponded about in 2020, I thought we had pinned it down?

Tim

[valerio]

Tim,
I will send a PM to you.
Any initiative that can make our car indisputable documented it's a bless for me.
I think all of those owners that have original race cars or VIP ownership can agree with me.

[baileyman]

For what it's worth, on my iMac, the yellow banner at the top takes up almost half the real estate on a permanent basis regardless of scroll. This may be because I zoom pages so I can read them. John