Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Hi, we represent a consignment customer in prepping a 1965 Lotus Elan S2 RHD for sale on bring a trailer. I have done a full keyword search on this forum and read through all posts relating to this car but I have come up short on answering the questions we have about the car/engine. The car was owned by forum member @summerinmaine and purchased by Bob Herzog in early 2011. Bob fully restored the car and sold it to our customer in 2012. We are looking to confirm if the engine is numbers matching to the chassis. The vin plate is stamped with chassis 26/5007 but the engine no. is blank. The engine number from the block is LP7084LBA. Is there anyone that can assist or point me to a registry?

Thank you,
Mary Borden
Borden Automotive Group

Hi Mary,
I assume you've already asked Bob Herzog? Have you tried contact Andy Graham at Lotus? Some certificates of provenance have engine numbers... most do not. Andy can provide you with any info he has in his files. (there is a small cost and it gets mailed)

https://media.lotuscars.com/en/blog/and ... ivist.html

G

Thank you, I tried messaging Bob via Facebook but he has not responded yet. The email address I have for him is from 2012 so not sure if it is accurate anymore. Is he on this forum group?

Thank you for the information about Andy - I will reach out to him to get this run on the car.

Cheers!
Mary

BordenAG wrote:Thank you, I tried messaging Bob via Facebook but he has not responded yet. The email address I have for him is from 2012 so not sure if it is accurate anymore. Is he on this forum group?

Thank you for the information about Andy - I will reach out to him to get this run on the car.

Cheers!
Mary

He is on this forum. His handle has ZOG in it... though I am unsure on the rest. He also very recently sold an S2 on BAT. Might be able to get ahold of him that way.

gentry74 wrote:

BordenAG wrote:Thank you, I tried messaging Bob via Facebook but he has not responded yet. The email address I have for him is from 2012 so not sure if it is accurate anymore. Is he on this forum group?

Thank you for the information about Andy - I will reach out to him to get this run on the car.

Cheers!
Mary

He is on this forum. His handle has ZOG in it... though I am unsure on the rest. He also very recently sold an S2 on BAT. Might be able to get ahold of him that way.

Thank you! That was an amazing auction result he achieved on the most recent S2! I will try and reach out to him.

Also- I am no expert.... having only owned a single elan... but your VIN plate looks to be a replacement. The originals had the numbers scratched on and at least in my s3... the engine no is filled in. My engine number starts with 71... so 7084 is in the ballpark. If its not original its very early in the car's existence.

If the car was sold as a kit, which most in the UK were, then the engine # would be blank. My car does not have any engine # stamped on it but the Certificate of Vehicle Provenance from Andy does show the engine #.

saildrive2001 wrote:If the car was sold as a kit, which most in the UK were, then the engine # would be blank. My car does not have any engine # stamped on it but the Certificate of Vehicle Provenance from Andy does show the engine #.

Thank you, I did reach out to Andy to get a certificate of provenance produced for the car. Really appreciate the insights shared so far

Mary

saildrive2001 wrote:If the car was sold as a kit, which most in the UK were, then the engine # would be blank. My car does not have any engine # stamped on it but the Certificate of Vehicle Provenance from Andy does show the engine #.

so would the kit have come with a totally blank vin plate? leaving it to the assembler to etch the numbers as they saw fit? or just the engine no blank?

The engine number corresponds to the time period. There is another spot for the engine number on the back of the cylinder head in the center near the freeze plug. It requires the use of a mirror and a light to see if it is there. If it is the original head to that block, the numbers will match.

Just the engine # blank, the chassis # is scribed in.

From my records it looks like 5007 left the factory in October 1965 with engine number LP4380.

LP7084 is from the first quarter of 1967, but I can't find any reference to it coming from an Elan. Maybe a factory replacement engine or from a donor very early Mk2 Lotus Cortina.

It is not at all unusual to have a non-matching numbers engine fitted into the Elan!

Mark Kempson

Hi,

Mary got a hold of me and I provided her the write up I did on the car when I put it up for sale. I also gave her the link to pictures that are still on the Lotus Corps website. I am looking forward to another fun round of commentary and bidding on BAT.

https://lotuscorps.org/pictures/index.php?/category/23

I just wanted to say a sincere "thank you!" to all of you for your help with my questions about the car. We greatly appreciate it!

Mary