Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

I agree.

Many Plus Twos and Europas appeared in Roman Purple (as well as Mk1 Escorts) but I believe the +2 in your photo, reg BNF 289N is quite a rare Lotus colour called Indigo.

More colours herewith.

Regards,

Si

Very nice, I like this.

There's certainly a good range of colour schemes here to help a person choose.

I know an Elan man who lives in a forest who loves that pistachio colour - it was also used on the Miura.
Is that the 40,000 mile +2S which appeared on ebay a couple of years ago?

I believe this is Lotus Bahama Yellow but it could be Colorado Orange - does anyone know?

Si

And don't forget the Lancia Stratos and Escort Sport
I present the most citrus of all Elan colours...Colorado Orange
Mark

Si, looks like Colorado orange to me, this one is definately Bahama:

I think you're right, Robbie, the orange I put up looks just too orangy.
It can be trickey with different light and paint fade to pick between Colorado, Bahama and even Burnt (shoud be) Sand. But looking at the Europa site I think that's nailed it...maybe
Mark

Elanintheforest wrote:I think you're right, Robbie, the orange I put up looks just too orangy.
It can be trickey with different light and paint fade to pick between Colorado, Bahama and even Burnt (shoud be) Sand. But looking at the Europa site I think that's nailed it...maybe
Mark

Not to mention differences in monitor colour settings, camera/film, scanner etc! Here's another pic of the same car. looking slightly warmer in colour:

Just looking at all of these photos - what a beautiful car a +2 is!

I briefly owned a Burnt Sand S4, the best running Elan I've ever owned. I sold it because I just couldn't take the color. And as it was its original color, I couldn't bring myself to do a color change. I love earth tones but somehow on that Elan it was just too blah. IMHO

Looks like we've been snapping the same car Robbie.

I agree Burnt sand isn't my favourite either. There's a photo of one on the cover of Elite, Elan, Europa by Chris Harvey. Berni29 had one for restoration and for ages we thought it was painted in primer.

Looks like we've been snapping the same car Robbie

Not my shots Si; the second picture was from when the car was advertised for sale by a bloke in Malvern - I was going to have a look at it but things didn't work out.

The car then appeared a while later at Paul Matty's (who took the first picture) naturally advertised at a higher price. Paintwork didn't look as good as it did in the pics, though it did have a lovely, unmolested interior.

I'd never have considered a car in this colour until I saw the photos - just goes to show that certain colours suit certain cars more than others!

Well, in the end I decided I really liked the colour so have stuck with Imperial Red.
The work is being done by Peter Chapman (don't think he is related to Colin). He is a time served painter who worked for Rolls Royce at Crewe for over 30 years before retiring a few years ago. He now works from home painting vintage cars as a hobby. He is a real enthusiast and a total perfectionist, I have seen loads of photos of the cars he has painted and trust he will do a great job. After it's painted he is going to colour sand it which should give it a brilliant finish. He lives in Middlesborough and if anyone wants his contact details just let me know and I will pass them on. His favourite saying is "I won't be rushed" and each car takes him around a month to do.

I appreciate this is an old posting. I am a new member and see a reference to BNF 289N which happens to be my car. The photo has been removed so I am attaching a new one for completeness. The car is painted Roman Purple which was a standard metallic finish from Lotus and was introduced towards the end of 1973. The colour was continued with the Europa Special after Plus Two production discontinued. This particular car left the factory in purple and Lotus repainted it for me in 1982. Colin Chapman viewed the car when I picked it up. We didn't do selfies in those days! I have always felt this colour gave the Plus Two a bit of class and complimented the oatmeal trim. Cheers, Jim.

LOVE that colour, Jim. The car looks spectacular, and the shot is wonderful. If you have it in higher/larger resolution, please post it again

My wife did not agree on that colour, nor on Indigo Blue (another I like).

Thanks for sharing.

Randy
(with a formerly Bahama Yellow Plus 2S that is now Glacier Blue Metallic)