The Iconic TwinCam

Post by: **GrUmPyBoDgEr** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 8:01 am

That was an interesting & very useful read Paddy.
The last thing I would want to do would be anything that would detract from the value of LotusElan.net
Apart from that I don't feel that I have the expertise to set up anything on the WWW; writing blurb on here is about my limit.
Maybe Jeff could give your ideas some consideration?
It would be quite good to see an addendum on the existing Wikepedia page:- "For more complete information see LotuElan.net"

Post by: **Robbie693** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 9:57 am

D.J.Pelly wrote:It would be quite good to see an addendum on the existing Wikepedia page:- "For more complete information see LotuElan.net"

You can edit the wiki page, but your IP address will be shown publicly. To conceal your IP you can create an account and edit privately.

The wiki page for Lotus Elan already has an external link to lotuselan.net anyway though.

Robbie

Post by: **andyelan** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 2:35 pm

Hi Everyone

Getting back to the engine for a moment, it's only just occured to me that the Lotus Twin Cam was probably the only small high performance (read DOHC) 4 cylinder engine which would have been readily in Britain in the early 60s in any volume. Of the alternatives, the MG Twin Cam went nowhere and everything else I can think of was Italian. That being the case, I guess it hardly susprising it was used in so many applications.

I suppose the Twin Cam was finally superseeded by the BDA but apart from that, I can't think of much else untill the K-series, Vauxhall twin cam and Zeetec etc came along (I would say as far as volume manufactures went, only Triumph, with the Dolomite Sprint, attempted anything close to state-of the-art during the 1970s). In an odd sense I would suggest it was actually the Rover V8 which took over from the Twin Cam as far as specialist car builders were concerned.

Andy

Post by: **GrUmPyBoDgEr** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 3:36 pm

That's a good point Andy.

I was thinking that the number of TwinCams built must have outstripped all of the original Lotus, Ford & Caterham applications.
Maybe there's some data lying around somewhere showing how many were sold to "others"?

Robbie & Paddy,

Thanks for the tips on WWW sites & Wiki.
I'd just like to remind you that I'm not mentally equiped for such tasks :oops:

Brought up in the sliderule & Log table days me :lol:

Can still remember that 1mm = 0,03937007874" though :roll:

Cheers
John

Post by: **Ross Robbins** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 3:47 pm

Thanks for catching my error, John. I did mean the G 12 Ginetta. Not only is my information retrieval slower than it used to be, it is inaccurate as well. It reminds me of the the football coach who said " MY boys may be small, but they're slow!"

On the other hand, the quote from my hero Homer was correct as typed. If you were a Yank you'd know the girth of beer swilling, Doh! speaking Homer.I guess I need to stop using references to comic culture in such a sophisticated audience, eh? :oops:

There are also a lot of one off and small run special sports racers built for SCCA in the B sports racer category in the '60's such as the Bobsey, and the LeGrande here in the colonies that used the Twin Cam. If I dig I can probably find some period publications that can document this.

This is a fun trip down nostalgia lane.

Post by: **andyelan** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 4:45 pm

Hi Again

As far as I'm aware the figure for Twin Cam production was somthing like 32,000.

I often use this figure to demostrate that Lotus weren't really the tiny little outfit people sometimes imagin they were.

Andy

Post by: **posulliv** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 9:30 pm

You could add Elva to the the Other Makes as well.

Post by: **1964 S1** » Wed Jun 17, 2009 2:13 am

I've seen a Morgan or two with 'em.
I can't wait until I hear about someone putting the twink into a Miata. The ultimate retro retro fit.

Post by: **GrUmPyBoDgEr** » Wed Jun 17, 2009 6:55 am

Ross Robbins wrote:Thanks for catching my error, John. I did mean the G 12 Ginetta. Not only is my information retrieval slower than it used to be, it is inaccurate as well. It reminds me of the the football coach who said " MY boys may be small, but they're slow!"

On the other hand, the quote from my hero Homer was correct as typed. If you were a Yank you'd know the girth of beer swilling, Doh! speaking Homer.I guess I need to stop using references to comic culture in such a sophisticated audience, eh?

There are also a lot of one off and small run special sports racers built for SCCA in the B sports racer category in the '60's such as the Bobsey, and the LeGrande here in the colonies that used the Twin Cam. If I dig I can probably find some period publications that can document this.

This is a fun trip down nostalgia lane.

Hi,

I've updated my initial list with the info rec'd from all.
Have to admit not remembering what Formua B was though?
The Simpsons are also very popular in GB & I must be one of the few that's not in to it; so yet another gap in my general knowledge.

Cheers
John

Post by: **trw99** » Wed Jun 17, 2009 10:49 am

andyelan wrote:Hi Again

As far as I'm aware the figure for Twin Cam production was something like 32,000.

I often use this figure to demonstrate that Lotus weren't really the tiny little outfit people sometimes imagine they were.

Andy

Wilkins quotes a figure of 32,537, though he guesstimates that another 1,500 odd engines were also made, but unaccounted for. The last car fitted with a Twin Cam was a silver Europa Special, which had the 32600 engine number assigned to it, though that was almost certainly out of sequence.

Other cars fitted with a Twin Cam from the Wilkins book:

Turner
The Lazenby Elite
Ginetta G12
Elva Mk 7
Elva Sebring Courier
Mini
Fiat 500
Lawn mower
Motorcycle fitted with a twin cylinder twin cam (one engine cut in half, by a Vegantune mechanic)

So, off to cut my grass now!

Tim

Post by: **rgh0** » Wed Jun 17, 2009 12:13 pm

One of my favorite books is "Classic Racing Engines" by Karl Ludvigsen. A great book that covers about 50 engines from 1913 to 1994. The books only failing is it does not cover the twink which really must be in the top 5 of all time in terms of impact and breadth of application. To leave the twink out of the top 50 is unforgivable, but the book is still a great read.

cheers
Rohan