The lotus ?lan sprint steering wheel...

[Pistacchio sprint 72]

Hello chaps,

I would like To Know if that Black steering wheel with the little round holes in the branches and chapman signature is the same on the ?lan+2 and in my lotus sprint?

Thanks

[types26/36]

I believe the black +2 wheel is a slightly larger diameter then the Sprint.

[pharriso]

Interesting, can someone post dimensions? I think the +2 Steering wheel is larger & it has 4 holes /spoke as opposed to the Elan's 3.

A late Sprint wheel

Plus 2 wheel

Note that at least some of the +2 wheels have black spokes.

I do know the +2 S130/5 steering wheel boss matches that used on the later Sprints & Europas, i.e. Large Boss, small badge.

There are two styles of boss badge, one with radiating lines, the other textured, both styles were used on Elans, +2s & Europas of the 1972-75 timeframe.

Textured

Radiating lines

[Pistacchio sprint 72]

This One is up for sale on fleabay. But i understand it is not the right model for my sprint.
I need 3 holes and not 4.

[Pistacchio sprint 72]

You Will note that obviously There is a third kind of boss where the lotus badge cover the whole boss

[gearbox]

Very interesting observation, and I was motivated to look at all my pictures of Sprints and S4's. I restored my 69 Elan SE S4 Chapman signed wheel not long ago and recalled it was 14" OD and had the 4 holes.

But as you can see, once you add the spoke trim, only 3 holes can be seen, the diameter of the restored wheel grew a bit as I wrapped the wheel in a Wheelskin leather cover, but the original was about an inch.

On file photos I have on Sprints I see that they also used this same wheel.

Here's a Sprint without the spoke trim.

Lotus-Elan-Sprint-Int_-300x225.jpg (44.11 KiB) Viewed 3179 times

So the answer is a 14" OD with 4 holes. But while I don't have any pictures that clearly show this, I believe that the Colin Chapman signature dissappeared on the later Elans and Sprints. Not sure exactly when. Hope this helps, Allan

[Pistacchio sprint 72]

Well, on the eBay pic, you can see the leather trim is on. If you wish To cover and hide the smallest hole of the branch, the trim would anormaly stick out...

There must be 2 diff?rents sizes of steering wheel then...do?t you think?

The One from ebay ca?t be trimmed and look like yours...

But thanks gearbox, it is good to know

[gearbox]

Absolutely, I was just answering the question at hand as to what were the dimensions for a Sprint Steering Wheel. The Plus 2 is much larger in diameter. I would estimate about 2" larger so about 16" diameter for the +2 and 14" for the S4 and Sprint. I guess Lotus wanted the +2 to handle more comfortably with a larger wheel as the smaller O.D. would make the steering more sensitive. Thanks for clearing up the point, Allan

[Pistacchio sprint 72]

Thanks

[Bombay Racing Green]

The eBay wheel looks identical to my +2 (1969) one. It has a 15" outside diameter and four holes. There isn't a hole hidden under the thumb guards. I've just had it repaired and retrimmed in leather. It was in a very sorry state but Jerry at Lancaster vintage and classic spares in Morecambe sorted it out. Although it can have a push horn fitted, the early +2s I believe only had the horn on the combined indicator/dip stalk. Mine certainly has.

Hope it helps.

Peter

[pharriso]

...............But while I don't have any pictures that clearly show this, I believe that the Colin Chapman signature dissappeared on the later Elans and Sprints. Not sure exactly when. Hope this helps, Allan

I don't believe so, mine (Feb 1972) has a Chapman wheel anyway....

I have seen steering wheels on S3s & S4s without the signature, probably a normal Lotus inventory thing!

[Elanintheforest]

Something else to note is that the Sprint wheels had plastic covered rims rather than leather, the same as the non-S/E S4 Elans and early Plus 2 cars (although, as noted above, the Plus 2 wheel was 15 inch diameter). I've seen the non-signature wheels on early and late cars, so I guess it's down to what was in stock. Remember that these were Springall wheels, which could be bought for any car as an accessory.

Mark

[Bombay Racing Green]

I forgot to note that my wheel originally had a plastic rim. It was so badly gone that I had to get it re-covered. I see that the eBay advert does indeed say it has a 15" diameter. I'll try to put a picture of mine up but it's not working from the mighty iPad!

Pete

[pharriso]

You Will note that obviously There is a third kind of boss where the lotus badge cover the whole boss

Indeed Cedric, I was just talking about the later style large Boss used on later Sprints & Plus 2s (+2S130s)