Elans & +2s Owned by the Famous

[richardcox_lotus]

Jabby's Jim Clark Elan was bought by Peter Windsor. ( think he has 2 Elan's now)

[trw99]

Yep, it was. I found this interesting piece on Jimmy's S3:

'The Ex-Jimmy Clark?s yellow Lotus Elan Coupe S3 S/E was his company car in 67 up to his death when he was living in Paris, sharing a flat with Jabby Crombac. Hence the left hand drive. At the end of March 68, he entered the F2 race in Hockenheim and decided to fly his Piper twin-Comanche to Frankfurt. He was then allowed back in UK, so, after the race he planned to fly direct to Scotland to introduce his lovely girl friend Kate to his parents. He wasn?t therefore returning to Paris for a while.

It had been decided that his next car would be the new Elan+2 and he had one in order for delivery at the end of April. The S3 was going to be taken over by Crombac, whose own S2 was very tired. ?I don?t need the S3 any more and therefore you should take it away right now? he said to Crombac. So he drove him to Toussus le Noble general aviation airport, got out of the car, picked up his bag and dropped it into the Comanche. ?This is your car now? he said, handing him the keys, and disappeared? for ever.

Import duties were paid and the car was duly licensed on French plates and Crombac did use it for many years. It did visit most European GP circuits. After a few years it had reached some 55000 miles and was retired.

In 1989, Crombac decided to restore it completely and, very kindly, Mike Kimberley, then President of Lotus, offered all the wearing parts: bearing shells, pistons, valves, bearings, bushes, dampers etc. etc. Should a new chassis be fitted ? Crombac organized an ?Ethical committee? with Peter Warr, the principal of Team Lotus and the famous journalist Dennis Jenkinson, it was decided that Jimmy?s chassis should remain in place. The engine was prepared by Ateliers Sport-Auto, in a Paris suburb, a specialist of Ford race engines preparation.

When completed, the car was driven for finishing to the great British specialist Peter Day of Daytune in Cambridge. Peter?s instructions were to prepare it ?as if Jimmy had just stepped out of it? Accordingly, for instance, when the inside upholstery had turned maroon colour, instead of changing it, he dyed it back to the original black colour. When finished, the car was driven to Lotus cars where a party was given in its honour. The fitter who had assembled it in 1967 was present and he remarked: ?the doors aren?t fitting any better? The whole trip was recorded in Classic and Sports cars of November 1995. The S3 then resumed frequent use ?but not daily one?It is a lively small and very nimble car with traditional Lotus steering and road?holding.

On 13 December 2004 Jabby Crombac?s Lotus? were sold at auction in Paris. After a telephone duel with another UK resident, the Elan went to Peter Windsor, the well-known journalist from F1 Racing, a tremendous fan of Jimmy Clark, whom he met when he was racing the Tasman series.'



Tim

[Alex]

It really is unique if the carbs are on the other side of the head

[trw99]

[quote="Robbie693]The song was 'A Day in the Life' and the it was Tara Browne, heir to the Guiness estate and friend of the Beatles who crashed and died in his Elan after running a red light in Kensington[/quote]

I knew we had seen that here before. So here is a link to a longer recount of that episode:

http://www.lotuselan.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=11117

Tim

[Elanintheforest]

Great story, Tim. And in all this time, nobody has ever commented on the engine having the exhaust where the carbs usually are, and the oil cap on the other cam cover

[trw99]

It really is unique if the carbs are on the other side of the head

Came from a French web site Alex. Need we say more?

Tim

[Alex]

Tim,

I best not comment on the French...

[john.p.clegg]

Can anyone make out if the LOTUS on the camcover is reversed?...I can't..

John

[Old English White]

Tim,

I best not comment on the French...

Alex , Tim ,
Please do not ...

To close the "Jim Clack Elan file" , a picture , few days before auction ...
Better not ask me ...


Christian.

[Alex]

It is! And the threads on the exhaust studs have left hand threads...

Always check your slides are the right way up

Does this look better??

[trw99]

Alex

Thanks - I have no idea about how to reverse an image; in this case, one I had taken straight off a web page.

I also found this little nugget:

'Anyone can give a girl a diamond ring and tell her he loves her. What made Swedish starlet Britt Eklund sure that she alone has the heart of her fiance Peter Sellers?a man who in the last eight years has had one wife and 62 fast automobiles?was the bright red Lotus Elan sports car with which he plighted his troth.'

Tim

[trw99]

A couple of years ago, Gordon Murray published in Evo:

?For me as a driver there is nothing more satisfying than driving a well balanced rear drive car with really good steering feel. I suppose my ultimate car for this experience is my 1968 Lotus Elan which has sublime steering and about 52% of its weight on the rear axle. The Elan's added bonus is that it sits on 155 wide tyres, opening up the possibility of safe 4-wheel drifts to all!"


And then earlier this year Jay Leno published this in The Sunday Times:

?I recently bought a Lotus Elan. I got it for two reasons. One, because Gordon Murray, the McLaren F1 and Rocket designer, always gushes about it, and it seemed to be the inspiration for his cars, so I wanted to find out what the fuss was all about. And two, because it was the inspiration for the Mazda MX-5. When you park the two side by side you see how much smaller the Lotus is, but you see the similarities as well.?

Gordon must have the S3, but Jay? Anyone know what he got?

Tim

[trw99]

When I was selling my house a few years ago, the estate agent that came to do the valuation said that his boss owned an Elan that belonged to Peter Sellers but he did not know anymore about which model or colour.
I also seem to remember seeing a few years back in The Sunday Times magazine, an article about Sellers with a very nice picture of him with his head poking out from the zipped up tonneau cover of a white series 3 DHC (cannot remember exactly, could have been S2 or S4).

I just found this at pictorialphotos.com and I believe it to be the correct way around:

[garyeanderson]

A couple of years ago, Gordon Murray published in Evo:


And then earlier this year Jay Leno published this in The Sunday Times:

?I recently bought a Lotus Elan. I got it for two reasons. One, because Gordon Murray, the McLaren F1 and Rocket designer, always gushes about it, and it seemed to be the inspiration for his cars, so I wanted to find out what the fuss was all about. And two, because it was the inspiration for the Mazda MX-5. When you park the two side by side you see how much smaller the Lotus is, but you see the similarities as well.?

Gordon must have the S3, but Jay? Anyone know what he got?

Tim

http://www.lotuselan.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=16088

looks like an white S2 and ?

Gary

[john130]

Hi, Regarding Rupert Mainwaring, I own a +2 's' 130 which used to be his.
He was the last but one owner---------- when he was Team manager at Tyrell. I have some old invoices addressed to Tyrell Racing. One day it will be back on the road!
Also I believe the comedy actress Liz Frazer owned a +2.
John.