Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

One of my favourite things is to scan through old copies of Autosport that I find at boot fairs and read the period adverts either from manufacturers and dealers or the simple classifieds from private individuals.

Some are great fun, some are very much of their time and totally non PC by todays standards and others give a snapshot of society at the time. It's also nice to drool over S1 / S2 Elans being offered for sale at ?500 or less.

In the spirit of the other 2 topics with a high graphical content it would be nice to let the adverts or articles do the talking, but please state the source of the material and published date if from a magazine.

I will start the ball rolling with the next couple of posts, I hope this will be a fun and interesting topic for all.

regards

Alan

You Beast You!

Source Car magazine March 1972

Room for two brats in the back

Source: Car magazine March 1972

Who is gonna be first to call Team Lotus for one of these?

Source: Autosport May 1970

1970 Autosport Lotus supplement. Graham Arnold said this was his favourite photo of an Elan

1972 'The Hexagon' dealer magazine

Shameless bump to this old topic, I really need to share some of these great adverts from the 60's and early 70's

Gee, this thread didn't see a lot of action. Is there another one where we keep these pictures?

Anyway, I just spent July 4th week on the Maine coast - heck, it really is glorious up there in Summer. I discovered an excellent antique shop with lots of auto memorabilia. There was a copy of Road and Track from April 1970 that included a "Tested in Europe" report on the Jensen Interceptor, so I purchased it for a friend who has one.

But I now think I'll keep it because it has an advertisement for the Elan. It's a picture we've all seen before but it includes the details for a number of Lotus dealers in the USA, so interesting to those of us on this side of the pond.

Below is the cover, the Jag ad that is on the inside of the front cover (a prime placement) and the Elan ad that is on page 3 (the next best placement, I would guess). Pages 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 have ads for BMW, Volvo, Mercedes, Triumph, and Renault, respectively. Later on there are ads for Citroen, Peugeot and Fiat, and one titled "Introducing Audi" which must have been just entering the US market at the time. And Porsche, of course.

The magazine is astonishingly international, with articles on the Old Crocks London to Brighton run and the Race of the Incas in Peru. Along with a 17 page supplement on having a motoring holiday in Europe.

Nick

Ellaner,
I think that these old adverts and articles are sadly neglected and overlooked, they are of their time and have a message that enthusiasts of the marque should be receiving. It's the piece of subliminal ephemera that maybe pushed certain people over the edge to say "sod you all I'm buying a Lotus" that last phrase used advisedley as 1960's 1970's common parlance.


I love this stuff and think it is worthy of an archive.

A good friend dropped boxes and boxes of old Roan & Track's, Sports Car Graffic's, Sports Car Illiustrated's, Car & Driver's a short while ago. While taking breaks from working on the Plus2, I would grab a mag and harken back to my early years with sports cars. Among them were Road & Tracks that had single page Lotus advertising, with the ads changing every month. They started with the Type 14 Elite and continued on with the various versions of the Elan. Most are still in very good shape and a sharp single edged razor blade separated them from the magazines. I now have a folder of every ad I could find. When time permits, these will be framed and hung on the garage walls. Of interest, the one with the Elan being driven through the woods, is strictly a LHD version, as opposed to the English version which shows the driver on the right side. Any articles on 7's, Elite's or Elans were also removed and saved from the magazines.

Bump!

Tim

Original dealer poster 30x20 inches

Hello,

a question for Tim, sorry if it's been asked before

pic below is from one of the 1970's range brochures showing the Sprint with silver wheels - were they ever supplied like this?

Thanks!
Iain

See my web site!

Tim

Ok thanks, so from the site I would understand this is not a Sprint, it is one of the 79 S4 converted to Sprint spec....