Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Hi all,

I?m new to Lotus, and wondering if there is someone that I can contact to request information regarding a specific Lotus VIN?s original build data (build date, engine number, paint color, etc).

Porsche has their ?Certificate of Authenticity?, and VW Has their ?Birth Certificate?

Does Lotus provide something similar?

Thanks!

yes

https://www.lotuscars.com/ownership/cer ... provenance

and what is more, Andy Graham visits regularly the forum... I'm sure he would be of great help, you may try to contact him by mail for your query.

Thank you very much!

Unfortunately Lotus were a bit slack with keeping all their records. Don't get a lot of info about the older cars. Nice to have though

Welcome Frank!

Wot Chrispy sed. Also if I recall correctly, there was one incident years ago when the archives got flooded or some such disaster, and another point where management from a parent-company decided that old files were to be discarded.

I'll vouch for Andy Graham's work in the archives; he's doing his best to keep whatever information he can and restore lost information when possible. I got one of his certificates for an Esprit I used to have and that plus the additional information letter were enormously educational. For my Plus 2, he actually contacted me to provide information to fill in some blanks in the records, as my car came with outstanding documentation going all the way back to the original sale documents.

Bit harsh chaps. I'm pretty sure Lotus' Certificate of Vehicle Provenance (trips off the tongue doesn't it) was available ahead of Porsche's equivalent. The Factory get a lot of stick for poor record keeping but try asking Porsche for the original Weber carburettor numbers for a 1962 356 and see how you get on. Andy does outstanding work (as we are all agreed) as did his predecessor (Maurice Storey?) and over the years they have been able to confirm one of my 7's chassis, engine, frame and carb numbers and on another the original owner (though I suspect GDPR may have put paid to that sort of information now). Andy was recently able to confirm an S2.2 Esprit was built in a unique colour (color) combination and was originally run as a Lotus company car for Dennis Jewell, one of their development guys. I guess the records are a bit patchy but for some models and cars there is a significant amount of detail available.
Either way, Andy is the guy who should hopefully be able to tell you quite a bit about your car.
Cheers
Rob
S3 SE FHC
S2 7
22
S1 Elise