Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Jim here in pre-summer Florida. I?ve inherited an Elan. Unfortunately I did not find a title in my Dad?s pile of titles. It?s been sitting in his shop for at least 25 years. As it?s in Virginia my access is nil save a brief look when I was up for his service.

In brief:
1) it?s red and a convertible, with a nice coat of beige grime.
2) it?s a DHC, LHD
3) a brief glimpse at the Plate in the engine bay yielded:
?Type? - 36 ( there was other stuff scribbled after that, what could be a 1 and an A?)
?Chassis? - 45/8239

I didn?t have a lot of time to rummage other than to see it all the primary body parts are there. As said, it?s been there a long time with nothing done to it, so no idea what the engine or chassis conditions or numbers are.

I?m confused, as a novice should admit, about the ?Type? being 36 and the ?Chassis? prefix being 45. The registry site has a chassis 8228 and 8259 listed as 1968 type 45 S4 SE. While I hate to assume things, mine falls in this range. Yes, photos would be helpful but not sure when that will occur.

Cheers

Welcome Jim,

Sorry for your loss. This is a great resource and I?m sure everyone here is looking forward to seeing some photos of your Elan. As you will find out there can be a lot of discrepancies and oddities when it comes to all Lotus cars. An email to the Lotus archivist Andrew Graham (agraham?at?lotuscars dot com) might shed more light on your particular car.

Good luck,

Welcome Jim,

Have a look for the Federal conformity plate, usually on the inner door jamb, drivers side. It should have the Unit No and Engine No engraved on it. That should be definitive about whether the car left the factory as a DHC or a FHC.

It is conceivable that the VIN plate you viewed in the engine compartment was a replacement and/or that it has been incorrectly filled in by some unknown fellow at some unknown time. It is, of course, also a possibility that it started life as a FHC and has been chopped to form a DHC at some stage.

The car would have been invoiced by Lotus around September or October 1968 and, provided it was a Federal import with a G series engine, equipped with Stromberg carbs, it would be a Series 4 SE.

Tim

Welcome Tim!
Can?t wait to see the pictures and hear more about this.

Welcome Jim. There are a number of members in Virginia, so you might share the general location in Virginia and there may be someone close enough and willing to help you id and assess condition when you're next there. Otherwise, as suggested, post up some pictures ask questions and you'll find plenty of guidance here.
Henry

Jim

I'm in Great Falls, VA. If the location is near by, I would be happy to help out.

Cheers, Bill

wildbillorr wrote:Jim

I'm in Great Falls, VA. If the location is near by, I would be happy to help out.

Cheers, Bill

That?s a great offer as you must be 600 miles apart.

The car is in Suffolk. The estate needs to clear probate and transfer of deed and whatnot before I can clean the place out and even get to the car. It will need to moved to get to the driver?s side door.

Mr. Graham replied he couldn?t do anything for us until we can report the chassis number and engine number and information on the door plate.

So at the moment it?s patience. I appreciate the offers of support and assistance and will certainly reach out when a return trip is planned. In the meantime I will be learning the shared wealth of information available here.

Jim

Welcome Jim,

You're on the other side of the state to me. I'm in Palm Coast, but I'll be happy to help any way I can. In Ohio, you can request a duplicate title, when the owner has lost the original document. you've obviously got an attorney handling the estate and this is something he ought to be able to do for you. We had to get a duplicate for my Dad's flathead V-8 powered Model T Ford, that I inherited 18 years ago, then later, we found the original.

What are your plans for the Elan? Do you plan to keep it in the family?

Roger

We are planning to keep the car and get it back on the road. He had a Super 7 and a 78 Esprit (Bond livery, orange carpet!) and an earlier Elan (dual round rear lights) that He autocrossed (all three moved on in the past), so we?re going to carry on the legacy. He also had a 7a that had been wrecked racing and a 7-S4. A few folks have already expressed interest, but that could change.

Cheers

Jim

Finally able to get back to VA. Here it is, and a few surprises…

A better look at this tag… 45/8230, to Belgium no less

It'll buff out.

VIN plate, and the engine block matches.
LP 13244 LBA (it looks like an A)

View of the engine