Lotus related Car Ads from Motor Sport magazine 1969-1976

[pharriso]

I have just completed scanning over 350 Advertisments taken from Motor Sport magazine over the period 1969-1976. The Ads are all scanned as searchable PDF files here - http://www.lionheartsolutions.com/Lotus/Motor_Sport_Ads/.

The Ads are mainly from dealers (Bell & Colvill, Chequered Flag, Len Street, Gold Seal, Swanmore etc etc) but there are also advertisments from Suppliers (e.g. Kenlowe Fans, Webasto roofs) & finally Lotus dealer lists etc.

This information may be useful to owners trying to find history on their cars, I know of one instance where a car was discussed as to coming from a particular dealer at a certain time & sure enough it is in an ad, Therefore I will keep the original ads for a short period & if anyone wants the original just request by PM & pay the postage & it will be yours.

[trw99]

Well done, Phil, most helpful and useful resource.

Tim

[elancoupe]

Thanks for posting, Phil.

At the time I purchased my car, it carried a Len Street window sticker, one of the very few historical clues from its time in the UK. I perused the Len Street ads , and there is a car which fits the description from 1972. Too bad it isn’t a photo ad.

[Elanman68]

Thanks very much, always fascinating to read. Just the one from Rob Walker where my car originated but no listings.

[gjz30075]

Great work Phil! Thanks!

[UAB807F]

Wow, that's an impressive amount of work. I keep looking at period ads just in case I trip over my car, no luck yet but now I've got plenty more to go at !

Thanks for taking the time & trouble to post those up.

Brian

[lowflyer]

Thanks for scanning these. I was particularly interested in seeing the Victor Raysbrook adverts and their VRM logo as they were the original dealers of my car. I wonder if they ever had rear window stickers?

On a side note, I have some Autocars from the early 1950's and there are some specular classified entries.
A Bugatti Royale for £700? Oh for a time machine

[mikealdren]

A former colleague told me of seeing a Bugatti for sale in Croydon for £35 in the late 50s, the Royale obviously attracted a premium!

[NedK]

This is tremendous, thanks!
Opened up Len Street 1969, and there's my car, at the top of the list (at least, the details and date are right). A great thing for the car folder.
Ned

[pharriso]

This is tremendous, thanks!
Opened up Len Street 1969, and there's my car, at the top of the list (at least, the details and date are right). A great thing for the car folder.
Ned

Want the original paper Ad? Yours for the postage.

[Seamus]

Excellent resource, this brings back memories for me from the early 70s. My mate Roger was the son of the manager of Performance cars and he lived in the apartment above the showroom on The Great West Road.

He had access to the cars and he used to borrow some of the stock and I remember going out with him in a few that are in the adverts on your database. The silver blue E-type advertised in the March 1974 edition of Motor Sport left a lasting impression with me as he dropped the clutch at max revs the bonnet lifted up about a foot as we snaked down the road. Wow! I had to have one after that which I soon accomplished. It was a couple of years before I got my first Lotus.........

[Spyder fan]

Phil,
I absolutely love this stuff, thanks for taking the time to do this. At the moment my favourite is below. A Scimitar GTE for £3099 versus a Lotus Elan Sprint for £1599. Although Scimitar GTE prices are firming up now, you can still pick up a runner for £5000.

[pharriso]

Phil,
I absolutely love this stuff, thanks for taking the time to do this. At the moment my favourite is below. A Scimitar GTE for £3099 versus a Lotus Elan Sprint for £1599. Although Scimitar GTE prices are firming up now, you can still pick up a runner for £5000.

AB0294BB-D712-4169-BE8B-AE38CB4333F5.png

Alan, definitely an interesting exercise, how about a Series 2 1962 Elite for £645 in 1974, or a DB5 for £2,500?

[elanfan1]

To put those prices in perspective in 1970 my grandparents 3 bed terraced was sold for £2250. Inflation over the next 4 years I’m sure would have been quite bad but still...

[Spyder fan]

To put those prices in perspective in 1970 my grandparents 3 bed terraced was sold for £2250. Inflation over the next 4 years I’m sure would have been quite bad but still...

House prices are just absurd in this country, when I started work in the 1970's I could have afforded to buy my own apartment on an apprentice's wages and that was in South London. It would have meant going without a lot of important stuff like drinking, chasing girls and cars. Owning an apartment is out of the question for most school leavers these days.

This is the lowest priced house for sale in Tunbridge Wells at the moment. I'm pretty sure there are a lot of 2nd hand supercars cars that cost less than half this amount.
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/88205695#/