Len Street Chelsea

[JimE]

Len Street Limited probably taken late 60s. Jim

[JonB]

What are those scrotty MGs doing in Picture 3?

[RichC]

Ah. I miss the smell of 4 start petrol...

[RichC]

*star

[Luke81]

That's my grandad Len Street sadly passed away quite a few years ago I've got old pictures lying about it was also connected to Max Mosley in Formula 1

[Luke81]

Can anyone help? Just wondered if any one out there knows anything about the London Lotus dealer Len Street..?
When did they start selling Lotus cars? It seems that Len Street Engineering was already around in the early sixties working out of a mews in Bayswater, then later moved to Chelsea as the business grew. I used to buy my parts there in the mid 80's! I know it's a long shot but I'd interested to know if any database/ archive of cars that were sold through Len Street was ever retained.
Many thanks.

[elanfan1]

Luke,

Welcome to the forum and thanks for the contributions so far. I?m certain members would love to see more photos and hear any stories and info you have.

[Foxie]

Looking into the bit above about Tara Browne from RichC, I looked up some info on him and it said that apparently he worked at Len Street & that was probably why he was in a Lotus at that time. The "worked at Len Street" bit was written by him in a magazine that he contributed to at that time. I would love to know if that was true!

Looks like he did work for Len Street.

As already mentioned, check out:
https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/pa ... day-oh-boy

[Luke81]

The person in the picture on the right on the phone is my uncle Ollie i think.
my grandad's brother he was murdered in early 2000

[Luke81]

Luke,

Welcome to the forum and thanks for the contributions so far. I?m certain members would love to see more photos and hear any stories and info you have.

Thank you I'll try and gather as much information as possible and I'll try and get some more pictures

[Mazzini]

Welcome Luke!

[Luke81]

Welcome Luke!

Thank you

[elanfan1]

The person in the picture on the right on the phone is my uncle Ollie i think.
my grandad's brother he was murdered in early 2000

Wow, that?s just awful. If you don?t mind speaking of it can I ask what happened?

[Luke81]

The person in the picture on the right on the phone is my uncle Ollie i think.
my grandad's brother he was murdered in early 2000

Wow, that?s just awful. If you don?t mind speaking of it can I ask what happened?

It was a hit man over about a million pound stabbed to death on a golf course in Enfield

[Jeff Bridger]

Hi there,
I'm not a Lotus Owner, unfortunately, but I worked for Len Street Ltd from October 1976 to October 1979.
I ended up being the Parts Manager in 1979 before returning home to New Zealand with my Wife, who also worked at Len Streets from 1977 to 1979 as the Receptionist.
When I started, the Parts Manager was Bill "someone" but he soon left and Ashley Price (another Kiwi) took over and we two Kiwis and Brian ??? had the Parts Dept. humming along.
I remember the name Miles Wilkins and he might have been a previous Parts Manager but at that time he had taken on the Rights of the original Lotus Elite and was supplying Parts from elsewhere. We didn't see any of the original Elites.
John Webb was the Sales Manager and at that time wasn't racing a Lotus but in some other Sports Car category. He was sponsored by Monsieur Rochas.
The Len Street Mechanics were great guys and always willing to come down into the basement (Parts Dept.) and give advice to our Customers. I remember Nigel, Eddie and Bob but time has erased their surnames from my memory.
My Wife and I would go away on our annual 3 month tours of Europe in our 1967 Split Screen VW Kombi each May and there was always the job back at LS when we got back.
During this period there were 4 Kiwis working at LS in Forecourt, Reception and Parts Dept. (2) roles so anyone who phoned, or visited, must have thought they were in the wrong Country.
We sold Parts all over the World and somehow managed to break through the language barrier, when foreigners turned up at out Parts Counter.
In 1979 Lotus had an Open Day at Hethel and I managed to fight my way through the "scrum" and get Colin Chapman's autograph on the back of the programme. I still have this prized possession.
Any bids ?
We arrived back in NZ in 1980 and I became involved with Alfa Romeo in NZ, ending up as the National Parts Manager for over 20 years and only finished with that when I retired in 2016.
Hope I haven't bored any of you senseless but our Len Street days were great times in our lives and we went back in 2015 and stood on the front step of the apartment block that now stands at 67-69 Drayton Gardens in Chelsea.
We are planning on going back to the UK and Europe next year as my Wife's Retirement Trip.
If anyone has any questions about Len Street during this era just ask on this forum and I'll see if I remember.
We certainly still have a soft spot in our hearts for Lotus.
Cheers and all the very best
Jeff and Penny Bridger