Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

I have been around Lotuses for more years than I care to remember, but have only just discovered, according to Wikipdeia, that Lotus made a 36R:

To quote:

Lotus Elan is the name of two convertible cars and one fixed head coup? produced by Lotus Cars. The original Type 26, 26R Racing version (of the S1 Elan), 36R Racing version (of the S2 Elan)

Is this correct?

Don't believe everything you read. No 36R to my recollection. There is plenty of Lotus documentation for the 26R but none I know of for a 36R. Nor have I ever seen any FIA documentation. Wishful thinking may be a possibility.

Frank

Back in the day I had the foresight to purchase all four of the 36/R cars from Colin Crapman (he was not interested in these "old cars" and had moved on to Formula 1 up-skirt technology, etc.). I have kept them stored in my climate-controlled living-room since that time and am only recently thinking about selling one of them (in order to clear a slightly less-difficult pathway to the rest-room for my disability-scooter).
If you are seriously interested in purchasing this car; please PM me.

Notwithstanding Pete's secret stash, the closest Lotus came to producing a 36R was for the RAC Rally in 1966.

In August 1966 Roy Badcock and Peter Warr at the factory started a project that was kept very quiet, under much secrecy. It was to be an experimental rally Elan to be run in the November 1966 RAC Rally with sponsorship from a London newspaper. The FHC had VIN 36/6086 and was painted British Racing Green. It was fitted with four Cibie Oscar lights, a balance bar for the brakes, a close ratio gearbox as well as other racing features. In fact it would be fair to assume that a good deal of 26R running gear might have been used for the project, though not, I suspect, a lightweight body! In a subsequent restoration, ?Competition Chassis? was found written on the frame. However, apparently Chapman discovered what was going on and put an immediate stop to further preparation.

The car then probably languished in some corner of the factory because it was not road registered until April 1968, with PEA 479F, a Dudley registration. Having passed through the hands of a number of owners the car was exported to New Zealand in December 1978. It was bought by its current owner in 1996 and he is carrying out a full restoration, having discovered much of the above history.

I think it is fairly obvious that the '36R Racing version (of the S2 Elan)' Steve came across is a misprint or na?ve supposition since, as we all know, S1 and S2 factory produced racers were all designated Type 26R.

Tim

Thanks for that guys. I am relieved that I haven't been asleep for the last 50 odd years

Not a typo, just a Wikimistake.

With regard to Wikipedia, truth is defined as anything that has not been edited in the past ten minutes.