Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

just this picture

That's a type 26 judging by the doors and soft top or am I mistaken?

Looks like an S1 or S2 doors to me too - no window frames (mind you the door fit looks as if it could be an S4
Also has a 26R style short front bumper which do seem to be getting fashionable.
Very good looking car, thanks for posting it's cheered up my day

Mazzini wrote:That's a type 26 judging by the doors and soft top or am I mistaken?

Matt Elan wrote:Looks like an S1 or S2 doors to me too - no window frames (mind you the door fit looks as if it could be an S4
Also has a 26R style short front bumper which do seem to be getting fashionable.
Very good looking car, thanks for posting it's cheered up my day

If this is Sandy's S3 he posted on my restoration/status/dumpster fire thread (The Saga of 26/4623) describing his Elan, maybe this will clean up (or cause more) confusion

el-saturn wrote:miles (our sons name, btw) - my chassis got lost somehow: so it was used prob. 1 year after production (?). it turned into a 36. the "lost" top actually was lost (after i cut it off) - the car got here as a FHC and i bought it as a Gr. 4 race car. our MOT issued/registered the car as Lotus Elan S2 "with an added hardtop" (in german: mit aufsatz) so by swiss law this was always a convertible and i built it so. i started working on the body BUT it was almost ruined (widened, bad work) by the PO so i bought a s3 dhc body from LOTUS in Norwich in 1981 for 3300? (+300 "postage" by truck) - the chassis is zink plated and never saw any corrosion! sandy + greetings from 36/4982

Tim also had this to add:

trw99 wrote:Sandy

Your Elan is not a Series 3. It is a Type 36 Series 2 Coupe from September 1965. These were the forerunners of what became the S3 FHC. Usually they are pre-airflow (though not always!). June 1966 saw the first S3 introduced.

Tim

-Ben

mine is this one - just a reminder: my 36/4982 came as a fhc and has that plate and the numbered chassis which is also etched/scribed: 36/4982 ----- the first swiss car document/license stated and still states that

the VIN (?) says this:
a) Elan S2
b) open with hardtop in german: it was a FHC!! but THEY officially made a DHC out of it, but changed ZERO
c) cylinders, volume etc.. are included
d) I turned it into a DHC - first using the Gr. 4 body which i wanted to change to a reg. street s3: way too much work however

so i finally bought a new body for 3300quid from lotus in 1981 and had it taken to appenzell, added a safety devices cage and all of my "pocket-money" for decades now -------------------------------- so wifey dont haveta wear too many jewels!!!

I'm glad we cleared that up.