ownership history tracing

[wolfchen]

I have the certificate from Lotus ,showing the date by elan s2 was sent to USA Duchess Auto, but is there any way to get info from the archives of Duchess Auto/Lotus east about first owner etc ?


Jeffrey Vogel

[Elan45]

I paid a visit to Lotus East/ Duchess Auto in June 1975 and of coarse I asked about histories. I had just bought my Super Safety the previous September. Even then, there were no records open to the public. And when you consider that Lotus East was a distributor who moved cars on to local dealers where they were sold on to actual owners.

When I was there, my Elan was the only one there. There was a large field next to the buildings and it was full of over a hundred Europa Twin Cams and only a few of the new Elites.

Recently, I've discussed documentation with former owners of the company at Lime Rock, during the Historic Fall Festival. I believe any records that may have existed at one time were destroyed many years ago. And not all Elans went through Lotus East. At the time, there were at least 3 other distributors.

Roger

[wolfchen]

I was in contact with Fred Stevenson and he told me that they barely kept records ! Lotus Uk list's my s2 as being consigned to Dutchess Auto but after that it's a dead end, The PO to me is gone so there is a 40 year gap

[SENC]

In tracking the history of my Seven through the UK and Australia, the biggest leads came from clubs and registry type groups and contacts. I shared pictures, the bits of history I had/knew at the time, such as where I thought the car was located in certain time windows, and it was amazing the guidance I got (contact so-and-so, look here, etc.). I eventually was able to find an original registration listing from the UK county archives and an HLR register for 12s helped me find and contact the original owner's wife in Australia.

Also, some states and countries maintain reigstration/licensure records in historic archives that can be searched once they are 20-30+ years old... others will share the history within their state records with current owners... so you might reach out first to your state registration office to ask about ownership history/records availability, etc. and try to work backwards.

Good luck!