Lotus Elan

Lotus Twincam Anglia Revealed!

PostPost by: Elanintheforest » Mon Apr 24, 2023 8:17 am

For a long time I've known that a left hand drive 2nd hand Anglia was used as the road going test-bed for development of the Twincam engine in 1962, but have never seen a photo of the car...until now.

A friend is building a replica, and on another forum asked if anybody had any information about the car. I gave him the registration number, 335 AXY, and a while later, a chap came forward saying that his father had a photo of the car somewhere...and he dug it out.

Here it is! Built in January 1962 with a Twincam engine and discs on the front, and few other modifications apparently. It hit the road in February and completed 400 miles that month without failure.

Famously, Jim Clark used the car on many occasions, frequently popping back home to Duns in the car and frightening a lot of large, high performance cars in the process. Steve Sanville drove the car down to the Weber plant in Bologna, Italy, to get the carburettor setup evaluated and tweaked!

In all the car completed 20,000 miles, and once the Elan and Lotus Cortina were in production, it was sold off as a 'Lotus Anglia'. I wonder what became of this, the ultimate 'Q' car of the era!

Attached is also a small write-up from Ford Times in February 1963, with Jim Clark reflecting on driving the Anglia.

Mark Kempson
Attachments
Anglia Twincam test mule 1963.jpg and
Anglia Twincam test mule 1963 a.jpg and
10.8 Jim Clark Lotus Cortina View 2.jpg and
User avatar
Elanintheforest
Coveted Fifth Gear
Coveted Fifth Gear
 
Posts: 2936
Joined: 04 Oct 2005
Location: Forest Of Dean, Gloucestershire

PostPost by: Frogelan » Mon Apr 24, 2023 11:52 am

Mark

This is a great story and I have always wondered what happened to the car.

I was intrigued and in doing a quick search on Ecosia, I came up with this article from last year which not about the prototype but someone's interpretation that was for sale last year:

https://www.pistonheads.com/news/ph-spo ... sale/45515

Andrew
1965 Lotus Elan S2 26/4022 (originally Dutchess Lotus East, PA and NJ Area, USA)
Frogelan
Fourth Gear
Fourth Gear
 
Posts: 595
Joined: 03 Jul 2017
Location: Paris, France

PostPost by: richardcox_lotus » Mon Apr 24, 2023 7:00 pm

Great photo Mark. Looks like Cedric Selzer with the type 25.
Richard
'72 Sprint
richardcox_lotus
Coveted Fifth Gear
Coveted Fifth Gear
 
Posts: 1340
Joined: 11 Jul 2004
Location: Kent

PostPost by: h20hamelan » Mon Apr 24, 2023 8:09 pm

Exact year and colour of my first car, dang….
Oh to be 14 years old, and have a paper route only 30km from an auto wrecker. $200 was a year savings
Born, and brought home from the hospital (no seat belt (wtf)) in a baby!
Find out where the limits are, and start from there
Love your Mother
Earth
User avatar
h20hamelan
Coveted Fifth Gear
Coveted Fifth Gear
 
Posts: 1782
Joined: 25 Sep 2010
Location: RACECAR spelled backward, is——RACECAR! Kayak, Kayak. The Faster You Drive...The Slower You Age

PostPost by: Craven » Mon Apr 24, 2023 10:20 pm

I think that image confirms it was a Left hand Drive car.
Craven
Coveted Fifth Gear
Coveted Fifth Gear
 
Posts: 1580
Joined: 14 Sep 2013
Location: south coast uk

PostPost by: rgh0 » Tue Apr 25, 2023 12:23 am

I would have thought you could trace the car via the registration shown in the photo ?

If making a replica you need to find one of the prototype heads with the thermostat on the inlet side which the car would have had I believe. There are a couple of them around in the hads of people on this forum that i have seen photos of.

cheers
Rohan
User avatar
rgh0
Coveted Fifth Gear
Coveted Fifth Gear
 
Posts: 8722
Joined: 22 Sep 2003
Location: Melbourne, Australia

PostPost by: elansprint71 » Tue Apr 25, 2023 9:06 am

Nice one Mark!
User avatar
elansprint71
Coveted Fifth Gear
Coveted Fifth Gear
 
Posts: 4418
Joined: 16 Sep 2003
Location: Cheshire, UK.

PostPost by: englishmaninwales » Tue Apr 25, 2023 11:59 am

Good find Mark! I bet Lotus didn’t have all the DVLA stuff we get today with fitting a non standard engine to a production car…!
Malcolm
1966 Elan S3 Coupe
1994 Caterham 7
englishmaninwales
Fourth Gear
Fourth Gear
 
Posts: 705
Joined: 26 Jul 2013
Location: Ruthin North Wales

PostPost by: trw99 » Tue Apr 25, 2023 5:36 pm

It looks as if the Anglia was on standard wheels.

From memory the Anglia had been bought by Lotus from the Belgian embassy.

My sister's first car was an Anglia, in red. I recall borrowing it for a week and being impressed with the ride and handling, coming from Minis.

Great info, thank you, Mark.

Tim
Last edited by trw99 on Wed Apr 26, 2023 5:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
trw99
Coveted Fifth Gear
Coveted Fifth Gear
 
Posts: 3221
Joined: 31 Dec 2003
Location: Essex/Herts border, UK

PostPost by: The Veg » Wed Apr 26, 2023 5:10 pm

Elanintheforest wrote:I wonder what became of this, the ultimate 'Q' car of the era!


Prob'ly right next to the Lotus Mk I in some Japanese collector's secret vault! :mrgreen:
1970 Elan Plus 2 (not S) 50/2036
2012 BMW R1200GS
"It just wouldn't be a complete day if I didn't forget something!" -Me
User avatar
The Veg
Coveted Fifth Gear
Coveted Fifth Gear
 
Posts: 2255
Joined: 16 Nov 2015
Location: Atlanta 'burbs (southeast USA)

PostPost by: Lens4 » Fri May 12, 2023 7:45 pm

When I lived on the Isle of Wight at Ventnor in the late 60s I was driving down the hill ( ventnor s on the side of a hill down to the sea ) when I came across a maroon anglia estate doing a 3 point turn in the middle of the road so I stopped and waited he pulled up beside me and said “ sorry old boy “. It was Colin chapman . Len
Lens4
First Gear
First Gear
 
Posts: 31
Joined: 22 Jan 2022
Location: Yorkshire

Total Online:

Users browsing this forum: ericbushby and 10 guests