Lotus elan +2 green color 1973

[trw99]

I believe the difficulty comes from the fact that paint composition has inevitably changed since the 1960/70s. You may get a very close approximation to original, mind you. Certainly close enough for the colour not to be challenged at a concours, I would have thought.

The Nexa and Glasurit codes I indicated are, or were recently, valid and available.

The only numbers I have for the metallic silver and gold Plus 2 roofs are the Lotus Part nos, which are no help at all!

Tim

[Dieschelan]

Thank you for the Information Tim.

I spoke with a Nexa Dealer and they have the Cirrus white and Lotus Yellow. The problem is I don't have the Nexa code for Glacier blue and the original colour of my car (laurel green) hasn't code. Is possible to have these codes?

[trw99]

LO18 Glacier Blue, Metallic; ICI code P0794403, Lotus Part No A050B6223V, PPG code 14170. Available Jul 73 - Oct 73. Was also called Ice Blue, which was an Austin Healey colour in 50s, Rover colour in 60s, Triumph colour in 70s. No known Nexa code, afraid.

As stated earlier, Laurel Green, Metallic never even had a Lotus colour code, let alone any other. It was a Triumph colour 69-71 and a Ford colour.

Tim

[Sea Ranch]

Tim, you're a fountain of knowledge! Thanks.

I know that often a colour's name is used by a number of manufacturers, but is the colour the same paint formulation, or just a popular name? Guess we'd have to compare paint reference numbers . . . ?

[trw99]

The answer is I have no idea and I doubt anyone else does! However, given the use Lotus made of other manufacturers parts it is reasonable to assume that they would also borrow paint colours too. Of course, we know this to be the case for, for example, Ford Tawny Brown and Renault Mid Green Metallic.

With the exception of Lotus Yellow, which may have been specially made for Lotus, all the other Elan colours have identifiable major manufacturer 'equivalents'. I made a list! Not definitive and there may be other manufacturers, but I hope this is of some help:

Medici Blue - Standard Triumph colour
Carmen Red - Jaguar colour
Fiesta Yellow - Austin colour
Sunburst Yellow - Ford
Spruce Green - BMC colour
Conifer Green - Triumph colour
Jaguar Racing Green - Jaguar!
British Racing Green - Jaguar colour
French Blue - Triumph colour
Wedgewood Blue - Triumph colour
Cirrus White - Ford colour
Carnival Red - Rootes colour
Burnt Sand - Porsche colour
Lotus Yellow - Lotus!
Royal Blue - Porsche colour
Bahama Yellow - Porsche colour
Regency Red - Jaguar colour
Lagoon Blue Metallic - Volvo, Rolls Royce and Royal Enfield colour
Pistachio Lime Green - Jensen colour
Colorado Orange - BMW colour
Tawny Brown - Ford colour
Mid Green - Renault
Glacier Blue - Austin Healey, Rover and Triumph colour
Sable - Jaguar and Rolls Royce colour
Indigo Blue - MG and Jaguar colour
Purple - Porsche and Aston Martin colour
Bitter Green - Rootes colour
Sepia Brown - Chrysler colour
Firecracker - Rootes colour
Monaco White - Vauxhall colour
Olympic Blue - Ford colour
Laurel Green - Triumph and Ford colour

Tim

[elanplustwo]

Hi Vernon,

That colour is Mercedes pine green - that was my old car -and the guy before me had resprayed it to match his merc !!
Roger

[Dieschelan]

I think that mid green metallic is the colour that people refer to Laurel Green. I have recieve a color chart from Lotus where you can see the colours from july 1973. The green colour is mid green and is the colour I have seen in my car. The difficult is to obtain now this colour.

[trw99]

I agree that Laurel Green is almost indistinguishable from Mid Green. It is entirely possible that Laurel Green was what Mid Green became after October 1973, when Mid Green was phased out . And the change never recorded!

Have a look at this Renault colour chart, chose your green and get the right recipe from your paint supplier: http://www.renault4.co.uk/paint-codes.htm

'Fraid that's the best I can suggest.

Tim

[Sea Ranch]

Nice image; looks like it's a pic of colour cards, taped together.

Would like to see the second/bottom half of that document, with the hand-written notes on what colours we're looking at.

Thanks

Randy

[trw99]

Here you go. It comes from Andy Graham at Lotus, something he found in the archives. It's the closest I've come to seeing a colour chart for 1973.

It is my belief that the printed colour notes on the reverse refer to the original manufacturers name for that colour, with the handwritten Lotus title added later. Just a theory!

Tim

[Sea Ranch]

Very interesting. Thanks, Tim. A tantalizing glimpse into these colours and info.

Hoping soon to start research on my end/in my area for suppliers to help with this stuff. If I do find anything about current formulations, will certainly post . . .

Regards,

Randy