How can I confirm the original colour of my +2

[BullAndrew]

Hi Guys,

The V5 says Yellow and I have a copy from of a previous owner in 81 that says yellow. But sanding down I have a bright yellow, a lighter yellow (which I thought was the original colour but now I find a BRG and with the doors removed the hinge covered BRG.

Could the car have been repainted before it was registered, ie lotus built it BRG and then painted it yellow

The car is registered April 1970, but the chassis number would suggest it was built 69, I guess it could have sat in the parking lot for a few months ?

Any thoughts on how I could trace the history and what the original colour was ?

[Spyder fan]

There should be a paint code on the chassis plate. It will start with an LO as follows

LO.1 British Racing Green
LO.2. French Blue
LO.3. Wedgewood Blue
LO.4. Cirrus White
LO.5. Carnival Red
LO.6. Burnt Sand
LO.7. Lotus Yellow
LO.8. Matt Black
LO.9. Royal Blue
LO.10. Bahama Yellow
There are lots of other colours over the years, just search here or on Google for a more definitive list

see the bottom right of the chassis plate below for an example

[Spyder fan]

duplicate post

[Jason1]

Hi

What is the chassis number?

Not all of the cars had the colours recorded by Lotus.

Jason

[gus]

I would check on the body. not the doors. my trunk lid was a different color underneath

IIRC the body color and number were written on the roof of my car so if you are doing the headliner check there

[BullAndrew]

Guys thanks for the advice, the chassis plate is corroded in the corner where the paint code should be, I saw the guys at Spyder during the week they suggested contacting Lotus.

Got a quick email they said there records show it left the factory Yellow. Nice of him to answer the question they do charge for a certificate with all the information, the guy to contact is;

Andy Graham ? Technical Publications and Archives
LOTUS AFTERSALES, Units 6 & 7 John Hyrne Way, Longwater Business Park, Costessey, Norwich, Norfolk NR5 0AF England.
T +44 (0)1603 732178 [email protected]
www.lotuscars.com


Due to limited information the car qualifies for the classic certificate which costs ?36.00 which includes postage, a covering letter which includes VIN breakdown etc. and the certificate, all of which are still created from the original build files. The standard certificate covers;
VIN,
Engine number,
Gearbox number,
Variant,
Body colour,
Build date,
Date the car left Lotus,
Original dealer,

[Sea Ranch]

I would check on the body. not the doors. my trunk lid was a different color underneath

IIRC the body color and number were written on the roof of my car so if you are doing the headliner check there

Gus, just taking my February 1970 Plus 2S apart now and the number and colour (the word, not the code) were indeed written (presumably in a grease pencil) on the ceiling. Nice to see. Found the car number in many other places, too, including doors, glove box, etc.

Randy