Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Added comments about +2S130/5 Fed model not existing.

At some point the +2S130 also moved to a different headlight switch and vacuum solenoid for the headlight lift might be worth adding to this.

Thanks for the comment about the +2S 130/5 (Federal) not actually existing.

I don't believe that the +2S130/5 model was ever offciailly sold in the US. The US brought in new crash/emission regulations around 72 that the +2 didn't comply with and therefore was withdrawn from US market. This was before the 5 speed box was available. Therefore I believe all 5 speed cars in the US are later imports or conversions. Rather than Official Federal 5 speed variants.

I'll remove it from the chart........unless anyone disagrees

Yep, I can confirm the above. The last Federal N Type Plus 2S 130s left the production line in August 1972, two months before the announcement of the five speed box.

Tim

phunter121 wrote:Thanks for the comment about the +2S 130/5 (Federal) not actually existing.

No problem. Great chart BTW, collating and presenting all that information in such a user friendly way is not as simple as you've made it look.

there was a chart, that I cannot locate that had a pretty detailed timeline of +2 chassis numbers

wide, yellow boxes......

on the web somewhere

Not entirely sure the range of early Federal cars is correct. I have 2382 which was apparently built as a +2 in Federal guise. Unsold it was converted to RHD and finally sold in 1971 in the UK. It has a 4 dial dash, steel wheels Strombergs but without the emissions system, and Foglights. So, despite it's number it is not an 'S'.

I suspect it might have had a new body fitted when swapped from LHD to RHD because I can see no sign of repair of either pedal box hole or steering column hole. I has retained the federal seats however.

I hope it adds to your overall date.

McBiter wrote:Not entirely sure the range of early Federal cars is correct. I have 2382 which was apparently built as a +2 in Federal guise. Unsold it was converted to RHD and finally sold in 1971 in the UK. It has a 4 dial dash, steel wheels Strombergs but without the emissions system, and Foglights. So, despite it's number it is not an 'S'.

I suspect it might have had a new body fitted when swapped from LHD to RHD because I can see no sign of repair of either pedal box hole or steering column hole. I has retained the federal seats however.

I hope it adds to your overall date.

And I know for a fact that the next two are non S plus twos, as I own one, and have met the other

:last non S plus two was about 2400m and about 1/1/1970, thus there should be no new VIN non S plus twos

Thanks for the further notes.

It goes to prove.....with Lotus, there are no golden rules and multiple exceptions exist.

I've added notes to the table to highlight that there is evidence that many +2 car have chassis numbers up to 2446.

The last +2 of 1969 and the final Unit No (please note the use of Unit No, the defining Elan identifier) of the old numbering system was 2556, all though there is evidence that that car was not built and that 2555 was the final car built that year.

2552 was the last Federal +2 Those Federal +2s converted to RHD, per my records, span Unit Nos 2192 to 2433, though of course not all of them were converted.

Tim

Thanks Tim, I've corrected the numbering.

May I check one thing with regards the last number on the old numbering scheme....

I got the numbers from this web page:
http://lotuselan-plus2.be/trevorsparrow/elanplus2/productiontimeline.htm

Its states the last number was 2536, but you say 2556?

I'm still not sure I have these numbers right for the 'old numbering scheme'

At the minute I have table now saying:

+2 Cars
UK (0001 to 0856)
Fed (0857 to 2552)
no US (0929 to 1592)

+2S Cars
UK (1593 to 2446)
Fed (2447 to 2536)
Non US (no numbers)

Peter,

All Elans were made at the same time. What I mean to say is that at any one time you may find on the production line a Domestic +2, followed by say two Federal +2s, followed by a RoW +2 followed by three Domestic +2s. There was no type batching as such and neither did the cars role of the line in consecutive Unit No. order.

So when the Parts List indicates that at Unit No such and such a particular change took place, you will find cars with Unit Nos before that fitted with it, as well as some cars after that Unit No not fitted with it. It is therefore more accurate to look at dates when attempting to determine when changes happened. Even this method is not entirely accurate, as the only dates we have to go on in the majority of cases is the Invoice Date. The dates cars rolled off the production line and were passed for sale have been lost.

This is one of the frustrations of trying to make sense of Elan history. At the time, the factory had scant regard for future historians and were, up until around 1969/70, sometimes haphazard in their recording. It is thanks mostly to Warren King, one of the senior accountants at Lotus, that we have the information we do.

Tim

Thanks Tim,

So would it be fair to say that any +2 on the old numbering scheme could have a Unit No. from 0001 to 2556 regardless of where it was destined for (UK, Fed etc)?

trw99 wrote:The last +2 of 1969 and the final Unit No (please note the use of Unit No, the defining Elan identifier) of the old numbering system was 2556, all though there is evidence that that car was not built and that 2555 was the final car built that year.

2552 was the last Federal +2 Those Federal +2s converted to RHD, per my records, span Unit Nos 2192 to 2433, though of course not all of them were converted.

Tim

Yes, you are correct; 2192 was federal +2 that was converted to RHD. I own it! The log book says it is a +2S, but in practice it is much more a series 1.5 car. ie
2 fuses
4 gauges
strombergs (although my car has been converted to delortos by previous owner)
early steering column
single vacuum safety lights
later +2 seats (although these may have been fitted later)
fold down rear seat
boot release on passenger side
dynamo
side reflectors.


Many of these changes make the car a different category, hence series 1.5. There was evidence the car had badges on the rear wing, although I have no idea what they were.

I believe these cars were sold as kits and would be interested if anyone has any documentation from Lotus about them.

I have attached the Robinshaw & Ross Plus Production Milestones in two files. The file size was too large for a single PDF.

Stu