Description
TO BE OFFERED FOR SALE BY PUBLIC AUCTION AT THE IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM, DUXFORD, CAMBRIDGESHIRE
AUCTION DATE: 13TH MARCH 2024
Auction Estimate: £20, 000 - £25, 000
Registration No: XBY 442F
Chassis No: 36/ 7896
MOT: Exempt
- 1 of just 1, 929 Elan S4 cars made
- 2nd Elan S4 FHC made, confirmed by Lotus Cars
- Just 4 fully documented keepers from new
"The Elan remains the definitive small-bore sportscar, the standard by which all others have come to be measured" (Car & Driver magazine)
Brainchild of Lotus design and development engineer Ron Hickman, the Elan was introduced at the 1962 Earls Court Motor Show. Based around a steel backbone chassis (a. k. a. the 'Chapman Bracket') clad with lightweight fibreglass bodywork, the newcomer boasted such niceties as all-round independent suspension, four-wheel disc brakes, pop-up headlights and integral bumpers. Powered by a 1600cc (initially 1500cc) 'twin-cam' four-cylinder engine mated to four-speed (later five-speed) manual transmission, the diminutive Lotus rewrote the class rulebook in terms of ride, handling and performance. Arriving during March 1968, the S4 was only in production for two or so years and is understood to have accounted for just 1, 929 sales.
According to the Classic Certificate of Vehicle Provenance issued by Lotus Cars, chassis 36/ 7896 was the 2nd Elan S4 FHC made. It left the factory on the 27th of May 1968 under invoice numbers EK54631 (for the complete body) and RK57140 (for the power train), indicating that the car was sold in component form which was rather common in those days. This way, the purchaser avoided paying the new car purchase tax as they were not buying a complete running car. On the 1st of June 1968 Chassis 36/ 7896 was delivered by Lotus dealer London Sports Car Centre of Edgeware, Middlesex to Mr J. W. Sutcliffe. He must have really enjoyed the car because he kept the car until it was sold to Mrs V. F. Jones of Walthamstow, London on the 1st of July 1994. Mrs Jones kept the Elan for more than 15 years before selling it to Mr M. A. Bailey of Malkins Bank, Sandbach on the 22nd June 2010. He didn’t keep the car very long because the current vendor acquired it on the 6th November of that year. This Elan S4 is now surplus to requirements and is therefore offered with a history file containing correspondence from Lotus Cars including Heritage Certificates, a collection of invoices and copies of the old registration documents as well as a current V5.
