Description
This 1962 Lotus Elite, chassis number EB 191** , engine number FWE106** was invoiced on 30th June 1962 to Mr SC Bentley who I believe lived somewhere in Wales, but I don’t have an address for him.
He registered the car August 1st 1962. I have no further information about Mr Bentley but going by the fact that when
I bought the car, the V5 showed 5 previous owners. So there is one other person before the next reference I have which is an invoice from Tony Bates to a Keith Price of Gwent dated 1993 . He kept the car until 10/ 01/ 2004 when it was bought by Derek Brown who lived in Stamford.
There are photographs of the car in his ownership when it was painted white and a number of invoices, obviously also relating to his ownership.
Alan Boyle acquired the car on on 5th January 2013 and subsequently commissioned Toleman Motorsport to undertake a complete - and I mean complete - rebuild of the car.
The body shell was sent to Option 1 for paint work and Mark 14 components obviously contributed a huge amount of new parts , including a 5 speed gearbox conversion.
Alan used the car very sparingly and it went back to Toleman‘s for minor work back in 2018 .
Alan Boyle was meticulous in his preparation of the car which is underlined by the fact that he has kept all the invoices for the work which was undertaken whilst he owned the car - these come to a total of over £50, 000.
Nothing was left undone that needed to be done and he used the car mainly to take to shows so it did very very little mileage and by the time I bought the car on March 3rd 2023, it had covered approximately 3000 miles.
This was the realisation of a dream for me and I was overwhelmed by the car when I first saw it and bought the car without even hearing the engine run, it was obviously in absolutely first class condition.
However there were a number of needling faults with the car brought about by lack of use more than anything else and these were rectified.
Unfortunately nine months after I had acquired the car I was diagnosed with macular degeneration in my eyes and told I could no longer drive which is the reason why the car is for sale as I can no longer afford to keep it simply to look at.
There is a huge history file with the car including invoices going back to 1993, there are tax discs from way back with the car and all sorts of documentation including a letter from Toleman which is enclosed below. This must be one of the best Elites on the market and is reluctantly for sale for the above reasons. 1962 Lotus Elite Type 14 Series 2 – Rare Coventry Climax, ZF ‘Close Ratio’ - Beautiful Example
One of only ~1, 030 built, the Lotus Elite Type 14 Series 2 remains one of the most elegant, technically interesting British sports cars of its era. This particular car is a high-spec example, with its original 1, 216 cc Coventry Climax “FEW” engine, ZF 4-speed close-ratio gearbox, twin SU carburettors and excellent condition throughout. Perfect for shows, tours, or serious collectors.
This Lotus Elite represents the outstanding design from Costin / Kirwan-Taylor, incorporating a very low drag coefficient and the most elegant coachwork.
Engine: Coventry Climax FEW 1, 216 cc inline-4. Approx. 85 bhp in SE-spec. Factory twin SUs.
Body / Construction: Fibreglass monocoque, steel front subframe; original Bristol Aircraft-built bodywork. Series 2 improvements over Series 1 in rear suspension and body finish.
Suspension: Independent front, “Chapman struts” rear. Improved ride and handling from the Series 2 setup
Exterior and Interior: The car looks like new and is in excellent genuine Concourse condition throughout.
Mechanical Condition: Again the car is in what appears to be faultless condition mechanically, this having been serviced and worked on by the highest quality experts in the field.
