Lot Ended
Description
Same owner for 30 years and comprehensively restored during this time;
lovely and very usable example with some spare parts included
Dating
from September 1970 this rather smart looking Lotus Elan S4 is finished in Red
with black vinyl soft-top and sits on a set of natty steel
wheels.
Under the bonnet, we find the 1,558cc
twin-cam four-cylinder engine which developed c.115bhp driving the rear wheels
via four-speed manual transmission.
The car was
purchased by our vendor in July 1989 in what he considered a ‘poor state’
although ran and drove with an MOT.
Together with his neighbour and chum, a consulting Engineer they set
about a complete rebuild of the car stripping it down into component parts as
shown in the photographs on file.
The chassis
was put into a jig and anything that needed attention was sorted including a
known weak point on the Elans, the offside suspension turret which was rebuilt
and then protected from any further water ingress with expanding foam. The other
turrets whilst not needing any repair were also similarly
protected.
To prevent any further corrosion
problems, the chassis was protected with a special iron oxide paint costing some
£30/litre in 1989 normally used to protect the steel within high rise building
construction.
The engine had covered 97,000
miles at this time, so the choice was made to completely overhaul it. It was rebored with a new crank and
over-sized pistons, fitted with a Fast-Road cam whilst the head was skimmed and
the carbs re-jetted by Mowats, a well-known specialist.
The interior was completely re-trimmed, and the dash sorted by a
French furniture polisher. A new
loom was also fitted with other parts such as the radiator also being replaced
as with the hood. The parts spend
alone exceeded £10,000 back then. The body was painted by Billerickay
Coachworks with modern two-pack paint.
Since
then, the car has seen dry summer use and continued to be improved with fitment
of electronic ignition, alloy fuel tank and new exhaust.
The history file is considerable and spread over two files with
invoices for much of the wide array of parts bought. In addition, the file also includes many
photos, some 30 old MOTs plus the current valid until March 2024 (although it is
of course exempt) with no advisories recorded plus the V5C revealing just two
former keepers. The vendor also kindly drove up with an array of spares
for the car which are included and in our store.
Ready to enjoy, this looks like a really well sorted Elan S4 with
mega history that’s seen an absolute ton of good work carried out to high
standards.
For more information contact - [email protected]