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Lot #49 - 1962 LOTUS ELITE S2

  • Auction House:
    Mossgreen
  • Sale Name:
    The Motorclassica Auction
  • Sale Date:
    14 Oct 2017 ~ 6pm
  • Lot #:
    49
  • Lot Description:
    1962 LOTUS ELITE S2
    Chassis No: EB 207.1590; Engine No: FEW 9721
  • Notes:
    In the words of Colin Chapman who founded Lotus Cars in 1952, “Adding power makes you faster on the straights, subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere.” Chapman founded his small company rather in the manner of Enzo Ferrari in order to build and feed his desire for racing cars. Indeed, Lotus has an enviable track record in Formula One with a succession of extraordinary cars like the Lotus 78 and 79, nicknamed ‘Black Beauty’ with its John Player Special livery with which Mario Andretti won the 1978 driver’s World Championship. Lotus’s first ‘road’ car was the Mark VII, simply known as the Lotus 7 launched in 1957, which still continues today as the Caterham 7. The Lotus 7 was virtually a race car which was road legal and in order to keep financing his racing machines he developed his first production car proper, the Elite. It was unusual and innovative in that as well as a lightweight monocoque fibreglass body (the first ever of its kind), the structure was fibreglass too. The Car and Driver Magazine said of the Elite in June 1960, “On the road, one of the most remarkable things about the car is the lightness of the rack-and-pinion steering, and, in fact, all the other controls. It’s rarely necessary to move the steering-wheel rim more than a few inches and even in the wet the slightest movement of the wheel serves to correct an incipient slide. The engine never seems to be overworked, and thanks to its aerodynamic shape, the Elite gives far less impression of speed than most sports cars—gliding along at 120 mph while others feel to be laboring at 80 mph.” The Elite was driven by a 1.2 litre Coventry Climax engine with twin SU carburretors, but it is the beautiful aerodynamic shape of the car inspired by the aerospace industry that strikes one immediately, or as designer Stephen Bayley in his 2009 book, ‘CARS, Freedom, Style, Sex, Power, Motion, Colour, Everything’ said of the Elite, “an aesthetic simplicity: there were no sharp angles or intrusive perforations.” Despite being a production car the Elite was born of competition, and its body/engine combination meant that it was quick and fuel efficient making it an ideal car for endurance events such as the Le Mans 24 Hour race where it won its class on no less than six occasions. This example of the Lotus Elite is a white S2 delivered to its first owner in the UK, Mr Lynwood of London on 15th February 1962 and registered 2 CMU. Purchased by Doug Trewenack in June 1969 it was imported to Australia in December 1970 and then sold to Matt Carroll of South Australia in 1977 who in turn sold it to John Fitzpatrick in 1981. From 1984 it was held in the Blight family of South Australia for the next 30 years; first by Alf Blight who undertook work on the engine and the upholstery, and then from the early 1990s by his daughter Kerry Jervis who owned the car until 2014. This Lotus Elite is now available for just its lucky seventh owner. This vehicle will be sold unregistered.
  • Estimate:
    A$100,000 - 130,000
  • Realised Price:
    *****

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  • Category:
    Automobiles & Accessories

This Sale has been held and this item is no longer available. Details are provided for information purposes only.



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