Usually we think a seller crazy when they claim a car has never seen rain. Then we saw this fanatically clean 1969 Lotus Elan S4 convertible and changed our mind. Lotuses of all stripes lead difficult lives as their sporting nature encourages hard driving and their light weight results in a robustness just shy of those balsa wood model airplanes you used to crash as child. No matter. One moment behind the wheel of an Elan is enough to see the genius behind the man that was Colin Chapman and to start cruising classified ads hoping to find this car. With just 54,420 original miles on the odometer the Elan has travelled little and has enjoyed the fastidious care of the same owner for the past 37 years. Photos show the little roadster to be in incredible condition with all paint, body panels and interior surfaces looking as they did in 1969. Quite the feat, this, considering the fiberglass construction and the age of the vehicle. Better still, the Lotus retains all of the rare and original bits so easily lost or damaged like the hinged aluminum wiring-harness guides in the door jambs, the crossover pipes above the twin-cam’s valve cover and the cold air assembly complete with ducting. This is a great car in remarkable condition and we wouldn’t hesitate to use it sparingly or enter it in any show. Find the Lotus for sale here on eBay in Englewood, Colorado.
I lived in England in the early 70′s and I’ve never seen a Lotus Twin Cam engine with other than Weber 45DCOE carburetors. These look like a take on the SU carbs found on Austin Healey Sprites. Hmmmmm
Those are stromberb carbs which are correct for the car. Elan twin cams with webers came with 40DCOE’s and not 45 DCOE’s. One obvious thing wrong with the car is the black bumpers which should be silver, the same as the wheels.
I owned a ’66 Lotus Cortina and it had Weber 45DCOE’s on it. I bought the car new in CT and took it to England with me in ’69 on a work assignment. Had lots of head gasket problems with it during the time it was in the US. Once I got to Yorkshire, England the first shop I took it to for maintenance knew exactly what was wrong and how to fix it. Ran great for three years until I started tinkering with it. Blew the engine and that was the end of my Lotus Cortina. Wish I had it today.