Lotus Elan SE

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Light, powerful and with sensational handling, the Elan Series proved a huge commercial success for Lotus, with just under 9,000 being produced by the time production ceased in 1973.

Even today there are few more rewarding driver’s cars around and as development progressed, the Elan became more and more civilised; the final Series 4 - introduced in March 1968 - getting dashboard fresh-air vents and improved interior trim and fittings. The bodyshell was slightly thinner and lighter than the S3 and featured flared wheel arches accommodating wider wheels, side repeaters and larger rear lights. It could sprint to 60mph in 7.8 seconds and hit 122mph flat out.

This August 1970 S4 Special Equipment coupe was originally painted blue but its long-term owner opted to go for classic Lotus colour yellow a few years into his ownership during the mid-70s. His wife used the car to commute from Hereford hospital to their home near Newtown at weekends and between shifts. Our vendor ran an established and popular garage in mid-Wales and ensured the car was looked after properly in-house before opting to put the car into storage. This turned into long term storage, with the car being kept in a dry state and off the road from 1978.

It was given occasional exercise and some maintenance which included a repair for damaged threads on its drive-shafts and replacement inner bearings in 1986 (which is actually the only invoice on file).

Fortunately, the body is made of fibreglass as we know so has not rotted and luckily the storage was dry so the original oil-sprayed chassis is considered to be in sound order. The paint work has however faded and flaked a bit and the interior would benefit from a re-trim, but fundamentally, this is a sound car with only 47,970 miles recorded.

This is therefore a rare opportunity to acquire a genuine low mileage car which wants for not much more than a good cosmetic restoration and interior re-trim. The carbs have recently been removed and sent for a rebuild by specialist Alan Feilding at Carbcare earlier this year and the car running as it should.

The history file is sparse, given the car was looked after in-house and has sat in storage for a long period, however, there is one old MOT on file dating from May 1977 when the car had covered 44,267 miles, its V5C, documentation from DVLA confirming our vendor’s long term ownership, the aforementioned invoice and a letter confirming the history of the car signed by our vendor along with his garage’s details.

This is a rare opportunity indeed and one we are particularly keen to see find a good enthusiast home who’ll restore it to its former glory, or indeed use and improve in its current state with a bit of light fettling.