Articles

Recollections of Les Mellor

Some Personal Recollections of Les Mellor.

By Mike Goodfellow

My earliest recollection of Les is having a conversation with him about motor sport in the early noughties. He suggested that I should try to join the sprint series at Morgan Park and I did. Thank you Les, you nudged me into motor sport.

From time to time Les helped me with things.

I decided to take the Plus 2 to Adelaide to run in Classic Adelaide. Les made me a trailer to transport the Plus 2.

I was advised that the M100 Elan engine mounts needed replacing. Les suggested an organisation in Brisbane that could renovate them for me.

Les absolutely loved his Lotus Cortina. “The Corty” as I recall he called it. He drove it with great enthusiasm particularly in motorsport of course. I think it would be fair to say that motor cars and motorsport were the essence on his life.

His enthusiasm for motorsport started early. Alongside his first job servicing trucks he built a go kart which he tested around the oval of the school adjacent to his workplace. This enterprise came to an end when the school’s headmaster had words with the owner of the motor works Les was working at.

To me Les was very much his own person. This was perhaps exemplified by his reaction to the offer of free beer to anyone that attended the Club Lotus Australia AGM (in Sydney of course). This was before Lotus Club Qld was formed, and Club Lotus Australia included Queensland. His words, delivered in his cutting humour style, were not well received in some quarters and eventually Les severed his connection with the club.

Not so long after this, Lotus Club Queensland was formed. His comments on the free beer reflected many member’s thoughts perhaps?

To me Les was:

A person with a strong commitment to doing things. Not just motor cars as I found out at the Celebration Of His Life. Jean (his wife) had arranged for a most impressive woollen tapestry that Les had made to be displayed. A revelation to me.

At the same time he was someone happy to help other people – particularly where assistance was needed in relation to motor vehicles!

I have good memories of Les and am happy to help reinforce the positive approach Jean took in celebrating his life.

Historic Elan Chassis 26/0196

The story of a 1963 Lotus Elan 1600 – chassis 26/0196.

Paul Schmidt from Newcastle bought the Elan new from Geoghegans in February 1964. The car was one of the first three Elans to be imported by Geoghegans.

Paul racing at Warwick Farm in ’64, debuting with Kevin Bartlett’s TVR. Paul owned the car until 1968. Over the next 20 years it stayed in NSW, but the condition steadily declined.

Tony and Lisa Galletly bought the car in 1989 and set about an extensive 10 year rebuild. It was significant that the original Bourne body and Lotus chassis were able to be retained in excellent restored condition.

After the rebuild, Tony raced the car very successfully in historic events for many years until it was sold to England where it is used regularly by new owner Robert Barrie.

Retro fit aircon in an S1

By Barry Mather.

Back in 2018 (I think) I had grand plans to take my S1 Elise on a road trip of a few thousand kilometers. There were two major things that needed addressing though; luggage storage and aircon.

Working out how to carry a suitcase or duffle bag is necessary as I’ve removed the boot of my S1 to make way for more important things. At the time it was a turbo – that’s since been replaced with a nicely made ‘over the top’ exhaust manifold. So I set about designing a luggage rack to sit over the boot lid.

I procured some 25mm (ish) aluminium tubing with ~2.5mm wall thickness and set about bending and welding a rack together. The back of the rack slots into the wing mounts (I have to take the wing off to use the rack, but its only 4 bolts) and is held in place with a stainless pin with an R clip for easy access to the engine bay. The front of the rack attaches to a cross bar that is bolted through the clam near the rear windscreen with a spreader plate on the inside of the clam. It’s only 3 bolts per side to remove. The rack is then hinged using heim joints.

I gave the rack a ‘John Deere’ paint job and overall I’m pretty happy with the results. There is space for a couple of waterproof duffle bags to be held on with ratchet straps. The wing mounts are braced under the clam to the rear subframe so should be plenty strong enough for a few bags.

With the luggage rack sorted I turned my attention to the much more complicated problem of aircon.

I transitioned through a few different designs before I settled on a suitable solution. The first iteration used an electric compressor – at first I thought this would be a great solution, it kept the pipework short and I’d already relocated the battery from the front to behind the driver’s seat (it’s a small lightweight battery). But what I didn’t realise was how much power would be required. The stock alternator wasn’t producing enough juice to run it and the battery was too small. I didn’t want to install a much bigger battery or alternator so the electric compressor was removed and stored for another project.

So I moved onto a more traditional plan of using an engine powered compressor. The Honda compressor is quite large and will not fit in the Lotus chassis – but there was potential space where the power steering pump is normally located; just above the intake manifold. So I took a few generic measurements and headed to a wreckers yard – but there are not too many left in Brisbane that you can wander around and remove whatever parts you need, possibly something to do with insurance. But I found ‘King Auto Wreckers’ in Willawong and headed there with a small toolbox.

I wandered around for an hour looking at all the various cars trying to find the smallest a/c compressor. I ended up with a ‘D09’ compressor from a 2017 Mazda 3 – and from what I can tell all Mazdas from this era use the same compressor. I made sure to get a few a/c fittings and tubes while I was there and I set about making a bracket to fit the compressor in. It turned out to be fairly easy by bending some thick wall steel tube and making a few tabs – everything was almost too easy and of course the picture tells a thousand words!

Under the compressor there is another bracket to brace it and it’s extremely stable. One downside is that the Mazda compressor is only a 6 rib belt against the 8 rib Honda pulleys, but I didn’t think it would be an issue to run a 6 rib belt on 8 rib pulleys.

Routing the hoses was pretty straight forward using a mixture of hard lines and along with 10″ and 6″ flexible hoses. I sourced bulkhead fittings at the front and rear of the sills from Speedy Air Spares who carry a large range of a/c fittings and hoses.

I also purchased a hydraulic crimping tool specific to a/c hoses given I’d need to make up a few custom length hoses. Running the hose through the sill was tight, and I ended up with a few scraped knuckles but it works.
I then turned my attention to the front – I needed to install 3 items; a condenser, an evaporator/blower fan and a dryer.

I removed the front clam and engine radiator/shroud and installed a large condenser under the main radiator along with a single large fan. The dryer was easily installed on the side of the crash structure (the same as later S2/S3 Elises) and I made up several hoses to connect it all together. Then it was time to design and build a box for the evaporator. I searched through many online images to try and find one that would fit – I’d already removed the heater box so I had plenty of space, but I also have to leave space for the ABS unit (that’s a story for another time though).

I ended up with an evaporator of the perfect size – from the rear cabin of an NM Pajero. I bought a second hand unit along with the TX valve and setup about building a box for it. I made sure to leave around 20mm of space under the evaporator to allow for condensation to collect which drains through a 10mm hose into the wheel well – there is a handy hole already there to route the hose through. I bent up some 1.6mm aluminium to house the evaporator with an inlet for a cage fan and an outlet for some flexible hose to link into the standard Lotus air plenum leading to the cabin.

With all of the physical parts of the a/c system installed it was time to look into how to control the clutch on the compressor. I turned to eBay and found a fridge/freezer control that fits the bill perfectly. There is a small temperature probe that’s installed into the airstream from the evaporator and you simply set the temp desired and run a wire to the compressor to activate the clutch – simple!

Getting the system charged with R134 was easy enough and I can now enjoy cool, crisp 16 degree air. I transitioned through several different designs for the evaporator unit, the Pajero one is by far the best fitting solution and is perfectly sized for the Elise cabin.

So, can you have a/c in an Elise S1? Of course! It’s not hard to do and really only requires a few weekends to put together once you have the shopping list of parts!

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Targa High Country 2022

Targa High Country – Tour February 2022

By Cris Johansen.

Having participated in my third TARGA now I can make a number of recommendations, the first is that everyone with a Lotus needs to enter at least one of these to experience driving in our cars on roads they were made for, at speeds that are only limited by the driver’s skill. The second recommendation is not to try and have repairs done on a Honda gearbox beforehand without lots of time to spare!

I’d initially entered the event in my S1 to take part in the TSD class, one that relies on the driver and navigator’s ability to consistently maintain the nominated time for each stage, however, a crack in the gearbox housing of my K20 Honda resulted in a search over all East Coast states for a replacement and ended up with Geoff Noble coming to the rescue with the necessary parts in his garage only 5km from my place. Another big thanks to Geoff!

By the time I managed to provide the parts it was clear that I was not going to get my S1 to Victoria in time, so I called Lotus Australia to enquire as to if I could have my long-awaited Cup 250 Final Edition delivered to Melbourne in lieu of Brisbane. Lotus Melbourne came to my aid and so I then had to call Targa HQ and ask them if I could make a late change from TSD to the Tour. Thanks to assistance on all fronts I flew to Melbourne and collected my new toy on the Thursday morning, picked up my brother/navigator Leigh, and took the Cup 250 on its maiden voyage through the Yarra Valley and up to Mansfield for documentation and scrutineering with the Lotus Australia / SSC team, who had taken over the bus depot for the afternoon.

Once the SSC team had finished, the car was fitted with the Rally Safe and covered with decals making it clear to everyone that the car is, in fact, a Lotus and that it is a participant in the THC.

The actual event started on Friday from the ski village at Mt Buller and, 21 competitive stages and ~1,000km later, finished with a sprint up the mountain once again. The Tour managed by SSC was divided into 3 categories, with Lotus drivers who wanted to drive as close to the 120kmh limit as possible at all times in one group, Lotus drivers who were content to simply enjoy the roads in a second and a mix of other marques in the third.

The roads are simply made for a Lotus, or as Mark O’Connor suggested, the Lotus is made for such roads. Regardless of which is correct, most of the participants had a great few days that they will remember for a long time. This event was my brother’s first entrée into motorsport and after holding his breath for most of the first stage down the mountain he decided that our cars could deal with the roads in ways that he had not previously thought possible and settled into enjoying the weekend.

In addition to the driving, the Tour provides a wonderful opportunity to meet others both inside and beyond the Lotus community as we shared 4 nights accommodation at the ski village and ate most meals together. We had the privilege of meeting quite a few new folk from across the county and the social side of the event is as much an enjoyable part of the great event as is the driving.

There were a couple of unfortunate incidents involving the Lotus group, the most entertaining being that the ‘fast’ group leader, Mark O’Connor, demonstrated the limit to his driving ability in front of the Mansfield onlookers by putting the Exige up on a kerb and being the butt of many comments for the rest of the event.

In summary, a fun event, well organised, in a part of the country that was a privilege to visit, great weather, great friends, loads of memories and great roads to wear out your Lotus on. My new Cup 250 is now run in!

Targa High Country 2022 and a record number of Lotus cars.

By Tony Seymour.

The weather really seems to set things up for Targa High country 2022. With a 2 day trip from Brissie towing the car in a borrowed Great Wall we arrived to stunning weather in Mansfield.

And just in case anyone’s thinking about it, don’t do it. In the Great Wall most things didn’t work, including the cruise control, the lane control and the dash functions like how many k’s you had left in the tank. Nonetheless we soldiered on and come to think of it cruise control wasn’t really needed cause flat out we could only do 115.

Back to the event, and Simply Sports Cars arrived on Wednesday along with 25 odd tour cars and another 11 competition cars. SSC were also running a General Tour and had around 100 people at the nightly dinners. With 15 SSC crew on hand the boys did a fantastic job of looking after us and at the same time exposed
the non-Lotus drivers to the Lotus lifestyle.

Friday Day 1 race day and wow, perfect weather! Made a change from the rain last year and the snow the year before that’s for sure. So with heart in mouth down the mountain we went, and a little tip for first timers. When doing a recce don’t look over the side. It’s a long way down and hitting a tree is probably your best option.

We then headed through Mansfield for another 6 stages before the final run up Mt Buller at days end. Day 1 was pretty good, the roads were reasonably smooth and fun to drive. All eyes were on the speed limited GT Sports Trophy class with 18 competitors and 7 Lotus.

At days end mere seconds separated the field with Lotus filling 7 of the top 8 positions, with a pesky WRX STI spoiling things otherwise. In GT Outright the 4 competitors were in positions 4/5/9/ and 14. A pretty good showing really as you’re up against some pretty expensive machinery and a lot of experience.

Day 2 brought the bumpy roads and save for the GT Sports Trophy guys the rest went backwards including one of the tour cars which actually did go backwards down the mountain. Fortunately those trees I mentioned did come into play and both were ok.

The day then culminated in the Mansfield Town Stage a favourite for Lotus and across all classes we filled 8 of the top 20 places.

Day 3 and with half the rally still to go it was on in GT Sports. Again the roads really suited Lotus and by days end the natural and proper order of things was restored. Lotus filled the first 7 positions! Surely a record at any Targa Event.

So here are the 7 competitors and the 7 placings. Congrats to Matt and Tim on their win and a special well done to Laura and Gavin on their first event in the Lotus.

Position	Team	Vehicle
1st	Gibbens/Jurd	Exige 410
2nd	Sher/Murphy	Exige S
3rd	Bryden/Noble	Exige 410
4th	Duursma/Wodhams	Exige 430
5th	Rogers/Rodgers	Exige 410
6th	Taylor/Taylor	Exige 350
7th	Trude/Morrison	Exige 410

In Gt Outright Vanderpoel/Hilton had tyre trouble on Day 2 and another mechanical on Day 3 ultimately putting them out and allowing ourselves and the Cuthberts to tie in 5th place. And another special well done to the Ringuet’s on their first time in the open class. It is a little daunting and easing into it is the only way to go. Believe me I found out the hard way.

Position	Team	Vehicle
1st	Morton/Nicoli	GT2RS
2nd	Kennard/Glenney	GTR
3rd	Quinn/Catford	GTR
4th	Newman/Kudra	GT3RS
5th	Seymour/Seymour	Exige S
6th	Cuthbert/Cuthbert	Exige S
13th	Ringuet/Ringuet	Exige 350

So in summary a fantastic event well supported by SSC and a very enthusiastic tour class. And my advice remains the same. Just do it.

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To Australia and back for an Elan

David Rose, the current owner of a 1963 Elan, tells the story of its journey to Australia, its rich racing history, restoration and now a new-found home in the UK.

The long journey to Australia

Elan number 26/0202 was one of the earliest Elans built and one of the very earliest to arrive in Australia. As an early car, it is one of the rare ‘Bourne’ bodied Elans – Bourne Plastics, in Lincolnshire, England, won the contract in 1962 to build Elan bodies. Bourne went on to make 250-300 bodies before Lotus took manufacture back in-house in late 1963. Bourne-built cars wear a small badge in the engine bay bearing the body number.

Factory assembled and completed in October 1963, it made the 10,000 mile sea journey to Sydney, where first owner Bill Gates collected the car from Geoghegan’s dealership.

Success in the hands of a famous Queenslander

Bill Gates will be known to many as Brisbane DJ, Lotus racer and first manager of The Bee Gees. The story goes that Bill, his friend Bill Goode, a sponsor of Bill’s radio show Platter Chatter and singer Barry Gibb all shared the same initials – they agreed to use this as inspiration and subsequently named the band the BGs, later The Bee Gees.

Bill loved cars, was also an owner of a Cooper S and MGB which was used to tow his speedboat. He drove his new Elan from Sydney home to Brisbane and over the course of the next 3 years had considerable success racing the Elan at all of Queensland’s race tracks.

The racing history of the little red Elan is well documented, with many period photographs too – wins came at Lowood in October 1964, at Lowood again in 1965 as well as twice at Lakeside. In 1966 Gates and the Elan won at Lakeside and Surfers Paradise. They raced in the Australian Grand Prix meeting at Lakeside in 1966, achieving 3rd place in the Tasman Cup and sharing the meeting with Lotus greats including Jim Clark and eventual winner of the Grand Prix, Graham Hill.

A big crash and long restoration

Gates went on to take delivery of a red Elan 26R which is now owned by Vaughan Stibbard (the two cars always raced as number ‘50’) and the S1 was bought by Lex Harris for road use, bearing the Queensland number ‘NUA 222’, and was later owned by fellow Queenslander Geoff Ansell. It is believed Ansell was the owner when the Elan was badly damaged, with a crash approaching a bridge. The rear of the car was very badly damaged and was off the road for many years, owned by Ray Hilko and then from 2001, Jeff Rowse from Brisbane.

Over the course of a 10 year period Jeff undertook an incredible restoration of the Elan, including restoration of the original chassis. In 2011 the Elan emerged as new, a factory specification car, just as it had arrived in Australia 48 years earlier.

Soon after the restoration, the red Elan was reunited with Bill Gates, the 26R and mechanic Jim Bertram at the Lakeside Historics event.

Leaving Australia and re-connecting with the racing roots

In 2015 the Elan made a 3 month journey by sea back to the UK. Having bought the car unseen from Jeff and despite a fully documented restoration, it was a relief to find the car in such beautiful condition when it arrived in Worcestershire.

The car now sits alongside a GTS spec racing Elan, a Climax Elite and Lotus 18 FJ. Despite infrequent use on the road and now with a beautiful 145bhp twin cam, the Elan has made it back on track and also, in 2021, it ran at the world’s oldest motorsport venue, Shelsley Walsh Hill Climb close by in Worcestershire.

Torn between keeping it as a road car and using it as it once was, to race, the car is a welcome edition to the early Elans in the UK and, as some Australian Lotus fans have said, should find its way back home Down Under some day.

For those interested in early Elans there is a dedicated Facebook Group – Lotus Type 26 – S1 and S2 Elan and I would be very interested to learn of further details of this red Elan’s history – please email dunclent1@gmail.com

Rebuilding an engine

Can’t be that hard – can it?

By Barry Mather.

In mid 2020 I made the decision to rebuild my Honda K20A2. While it was not making any bad noises or was particularly down on power it had had a tough life. I bought it circa 2016 condition and milage unknown from a wrecker and it came marked as being from a 2004 Integra DC5R. There were some indications that it had been opened previously such as the wrong colour sealant around the timing chain cover, but it worked well.

Over the years I had run both normally aspirated and turbocharged, then back to normally aspirated in my Elise S1 and it had seen MUCH punishment on track – in fact this car is used mostly as a track car now. So it was time for a birthday.

I researched and researched and finally decided on 12.8:1 Arias Pistons, BC Rods and Drag Cartel 3.2 cams along with all new guides, chains, bearings, valves (and springs) and pretty much anything else that moved was sourced. Everything was ordered from Real Street in the US and turned up quickly.

The orange RTV … it should be grey hondabond!

Removing the engine isn’t a big deal from the Elise chassis – clam off, disconnect everything and yank it out with a crane – and a few hours later it was on the engine stand getting torn down. I made up a wooden frame and loosely stapled thick plastic to create a large drip tray – it worked really well!

But, the engine looked clean inside and parts had very little wear on them. The chain guides and big end bearings etc. had hardly any wear!

I continued to pull the engine apart, carefully labelling the parts in snap lock bags and trying to keep the environment ‘clean’.

At this point in time a K20Z4 block came up for sale with big end bearing knock – I took a chance on buying it cheaply as it was extremely clean, but was undecided on if I would use it.

Further evidence was uncovered the engine had previously apart when I pulled the head off and was greeted by a TODA head gasket! The cylinder bores looked ok, still lots of cross hatching with a minor amount of carbon build up at the top – nothing a very light hone wouldn’t take care of.

When pulling the head apart I noticed the first bit of wear that would need to be addressed – the exhaust valve guides were very slightly oval – enough to warrant the guides being replaced, so the head was sent off for a hot tank clean, skim of the deck and replacement of the exhaust valve guides.

A couple of weeks later I received back a very clean and shiny head …

If anyone is looking for quick and professional service in northside Brisbane – check out PEACH Performance Engines in Stafford.

In the meantime I’d continued to dismantle the block and came to a decision point – keep the K20A2 block or use the K20Z4.

There are a few differences between the blocks, but they are very minor and wouldn’t factor into a decision point. The decision came when measuring the main crank journals with the new bearings. Here is where it gets a bit more complicated…. Honda have a system of different sized main journal bearings – they install whatever bearing size is required for that particular crank grind.

So I installed the new bearings, which were only available in 1 size from ACL, and plastigauge told me that the Z4 block was the way to go – all the tolerances were right in the middle of the spec range. After that decision was made I cleaned the Z4 block and gave it a very light hone with a 3 stone drill operated tool and lots of lube. The cross hatching looked good before, it was just a case of taking the glaze off and the small amount of carbon build up.

After cleaning it again, and with the crank installed I plastigauged the big ends and again, everything right in the middle of spec. Plastigauge is a great invention – it’s a ‘calibrated’ piece of wax string that you cut a short length of, place it between the two surfaces you want to measure, toque the bolts and make sure to NOT rotate the crank, then take it apart and measure how squashed the wax is against the chart provided on the packet … that’s it!

Just clean off the wax, assembly lube the crank and journal and reassemble.

The pistons had their rings gapped to the specifications provided by Arias for normally aspirated configuration, rods attached & they were carefully slid into the block.

As you can see in the pic, I had been marking every bolt that had been torqued to spec – just a good visual reminder.

I’d bought a Wiseco 86mm piston ‘installer’ for the task and it was so utterly easy. It’s a conical shaped cylinder that you place on the block, lube up the piston and rings and slide it in – the conical internal shape compresses the rings and lines it up with the cylinder bore. Easy!

The rods had their ARP2000 bolts torqued up and that was that – bottom rotating end completed.
The pistons have quite the peak on them to achieve the higher compression ratio (standard on an Australian K20A2 is 11:1) with large reliefs for the intake and exhaust valves. There are a few sharp edges that were a little cause for concern as potential heat spots for pre-detonation, or pinking if your from the homeland. But they are shiny …

One of modifications required to the Z4 block is to swap to the K20A2 oil pump. The Z4 has a large oil pump with a balance shaft built in. They are known weak points for high rpms and its an easy swap. There is a small oil passage way that on some blocks is tapped, others require tapping to be blocked. And the A2 oil pump needs to have some webbing clearanced to fit on the Z4 block. Easily done and the cleaned A2 pump is installed with its chain.

Next it was onto assembling the head. I’d bought this cheap tool that worked perfectly for installing valve springs. It bolts to the head and you run a bolt through the top part onto a tube with a window cut into the side to allow spring to be compressed while the keepers are carefully slotted into place. This tool will enable spring changes without the need to remove the head if you pop a little compressed air into the spark plug hole.

So, new valve seals, Supertech springs and Ti retainers done … it’s a thing of beauty!

I also replaced all the lost motion springs and retainers. They keep part of the VTEC mechanism from flapping around when not in use, mine were quite worn.

This shot shows the head installed with new OEM head gasket and OEM head bolts torqued to spec. the rest is easy bolt on ‘stuff’ – water pump (new) and cleaned housing. Drag cartel cams are easy swap in along with new cam chain and tensioner and everything sealed up (with proper grey sealant) ready to install back into the car.

I also installed a swivel coolant inlet to enable swapping of coolant direction around the car – it makes for a simpler coolant and hose routing pathway but can only be done if you remove the heater from the car – no problem for a QLD based car!

Here is where the story takes another diversion.

At the same time I decided to rewire the engine bay, along with installing a Haltech Elite 1500 ECU. Which took weeks of effort – but I’m now happy I have 2 connectors to electrically disconnect the engine from the car.

Everything was buttoned up and it was sent to the dyno for mapping. I received the car back and was told ‘guess the power’ as I had a sprint the following weekend. Where the car did not perform as expected. Power felt low although everything worked ok.

Tuner then reported it only made ~175hp at the wheels … not what was expected at all.

I checked timing and a million other things, everything was ok. Then I took (another) detour and installed drive by wire throttle … very easy with the haltech and enables throttle curve mapping for different driving modes. I used a Honda pedal to TPS sensor adapter under the dash to convert from cable throttle to electronic signal and a Commodore v6 throttle body, a 72mm Bosch unit that matches the new intake manifold. All up, a very easy install.

After another dyno session where it still only made ~175hp I decided to swap back out to the stock K20A2 cams. After some careful listening to the exhaust you could hear what sounded like an exhaust leak, but the exhaust (a very nice ‘over the top’ manifold made by Stone Brothers racing) was not the culprit. It turns out it was the huge overlap of the Drag Cartel cams – swapping back to stock cams and another trip to the dyno it shot up to 200hp at the wheels on 6 week old BP98 fuel.

Conclusion

Building an engine is not hard, at all. Give it time, the right tools and a little patience and anyone could do it. Especially if you’re rebuilding to stock configuration.

I am lucky enough to have access to a well provisioned workshop, with a medium sized ultrasonic heated bath cleaner – this was key to cleaning some parts and made the reassembly job a pleasure. I was very surprised at the condition of all the bearing surfaces after so much punishment, a real testament to the quality of these engines.

So, what’s next? Just use it … see you out there on the track soon, and if you see me in the pits – drop by and say hi!

60 Years of Magic

Lotus ELAN 1962 – 2022

By Craig Wilson.

When Colin Chapman, Ron Hickman and the team at Lotus were looking at a replacement for the brilliant but expensive Type 14 Elite in 1961, little did they know that they were setting another benchmark which is still revered by the best designers, critics and owners six decades later.

As Gordon Murray CBE said on the McLaren F1 review. The two Elans in his collection are the benchmark on handling, and he nearly achieved that perfection, nimbleness, balance and driving experience in the F1.

The Type 26 Elan was announced at a Press Release with the S1 at the Earls Court London Motor Show – 17 October 1962. Some were available in kit form but cost fully built was GBP 1499.00.

The fundamental structure of backbone folded steel chassis and fibreglass body was half the cost of the monocoque Elite body and the method used for road going Lotus cars through the Elans, Europa, Elite, Eclat, Excel, Esprits up to the change in the iconic Elise and it’s revised structure for the new generation of Lotus.

The Elan was produced in S1 to S4 models with the usual variations of convertible, removable hardtop, FHC and ever increasing performance and styling upgrades of Type 36 and Type 45 in the final S4 Sprint in 1975.

There are also the many competition versions of 26R S1 and S2. This was a lightweight version produced initially to meet increasing factory requests to compete against privateer conversions of Elans for racing. (See story below.)

60 years later, these little race cars are still giant killers in Historic Racing such as Goodwood Revival.

Colin Chapman was very good at product placement and the Elan models featured in many TV series including the Avengers with Dianna Rigg (Emma Peel), Tara King, Peter Sellers and Paul Newman had one, Jim Clark, Jochen Rindt, Graham Hill and the list goes on.

So to all those Elan and Elan Plus 2 owners out there who are one day gunna do it, now is the time. This is the year. Make the effort. Get it out of the shed, open the boxes and go for it.

A big congratulations to Steve Amos who dragged his S4 out of the shed mid 2021 and refurbished it after 10 years. Well done Steve and he still can’t control the smile.

A further big congratulations to Gary Stewart who dragged his Elan out of the shed after at least 25 years during 2021 and completely refurbished all the mechanicals to arrive at the All British Day in style. Well done Gary.

Our hope is that Ian Loxton will make good progress this year on his very big Elan +2 project. Keep at it Ian.

Ian Wright’s S3 Elan is on the way – another Ian with an Elan project.

So there are a few on the go and if you know someone who has one, who needs a prod or some support, let them know there are plenty of people around to lend a hand.

We have at least 12 Elans and +2s on the road in Queensland and that could grow with a bit of encouragement. We would also like to see some magazine articles throughout this year on your Elan, its life, restoration and ownership so share those stories.

A 60 year celebration is in planning for later this year so there is plenty of time to join the Elan team.

TYPE 26 Elan S1 and S2

Contribution by William Taylor, Creative Director of Coterie Press

By 1961 it was clear that for Lotus to remain profitable, it was the Elite which had to be supplanted. As such, the Elan became more up-market. Overall, its design had less of the Elite’s uncompromised feel and far more regard for production viability and costings.

The simple, deep backbone chassis was of 18swg steel with local 16swg stiffening and weighed a mere 75lb. It measured 11.5 inches by 6 inches at the centre (which doubled up as a propshaft tunnel) and each end of the chassis forked out into narrower sections. Cross-members and turrets at the front cradled the engine, gearbox, steering and suspension, and the rear housed the final drive and suspension.

The body, designed by Ron Hickman, was moulded in two main glassfibre sections (floorpan/arches and upper body) which were then bonded together. Steel strengthening for the door jambs and screen pillars made it sufficiently rigid to not rely on the chassis for its strength. Clean aerodynamics suggested a pop-up headlamp arrangement, which was worked by vacuum cylinders. The front and rear bumpers were made of plastic and filled with polyurethane foam.

Chapman wanted a twin overhead camshaft engine for the Elan and turned to Harry Mundy of The Autocar magazine. Mundy, formerly with BRM and Coventry Climax agreed to develop a DOHC head. Preliminary work was on the 3-bearing 109E block, until the Ford 116E 5-bearing block became available. The alloy heads were initially made by J.A. Prestwich, and then by Lotus itself.

As announced, the Elan engine displaced 1,499cc and was basically a detuned version of the same unit that had powered the Lotus 23 earlier in the season. The head, pushrods, timing cover and water pump of the original OHV engine was discarded, and Lotus fitted its own aluminium DOHC head. However, the 100bhp engine was quickly superseded by a definitive 1,558cc, 105bhp version with twin Weber carburettors. Dellorto or Zenith-Stromberg carbs would be fitted later.

The interior, accessed by wide-opening doors, seated two, on well-shaped adjustable seats mounted on an inclined floor. The steering column was adjustable for reach by concentric tubes, designed for crash collapsibility. The fascia panel was of nineply, wood faced with teak and housed four gauges. The boot was generous for a sports car and under the floor sat the spare wheel and 10-gallon fuel tank. The windows were of the manually operated, sliding type, rather than having a bulky winding mechanism, (which wouldn’t fit in the tight confines of the door).

Initially launched in convertible form only at the 1962 Earls Court Motor Show, the price was £1,495 fully built or £1,095 in kit form. From May 1963, when the larger engine was standardised, a removable hardtop became an optional extra.

The Elan quickly gained a reputation as an ultra-responsive, balanced, and quick little car. The Elan attracted over 2,000 customers in its first three years and its success almost certainly saved Lotus from an early demise.

A revised Elan S2 arrived in November 1964. It had several small improvements like larger front calipers, full-width polished veneer dash with a lockable glovebox, quick-release filler cap and new rear lenses. The option of centre-lock wheels was offered in place of the original bolt-on type.

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The Story of a Lotus Seven…..thus far.

By John Barram.

SB2282 is a Lotus Seven which left the factory in 1968, fitted with a black, Jim Clark memorial, Lotus badge. This car is one of the last few hundred of the much loved spaceframe Sevens to be made by Lotus.

By 1968 Lotus were making changes to engines, rear axles and more cosmetic matters, as you do during production if you are Lotus, and then they began production of the series 3 cars. This car came with a 1600cc crossflow motor, instruments grouped in front of the driver, Cosmic alloy wheels, an external fuel filler, an air scoop to cover the down-draught Weber carburettor and carpets and other improvements.

The car was first registered in England on 22 Jan 1969. Documentation shows that the Seven had six different owners and passed through two car yards in the UK from 1969 until early 1987.

In about March 1987 the car arrived in Adelaide for Paul Charal in South Australia who had arranged to import the car privately from England. The Seven was soon road registered and in April 1987 the car was issued with a CAMS Log Book for competition.

Paul was soon a regular competitor in the car at SA. tracks. Around this time a few changes were made to align the car with the earlier S2 Sevens which had been rampant on Australian race circuits since the 1960’s with the fitting of a non-crossflow Cosworth Spec. engine with twin side-draught Weber carburettors and narrower rear guards.

Paul raced the car at Mallala, and A.I.R. and did sprints at Victor Harbour. The car was also used in a number of tarmac rallies including The Grand Prix Rally of 1987 where it won Post Vintage Thoroughbreds under 3000c.c.
Around 2007 the car was sold to a William Beckett in Kingston ACT along with a few pallets of spare engines, gearboxes, bonnets and mud guards. The intention to restore the car did not happen and the Seven along with its spare parts were sold to Jeff Thomson on 22 April 2014 along with documentation of its life to that point.
Jeff Thompson was a jeweller and had raced a Lotus 18 and Lotus 20 when they were at their best. He also owned a Seven in his earlier years. Now, later in life he was very keen to restore a road going Seven to concourse standards.

Jeff’s restoration began with a complete strip down and the frame had rust in some of the lower tubes. The alloy skin was removed and the frame sand blasted. Surprisingly for a car of this age there was no evidence of previous frame/accident repairs but there were cracks showing in the nickel bronze welding.

Brisbane craftsman Ken Gray did the frame repairs and the manufacture and fitting of all new alloy panels. Most of the fibreglass panels were also repaired or replaced.

Jeff lived an hour out of Brisbane and when the body work was completed and the car painted it was decided to bring the car to John Lungren’s workshop at Thornlands for final assembly, closer to the people and parts for Lotus Sevens in Brisbane.

Many new parts were sourced from England as the assembly progressed. The engine was built by Peter Larner Engines in Melbourne. The gearbox was rebuilt by Greg Bray in Brisbane.

The car went home to Jeff’s place on 28 March 2018, with minor trim work to be completed but ready for registration. Sadly, by this time Jeff’s health was in decline and he passed before the car was registered.
Gary Wrenn bought the car from Jeff’s estate and began to share his life with the Seven. Gary also is a man of high standards in car preparation and as the paintwork had sustained some damage and other parts were less than perfect, he took the six fibreglass panels and had their shapes perfected and all repainted by a leading auto body shop. It is much better than new.

On 22 September 2019 Jeff’s dream did come true with the Seven winning awards for the Best Seven and the Best Lotus Overall at the Queensland Lotus Club annual concourse at the All British Day at Tennyson.

The car is still in perfect condition but now Gary has health problems and has decided the Seven should go to a new custodian for the next stage of its life.

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Last throw of the dice

There comes a time in every old man’s life when past laments well-up and amends must be made.

By John Carson.

It is perhaps not unrelated, that such times can also coincide with that periodic urge to move-on old campaigners and upgrade to a new competition car.

To explain:
Fifty plus years ago, circa 1970, a mate and I would drive top-down on cold winters’ nights, from St. Lucia to Holland Park in his dainty and rasping Austin Healy Sprite Mk. 111A. There, at Gus McClure’s Sports Cars yard we would ogle at the bulbous and muscled flanks of a brand new and bright yellow-ochre Bolwell Nagari. This lot, now vacant, still exists located inbound on Logan Road just down from the Copper Keg Hotel.

As a callow youth, in 1971, I wrote to Bolwell asking about kits and supply (see images of letter and brochure) but, instead, that year I purchased a low mileage private import TR6 and, ever since, it has been a faithful road car and an almost totally standard but trusty Group Sb Historic Production Sports Car.

However, even in 2019, at the 50th Anniversary event for the Nagari at Phillip Island I was still flirting with the idea of log booking a Nagari for Group S Historic racing, but wiser heads suggested otherwise.

Rather, twenty years ago I had been equally smitten. In 2001, I had been racing in Group 2A Sports at Qld Raceway (QR), against the late and much-admired Bill Pye. I was mesmerised by the handling of his flame belching, dynamically sweet, orange Lotus Exige. One instance was when he lapped my heavy 5 litre TR7V8 through the double apex, paper clip internal corner… on the outside line!

Bill, a farmer and grazier, had a great rural sense of humour and in between races and after viewing my in-car vision, from an earlier standing start, he made the comment; “Being so far back on the grid, I’m surprised that you can still see the starting lights!”

So, after lusting after an Exige for the past 20 odd years it was probably time to take the plunge with a Final Edition 420 and what better colour than that original Nagari Yellow, but this time sporting the almost identical 2021 Lotus hue of Solid Yellow.

Nostalgically, and in a nod to what was never to be, the Lotus was pictured (spectating only) beside a Nagari, in December, at GEAR Club’s last 2021 event at Lakeside. But this time it was a citrus lemon convertible. Half a century later I still swoon at the sight of a Nagari but am glad I finally have an Exige, for as I tell my family and friends, “This is my last throw of the dice.”

But interestingly, buying a new last edition Exige hadn’t really been a conscious decision, until very late last year.

You see, for the last few decades I have been campaigning some delightfully loyal old clunkers in historic circuit racing events but, of late, had been feeling stale in that my lowly position on the grid wasn’t changing.

Yes, the camaraderie and dicing were good but I wasn’t moving forward in terms of technical achievement and/or new experiences. I’m sure this sense of underwhelming hiatus is a neurosis in motor sports, not unique to myself, and there’s probably a mental health Latin medical name for it. Loosely translated, I believe the term for this treatable condition is “I just wanna faster race car”.

One self-administered therapy, in search of a cure, is to go to the My105 web site where race cars are traded and, in mid-2021, I noticed a 2016 Exige in Gulf Oil livery being offered by Simply Sports Cars (SSC) of Sydney. It ticked a lot of boxes but due to a range of issues, including the NSW lockdowns, I was not able to see and/or drive the car. However, in talking to Lee Knappett, of that firm, I was advised its best time around SMSP’s Eastern Creek G.P. circuit was 1 minute 39 seconds, whilst an indicative time for a standard V6 Exige was 1.45. Given that my best ever SMSP lap time, in my Alfa GTV 2000, is 2.03 this was looking to be a considerable step-up.

The other attractive part of the package was the amount of development work that had gone into this log booked car and Lee sent me a pic of the roll cage. Its incursion into the footwell and beside the driver’s door didn’t appear to impede access for this pale, stocky little ex-shopkeeper, already the recipient of a total knee replacement.

So, a ready-to-race Exige sounded promising but then I really gave thought to the local events where it could be run? Whilst production sports car racing was the obvious grid, I hadn’t been running with these guys for the past 20 plus years and even back then, some were into data logging… I’m not!

Indeed, I’m sure that if I tried to insert my analogue self onto the grid of an even newer generation of young racers, this 2022 cohort and I would be on totally different planets – read here “I don’t do tattoos and still use a UBD.”

Another influencing factor was talking to Lotus and Gear Club member Cam Anderson who mentioned the cable actuated gearbox linkages in the early V6 Exiges tended to be a bit vague.

After Lee Knappett confirmed this improvement, over the 2016 Gulf car, the decision became easier.

Yes, the rifle-bolt feel of the new car’s gear change action is excellent. In fact, it’s superb, but I reckon the exposed almost post-modern display of actuators in the Final Edition car is a pretty good reason, just on aesthetics, to have gone with this last of the breed.

Accordingly, when Chad Balfour of BMW Motorline gave this 71-year-old a test drive in a brand new Exige (this actual car was to become mine) I was sold. Almost immediately, I then realised it was far too nice a car to circuit race. However, it could still be entered in speed events such as Sprints and Regularity. Consequently, depending which existing race cars I may sell or keep, it should still allow me the option of circuit racing in historic events.

Chad arranged for a harness bar and an excellent reversing camera to be fitted (both musts) and delivery day for my new car was Tuesday 23rd of November. It was one of those threatening storm days. Incredibly the only instrument control Chad and I didn’t cover was the windscreen wipers!

On the way home I had stopped in Woolloongabba to show the car to Elise owner David Chilton (GEAR Club President) who had also been helpful in pre-purchase advice. In these back streets I quite accidentally discovered the ‘good omen’ Lotus Street sign where the background sky hinted at the torrential downpour which I had just navigated from Springwood. The wet weather run in this very delightfully predictable and straight forward car had been confidence inspiring.

Since then, my usage has been of ‘Extreme Limited Use’ (to use the Shannon’s Insurance stated condition which they suggest is once or twice a month) and the Exige is only showing 300 km on the odometer. Such usage has been fine by me, especially as even before the Christmas-New Year break, the car was tilt-trayed back to Motorline, Daisy Hill. There had been a continuous engine malfunction warning light and the cabin release lever would not disengage the engine hatch cover. Motorline service was excellent and diagnostics revealed an exhaust flap actuator, solenoid low circuit caused by a connector not completely seating. The hatch release was fixed by disassembling and removing excessive cable collar play in the boot mechanism. My only other teething issue is a conundrum over lithium battery charging and insurances.

You see, I am still trying to decipher the Exige Owner’s Manual instructions for disabling the alarm system when trying to trickle charge the lithium battery. The Manual notes a likely nine-day charge if the car is left alarmed and locked, but if the battery goes flat, one cannot access the cabin apparently, even with the traditional key blade!

Notwithstanding, if the alarm is active and one locks the car but has the front or rear tailgate hatch open for the battery charger leads, it shrieks like a banshee! Now, even if I could understand how to turn off the alarm (on this topic, the Owner’s Manual appears to have been written by the Chinese firm Geely, new owners of Lotus) I do wonder the impact on my Shannon’s Insurance conditions? Accordingly, is the answer never to leave home, or the car, for more than nine days?

As at time of writing, the plan for the Exige is:
Sunday 30th January: QR. My main car club, the Historic Racing Car Club of Qld (HRCC), is having a drive day and update presentation on planned circuit improvements.

19/20th February: Morgan Park – HRCC Try, Train and Test Day (TTT). Saturday is track familiarisation and Regularity whilst Sunday is Super Sprints.

Tuesday 1st March: Mount Panorama – SSC and Lotus Club Drive Day.
11th-13th March: Phillip Island VHRR Classic – entered in Regularity.

Of course, all these events are subject to amendment/cancellation but I have my fingers crossed.

Yes, It’s the last throw of the dice and as my late father used to say, “John it’s later than you think!”

Thanks to all Lotus Club Qld members for making this new recruit feel welcome.

Chapman Era Classics

By Craig Wilson.

The Chapman Era of Lotus was obviously fundamental in the creation of what Lotus is today and it is important to encourage interest in and preserve the cars and the legacy of such creative brilliance.

There are a significant number of members in LCQ with what we shall term, Chapman Era Classics. These are cars that were from Colin Chapman’s creation. From the early days of space frame chassis alloy clad lightweight racers to the fibreglass masterpiece Elite monocoque, the fibreglass bodied cars on backbone chassis such as the Elan or Esprit and Elite families of models.

All these cars cover such a diverse range of interest, expertise and availability and it is becoming increasingly more important that we create an environment within the Club to support anyone who has, or is interested in owning, these classics. There are some on the road, there are many more in sheds and boxes waiting for encouragement and daylight.

We have over the past 18 months had a few impromptu gatherings to view some members projects or just catch up with some of the owners of these classics.

Recently Craig and Carolyn Wilson hosted a morning tea for around 20 very enthusiastic members and it was great to see so many wives or partners along. Unfortunately the violent storms kept the Lotus cars away except for Maggie and Mike who live nearby and decided to chance their timing to perfection in their Elan +2. Well done.

If you own one of these models and need support to “get it out of the shed”, source parts, solve a problem, or just make contact with owners with similar models, please contact the club secretary with your details and we will give you a call. This is to protect your privacy.

Lets get the Chapman Classics out there again.

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2021 Gold Rush Hill Sprint, Toyota Celica GT4 and Classic Lotus

By Ian Loxton.

A few paragraphs from a country based (Bungundarra, via Yeppoon) Lotus Club Queensland member on recent activities.

I have been very enthused to compete in the Gold Rush Hill Sprint conducted near Mt Morgan, Central Queensland each July since 2018 i.e. apart from 2020 when it was cancelled. I was successful in gaining a 2021 entry. For 2021, the hillclimb course had been extended to 3 km in length making it the longest ‘hillclimb’ event climb in Queensland. As an occasional hillclimb competitor at Mt Stuart, Townsville and Noosa, the Gold Rush Hill Sprint had attracted my interest. In addition, at 3 km long the course had some similarities to short Targa Rally Special stages. I was a former Targa Australia Rally entrant earning 3 finisher medallions (2 from Targa High Country and 1 from Targa Great Barrier Reef) and one DNF from the 2019 Targa Great Barrier Reef following a catastrophic turbocharger failure in the GT4.

+2 arrives in Bungundarra following its recovery in 2015

As Jason McGarry stated in his very interesting September LCQ article about the 2021 Gold Rush Hill Sprint there were 3 club members from SE Queensland competing, while I was competing in my Toyota Celica GT4 tarmac rally car. The course was excellent, very smooth tarmac pavement and reminiscent of parts of some Targa Rally Special Stages. The first kilometre was very fast, even with the two round hay bale chicanes. I enthuse about long hillclimbs including Targa stages which have included such famous climbs as the Mt Buller stage in Targa High Country, the Gilles, and Kuranda Ranges in Targa Great Barrier Reef. If I was to name a favourite ‘climb’ it is the 18km long Mt Buller stage in Targa High Country. I am looking forward to entering the 2022 Gold Rush Hill Sprint and support Jason’s comment to encourage other club members to compete.

You might be wondering why someone with a Toyota Celica GT4 tarmac rally car is writing a note in the Lotus Club Queensland magazine. Well, I also own a 1969 Lotus Elan +2 undergoing a slow (very slow I should emphasise) full restoration. I purchased the car in 2015 (it had been parked up since 1982 under a house in Brisbane) and have been slowly working on the project particularly over the last 3 years or so; with the excellent advice of several classic Lotus owners and club members guiding me over the phone and by email including many photos. I gratefully acknowledge the support of these club members who have assisted me with modification drawings, guidance on parts suppliers and specialist fibreglass advice.

+2 body restoration progress in August 2021

The chassis/subframe has been restored, most mechanicals fully overhauled and rebuilt, but the body is taking the most effort. I have been working on the body for most of 2021 and still haven’t completed the full paint removal task. Completion of the paint removal is on the horizon for the end of 2021, then the fibreglass repairs commence. Unfortunately, there are many body repairs required – because of previous owners’ ‘driving’ styles and the reworking of prior repairs (e.g. layup repairs over paint, road grime etc). I have included some photos of the +2 and club members with classic Lotus will be only too familiar with such restoration images and I am sure would quote, ‘been there, done that’.

Monaco GP on Sydney Harbour

By Jason McGarry.

After seeing an email advertisement from Lotus Australia relating to experiencing the Monaco GP on Sydney Harbour organised with Ultimate Driving Tours, I thought what a great short break where I could mix driving and pleasure without the stress of competing.

So Deb and I packed lightly and headed off in the Exige to Sydney, yes we drove it to Sydney and not on a trailer! After softening the suspension before I left I was quite amazed how comfortable the drive was except we should have put ear plugs in! The coast road is excellent now from Brisbane to Sydney but need to watch the speed.

So we left Brisbane on Friday morning and headed down the M1 with a planned stop for lunch at “The Farm” at Byron Bay, and then on to Taree as a sleepover. We had to be in Sydney by lunchtime as we had bought tickets to see the musical Hamilton (which btw is excellent). Dinner that night was at my favourite restaurant in Australia “Mr Wongs”, which was excellent as always.

Sunday morning we left from the Crown Hotel lobby where my Exige was surrounded by Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Porsches, Rolls Royce and Audis. We were given a closed channel radio, some final instructions and told to “warm” the engines up for the guests of the hotel before getting on our way. After leaving the Sydney CBD we headed north to our first stop at Estuary Waterfront Restaurant where I had a discussion with a local policeman about where I parked illegally – my way out of the situation was that I told him I was from Queensland. I also said hello to a MG Car Club group that was on an EMR that morning as well.

From there we headed towards Mooney Mooney, where I got to watch the rear of Lambos and Ferraris as they weaved through the narrow country roads. The scenery was awesome and the roads were great for the Exige where it could stretch its legs at times. From there we travelled to our lunch spot at Bells at Killcare. At this point we were able to have a chat to the other tourers, most of whom had been on tours with Ultimate Driving Tours driving Supercars in Europe on route to events like Monaco F1.

After a delicious lunch it was time to head back into Sydney to prepare for our boat departure from the wharf at Crown Towers at 4.30 pm where we were entertained whilst enjoying the sunset on Sydney Harbour. The experience on the boat was in line with the experience that Ultimate Driving Tours offer in Monaco. With a live covers band, excellent food and the alcohol flowing it was a great build up to watch the race on the screen. An hour before the race Mark Webber called in to share his feeling on how the race was going to unfold and gave an account of the atmosphere on the track, which was a great surprise.

We returned back to the wharf around 2:00 am, by 10:00 am we were on the road heading back to Brisbane in the Exige. If you ever have the opportunity to book a tour with Ultimate Driving Tours either in Australia or overseas I would totally recommend it. They understand how to tailor a package together where there is something for the car enthusiast and their partner.

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