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I would say absolutely do not change the colour of the binnacle; there is a very good reason why Lotus went to a dark shade. I had an '87 Turbo HC many, many years ago and I found the reflection so dangerous that I removed the binnacle and had it re-coloured black; it wasn't perfect - as you appreciate - but it was a huge improvement. Try and have a drive of an earlier car with a light colour binnacle and see for yourself.

Hi Richard, here is a little guide for you. We (SLOC) have a few members in Surrey and I am sure one would be happy to show you their car. We will also be at the Club Lotus track day at Castle Combe at the end of May, likely with every variant to look at and perhaps blag a ride on the lunchtime parade. Graeme. Sunbeam Lotus Historian. (Owner of more than one Sunbeam plus a couple of 21st century Lotus) (I am mindful that most of this thread might perhaps be better in the Sunbeam section...)

That car will be on the SLOC stand at the NEC next weekend, if anyone wants a proper drool. The cars with DAC registrations were all sold by one garage (Arbury Service Station) who did a deal with Talbot to buy up the remaining stock towards the end of 1982 when there about 200 still unsold. They offered them at a discount and sold over 100 (not all had the DAC plates). Avon Coachworks also had a deal in place and ended up with 56 cars that to which they added their own touch (paint and interior, nothing mechanical) but charged more. Only a handful of Avons are on the road now, whereas there are loads of Arbury cars. Sellers will often big them up as "rare DAC car" when in fact, one in ten of all Sunbeam Lotus sold in the UK had a DAC registration from Arbury. And there are a lot still about. But they do seem to be more sought after than others, even though they are no different. As Mike says, Avons are not everyone's cup of tea cosmetically, and nearly all had glass sunroofs so that puts buyers off as well. but their interiors (blue velour) last better than standard. Anyone at the NEC for the Classic Restoration Show, please come and say hello. Stand 372 in Hall 5 (a bit further away from the other Lotus guys this time, sorry...).

In October 2008 Lotus Finance was a trading style of Lotus Finance Limited, part of the Black Horse Group. Typical APR was 5.1%...

Always green/yellow for me. Plus, your new ebay specials are missing parts of the small C...

IKA Torino. Early version before the company was bought by Renault, I think.

I think that is exactly the procedure that Pete was saying. His question is how much oil takes you from low to high; that doesn't seem to be mentioned in the service notes that I have read; is it listed in the handbook? Someone with a dry sump must know. Or work it out with some maths perhaps.

The badge on the Mazda looks like it is a Eunos version rather than Lotus, so following the 'inspired by' philosophy of the car. Quite common, I thought.

I'd love to think that my Evora was worth £35k but sadly it isn't (people don't like higher mileage). But that is indeed where a decent Sunbeam Lotus is these days (some nice ones about now at about that figure). Freeing up a few horses is not the same as adding a roll cage, wide arches, etc., in terms of dropping a car's value but a standard car does always sell easier.

Having run Sunbeam Lotus and Excels, I can say that they are both great cars. You will need to try both to really understand which one suits you best. From a budget point of view, you will get far more with an Excel as a really good one will be half the price of a good Sunbeam. Engines are very similar, of course, and almost identical in effect for late Sunbeams/early Excels, and both can be modified from standard quite easily if that's your thing. Excel is obviously much lower than the Talbot, so that might have a bearing on both access and how the car feels. It also affects tinkering with the car; I hated doing anything on my Excels. The Lotus will ride better as standard but improvements can be made to the Sunbeam, which is a bit soft in factory spec. Driving both cars is a joy; I found throttle reponse on the Excel not as good as a Sunbeam, though. Interior ambiance is obviously different, especially if the Excel is full leather. Rust is naturally the tin-top's enemy, whereas the Excel is more likely to suffer paint issues such as lacquer peel. Of course, if you have a proper Sunbeam Lotus budget you could look at an Evora, which I can attest to being a superb car also.

That's a great colour combination - top choice! Interesting to see it with the black pack.

My clutch is so much lighter since being replaced when I had a new gearbox. It's as light as a Fiesta's, totally transformed and a huge relief if caught in traffic. (With plastic master cylinder, as per Dave's info above.)

Yes, I think the list was created with a lot of assumptions based on registration numbers, and without chassis numbers. There's a bit more information now, although the list doesn't reflect everything (some missing, a few that shouldn't be there). I think I said similar a few pages (couple of years...) ago. There were Experimental Prototypes, Validation Prototypes, Press Cars, Dealer Demonstrators and then Customer Cars (a few of which were run by Lotus themselves).

Development cars didn't use the serial numbering of production cars, so their VINs contain "EP" or "VP" and a number, e.g. EP01 was the first. Yours was one of a batch of cars registered on the same day (1st April 2009). All press cars and the first to be assigned proper serial numbers.

I have an update to send you, Dave. Including details of that blue car from Castle Combe, which is particularly interesting.