Lotus Period Pictures

[exeterjeep]

London Lotus centre (4 -6 High St ) opening new showroom - late1989 /early 1990 probably , as there was a 'new' M100 inside, that no-one was allowed to open the doors of etc.. I  almost bought the new white Excel. At the event new Lotus F1 driver Martin Donnelly got the keys to his new car (think it was an esprit turbo)  LLC had to open this new showroom as the factory were not happy with their site in Ballards Mews Edgware (it was a mess). They had previously had a showroom on the other side of the road, where I persuaded my father to go and have a look at one of the first elites as his company car. By the end of 1991 they moved to St Albans.

[exeterjeep]

To carry on the previous post about LLC, here is the only pic I have of outside, shortly after they moved up. Note the Toyota sign - used to be Toyota there, not a sign of a future engine supplier...

[jep]

3 hours ago, exeterjeep said:

used to be Toyota there, not a sign of a future engine supplier

Or current supplier ('80s) of numerous Excel parts inc a brilliant gearbox.

Justin

 

On 05/02/2022 at 16:51, exeterjeep said:

new Lotus F1 driver Martin Donnelly got the keys to his

Martin was the first owner/driver of my Evora. 

[exeterjeep]

55 minutes ago, jep said:

Excel parts inc a brilliant gearbox.

Certainly much better than the one in my Elite 501

[Bazza 907]

London Lotus Centre Ballards Mews Edgware in Feb 1991. This was the first picture I took of my car - it was in for a pre purchase inspection which went well so I bought it and still enjoy it today.

 

[jep]

11 hours ago, exeterjeep said:

Certainly much better than the one in my Elite 501

Yes. The Beens (?) gearbox in Elite always scared me off when I first looked at Lotus in the early 90s. A friend bought a 502 and the gearbox soon failed (car was very second-hand). 

The irony....the gearbox failed on my Excel in 2014 at a genuine 44,000 miles. A bizarre situation which I suspect was an error by the garage who had just worked on the car (forgot oil?) as the Toyota box is fairly unburstable. Nothing was admitted but we came to a friendly solution.

Justin

[exeterjeep]

1 hour ago, jep said:

Toyota box is fairly unburstable

When I bought my black éclat s2, it obviously had a getrag box, drove it home from SW of London, no oil in box but it was actually perfectly ok for the years I had it. My 501 box failed - so it went.

[Mark Blanchard]

On 05/02/2022 at 16:51, exeterjeep said:

London Lotus centre (4 -6 High St ) opening new showroom - late1989 /early 1990 probably , as there was a 'new' M100 inside, that no-one was allowed to open the doors of etc.. I  almost bought the new white Excel. At the event new Lotus F1 driver Martin Donnelly got the keys to his new car (think it was an esprit turbo)  LLC had to open this new showroom as the factory were not happy with their site in Ballards Mews Edgware (it was a mess). They had previously had a showroom on the other side of the road, where I persuaded my father to go and have a look at one of the first elites as his company car. By the end of 1991 they moved to St Albans.

Great photos.  That must be around 1990 as that Esprit has the Eagle chassis with the deeper dish SE wheels.  It looks like it also has SE springs on, due to the ride height.

[exeterjeep]

2 pics of a white elite at Camden motors Leighton Buzzard 1975  - did post a side view of this car some months ago, but found a few more.

 

[exeterjeep]

Bell and Colvill, July/August 1976.  @Jamie-BellandColvill  was probably not working there at that time.

 

[Mark Blanchard]

Colin & Mario & Lotus Type 78.

[jep]

Great Bell and Colvill pics @exeterjeep

At Bobby's memorial service, Martin Colvill revealed that in 1970/1 when they started, the fuel supplier didn't invoice them for over a year......this cash flow boost kept the fledgling B&C afloat 

Justin

[exeterjeep]

On 25/01/2022 at 16:51, exeterjeep said:

The first Elite I ever saw that was not at a dealership, but at Watford hospital. Somewhere I have some original colour transparencies taken on a twin lens reflex - Lubital 6x6cm. of this car. In the mean time a b&w version. Note no sub model plate on B pillar. Car registered August 1974. I still think these are awesome looking cars.

Found a couple of colour pics of that car .

[exeterjeep]

Some pics from an unofficial visit round the outside of the factory 1975 before esprit/eclats. Nice line of new Elites. And a Jenson 

 

 

[Mark Blanchard]

Amazing photos Keith, thanks for sharing.

[TpupNomad]

My S1, S2 and Turbo back in the late 70s and 80s...

 

 

[exeterjeep]

On 06/02/2022 at 20:47, Bazza 907 said:

London Lotus Centre Ballards Mews Edgware in Feb 1991. This was the first picture I took of my car - it was in for a pre purchase inspection which went well so I bought it and still enjoy it today.

Having a closer look at the pic, you can see the entrance to the office (used to be Ego? systems - who wrote some dealer software that LLC used. and was owned by the 2 founders of LLC - I think)

The green Excel could be the SA that was driven by Mary Quick, one of the directors - she did all the paperwork etc. Had a chat to her one day, asked her is she was looking after what could be my next Excel well, she replied that I would not like it as it was an auto..

[exeterjeep]

2 visits to SGT Station Garage Taplow....1976.

 

Photos split over 2 posts..

 

[LOTUSMAN33]

Don’t they look fantastic in those vibrant colours, so much character compared to modern ugly euro boxes.

I lived in the wrong era, I would loved to have been in my twenties/thirties back then enjoying these delights. 
God save the classics from the eco electric boom! 😁

[mayevora]

Not really a Morgan fan but at that price ok then. 

[jep]

What wheels are on the Eclat? Steel?

Justin

[exeterjeep]

3 minutes ago, jep said:

What wheels are on the Eclat? Steel?

Justin

Not the normal GKN? ones. Can't read the badge on the top of the B pillar. What about a 520 with the Ford wheels? Can see its new as the seats still have protecting plastic.

[jep]

Are they missing the middle trim disc? See yellow Elite to compare.

Justin

And has this got a gold windscreen trim? John Player themed?

[exeterjeep]

The elite did not have the cheap wheels that the 520 had. The 520 's' were produced early on but were not that popular according to an article I have just looked at.

Parts list shows - but no photos....

[exeterjeep]

Also found a pic from an early visit to the factory. Looks like the same wheels as the red one at SGT