1970 Lotus Elan S4

Description

Same owner for 30 years and comprehensively restored during this time; lovely and very usable example with some spare parts included

Dating from September 1970 this rather smart looking Lotus Elan S4 is finished in Red with black vinyl soft-top and sits on a set of natty steel wheels.

Under the bonnet, we find the 1,558cc twin-cam four-cylinder engine which developed c.115bhp driving the rear wheels via four-speed manual transmission.

The car was purchased by our vendor in July 1989 in what he considered a ‘poor state’ although ran and drove with an MOT.  Together with his neighbour and chum, a consulting Engineer they set about a complete rebuild of the car stripping it down into component parts as shown in the photographs on file.

The chassis was put into a jig and anything that needed attention was sorted including a known weak point on the Elans, the offside suspension turret which was rebuilt and then protected from any further water ingress with expanding foam. The other turrets whilst not needing any repair were also similarly protected.

To prevent any further corrosion problems, the chassis was protected with a special iron oxide paint costing some £30/litre in 1989 normally used to protect the steel within high rise building construction.

The engine had covered 97,000 miles at this time, so the choice was made to completely overhaul it.  It was rebored with a new crank and over-sized pistons, fitted with a Fast-Road cam whilst the head was skimmed and the carbs re-jetted by Mowats, a well-known specialist.

The interior was completely re-trimmed, and the dash sorted by a French furniture polisher.  A new loom was also fitted with other parts such as the radiator also being replaced as with the hood.  The parts spend alone exceeded £10,000 back then. The body was painted by Billerickay Coachworks with modern two-pack paint.

Since then, the car has seen dry summer use and continued to be improved with fitment of electronic ignition, alloy fuel tank and new exhaust.

The history file is considerable and spread over two files with invoices for much of the wide array of parts bought. In addition, the file also includes many photos, some 30 old MOTs plus the current valid until March 2024 (although it is of course exempt) with no advisories recorded plus the V5C revealing just two former keepers.  The vendor also kindly drove up with an array of spares for the car which are included and in our store.

Ready to enjoy, this looks like a really well sorted Elan S4 with mega history that’s seen an absolute ton of good work carried out to high standards.

For more information contact - [email protected]