Lotus Elan S3, 1967
Lotus Elan
Lotus Elan•
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Chassis No.: 3616647
Auction: Monterey 2016
Auction date: August 20, 2016
Lot No.: F34
$28,600 | Sold
- Exterior: Blue
- Interior: Black
- Tony Ingram built engine
- Eight counter weight knife edge 72.75mm steel crankshaft
- Ingram head, cam and lightweight Vernier sprockets
- 84mm CP pistons
- Carrillo rods
- Billet flywheel, Tilton clutch
- Aluminum radiator
- Engine assembled and tuned by RPM in Rohnert Park, California
- Close ratio 4-speed transmission
- AVO adjustable perch shocks, Dave Bean springs
- Adjustable rear sway bar and suspension
- Adjustable rear wishbones
- CV driveshaft conversion kit
- Powdercoated frame
- Right hand drive
- Full roll cage
- Custom driver’s seat from Huffaker mold
- Wink and Raydot mirrors
- Removable steering wheel
- New interior panels
- RCI fuel cell, Holley fuel pump
- Elan manual
This 1967 Lotus Elan S3 is a professionally prepared competition car that is “grid ready” for vintage racing. The lightweight Lotus has undergone an extensive, no-expense-spared reincarnation from a street-going Elan S3 into a serious race car that harks back to the famous Lotus 26R. The Lotus Elan originated from the fertile mind of Colin Chapman, a car designer and manufacturer who found legendary success at the highest levels of auto racing. More than just a modified street car, this 1967 Lotus Elan S3 Vintage Racer is the spiritual rendition of the legendary Lotus 26R—Chapman’s Elan-based competition car.
Following the same preparation protocol as the Lotus 26R, this car has received a number of significant and substantive changes including gusseting of the central backbone frame, gusseting of the suspension mounting points, installation of a limited-slip differential, fitment of a roll cage, thicker sway bars and wider wheels and tires. Back in the day, the original Lotus 26R engine—an inline 4-cylinder sourced from a Ford Cortina—was up-fitted with a dual overhead cam head with side-draft Weber carburetors and extensively modified by Cosworth Engineering to produce around 150 horsepower.
This particular Elan S3 engine has been prepared by the widely respected Lotus marque expert Tony Ingram and produces horsepower far in excess of the original Cosworth. It has been upgraded to current vintage racing safety standards with a fuel cell, a fire-suppression system and approved roll cage. The Elan is a fresh build with just one shakedown weekend on the Laguna Seca course during the 2015 Monterey Pre-Reunion event. This feather-light flyer is fast, agile and responsive and actually exceeds the performance envelope of its progenitor Lotus 26R. This expertly prepared Lotus will most assuredly be a formidable weapon in the hands of a capable driver.
