Lotus Elan S3 S/E Coupé, 1967
Lotus Elan
Lotus Elan•
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Chassis No.: 36/6778
Estimate: £200,000 - £250,000 GBP
- Original colour scheme
- Second owner Gerard 'Jabby' Crombac
- Known ownership history from new
The total cost of the car (borne by Team Lotus as part of their Driving Agreement with Jim) was £1,504 13s including radio (£40) and - an innovation at the time - a cassette tape player (£50). Special Equipment items (£129) included inertia-reel seat belts and a cigar lighter.
Although the Bill of Sale was made out to Jim at his new apartment in Pembroke, Bermuda, the Elan was kept at the Paris apartment of his friend and confidant, Gerard 'Jabby' Crombac. Jabby, together with Ian Scott-Watson, had been a very early supporter of Jim's, and was also extremely close to Lotus boss Colin Chapman. With so many changes in his life, Jim decided to accept Jabby's invitation to share his flat in Paris (110 Rue de Sevres, 75 Paris) for the next twelve months or so.
At that time editor of the prestigious French monthly magazine, Sport Auto, Jabby had access to numerous road-test cars; Jim, by contrast, drove the Elan all over Europe: to the Dutch, Belgian, French, German and Italian GPs plus Formula 2 races. Clark had driven numerous Elans by then - including Scott-Watson's S3 Coupé 'KSS 844C' whenever he was up in Scotland in 1965 - but this yellow S3, with the longer final drive, was undoubtedly his favourite.
In a hand-written note to Peter Windsor, the Australian motoring journalist and Formula 1 team manager, Jabby said that this yellow Elan prompted Jim to say one day, "On the Continent I have re-discovered the joy of driving." As a result, said Jabby, Clark in 1967 used private air travel "a great deal less".
We can get a feel of Clark's love for the car by a letter on file he wrote to Crombac on the eve of the Warwick Farm International 100 Tasman race on 13th February 1968: "It occurs to me that the log book for the Elan and insurance certificate are in the glove box, BOTH (triple underline!) of which should be returned to Andrew (Ferguson) so that I can get the licence renewed. I don't know if Colin has made any final decision with regard to swapping the Elan around, but I will be writing to him soon, and will remind him..."
In the midst of an ultra-competitive Tasman Series, with Indianapolis on his mind and while leading the Formula 1 World Championship, Jim still found time to think about his beloved yellow Elan (which at that point was garaged underground in Rue de Sevres).
Jim drove the yellow Elan to a private airstrip near Orly on 3rd April 1968; his destination was Heidelberg in Germany for the Hockenheim Formula 2 race. After removing his briefcase and Leston track pack from the Elan's boot, he handed the keys to Jabby, ostensibly for him to drive back to the flat, as was their normal practice. Instead, though, Jim said, "Here are the keys. Keep them. The car's yours. Colin's supplying me with a new Plus-2 Elan for this year..." Tragically, Jim was killed at the Hockenheim race four days later.
Jabby picked up the pieces as best he could; he swapped the original, yellow Lotus badge on the Elan for a black one, and re-registered it in France. He used the Elan as he knew Jim would want it to be used: driving to races all over Europe, regardless of the distances. When Jabby began to suffer ill-health, he contacted Peter Windsor to see if he would be interested in 'taking on' the yellow Elan and its legacy. Peter had been fortunate to meet Jim in successive Tasman Series and, of course, he agreed.
Under Peter's custodianship, the Elan headed in a new direction. The body was resprayed by Andy Coxhead (355 Automobile Restorations, Surrey) in the exact yellow in which it had left the Lotus factory in late 1966, and the black Lotus badge was replaced by the yellow one. The engine and gearbox were rebuilt by Henry Mann (Alan Mann Racing, Fairoaks, Surrey). The registration reverted to Jim's UK number of 1967. The interior remains original, although Jabby replaced Jim's radio circa 1972.
Peter also commissioned Cyd Williams, the former F3/F2/F5000 driver, to transport the Elan to Duns in the Scottish Borders where Jim had spent his formative years. Over the past 15 years, under the auspices of Doug Niven, Jim's cousin, the Elan has raised funds for the Jim Clark Trust at scores of shows around Scotland; has been a show-piece at the new Jim Clark Museum; and has featured on the front cover of numerous classic car magazines.
The Elan has continued to be used: Peter drove it at Goodwood and the Bo'Ness hill-climb in Scotland, and both Peter and Doug drove the car at Ollon Villars, where Doug memorably out-braked a GT40 into one of the tight hairpins.
Now that he is spending less time in the UK, Peter has decided to pass the ex-Clark Elan to a new enthusiast owner. Its new custodian will not only own a famous car linked to a fondly missed era of motor racing, but also to the heritage of a driver considered by many to be the greatest of them all.
https://cars.bonhams.com/auction/30544/lot/159/1967-lotus-elan-s3-se-coupe-chassis-no-366778/
