LOTUS ELAN S2

Year of manufacture 1964 Recorded mileage 1556

Asking price £37,500 Vendor Rory Stokes (Maritime Garage), New Forest, Hants; 07909 966112; www.rorystokes.com

WHEN IT WAS NEW Price £1435 Max power 105bhp Max torque 108lb ft 0-60mph 7.5 secs Top speed 112mph Mpg 25

This lovely S2 – the one without the window frames and with the cute taillights – is nicely unmolested, and has the best door fit of any Elan we’ve seen.

There are a few bubbles lifting in the paint on the driver’s-side front wing, but it’s free from stars, chips or sink marks. There’s the usual cracking around the bootlid lock/latch and the right door has dropped a little, but it’s not scraping the bottom of the shut and the door bottoms sit flush with the body sides, which is very rare on cars such as these.

It might even be on its original chassis – even with the car in the air it’s hard to tell. Certainly, the red-oxide-painted frame appears rust-free and sharply defined, as do the wishbones. Both headlights stay down, too, so the front crossmember is airtight. There’s a £4000 bill dated 2017 from Marque 21 for chassis work, including wheel alignment and new brake calipers, and there are newish-looking adjustable coilovers on the front. The exhaust is in decent shape.

The wheels have been refinished and shod with 2010-dated (and correctly sized) 145 Firestones, though something older’s on the spare. They look almost unused, confirming that the car has done few miles in the past decade.

Inside, the seat vinyl is good, there’s a little shrinkage to the centre console vinyl and the dash timber and finish are good, with a Moto-lita steering wheel. The hood looks newish, with clear windows.

The motor, for some reason, has a chrome-plated sump – the drivetrain is slightly damp underneath, but that helps protect the chassis – and is missing its airbox, while the Webers are running plastic trumpets. It has very recently had a radiator flush and new hoses.

It drives very sweetly, though with the standard doughnut driveshafts you have to be smooth on the throttle. There’s no play in the steering, which has the authentic revelatory feel (it’s never been bettered in almost 60 years), the brakes are smooth and synchros are all good. Oil pressure is 50psi at 3500rpm, with the temperature steady at 75ºc; the MOT runs to October 2020.

SUMMARY

EXTERIOR

Good body, generally good paint, and excellently made

INTERIOR

Original and doing well, with aftermarket Moto-lita wheel

MECHANICALS

Drives very sweetly, including that superb steering

VALUE +++++ ,,,,,

For Most elegant of the Elans

Against S2s are the most expensive

SHOULD I BUY IT?

If the early Lotus Elan style is a musthave, then this well-sorted example needs to be on your viewing list