Gary I dont not wish to 'prove ’ any thing —my car IS WHAT IT IS --------A LHD OLD RACER WITH STRESSED CHASSIS -SLIP REAR AXLES A DIFF PUMP AND COOLER -ADJUSTABLE SHOCKS 6 INCH X 13 MINI LIGHTS ETC ETC with the numbers on it – my car speaks for its self —he object here is to try to dispel some of the myths that are are being perpetuated regarding this series of autos —I dont care who thinks what about my car —I am interested is some hard facts and hard copy reguarding these cars --and to prevent some poor soul from being defrauded --that gives everbody a black eye --ed ------------------------------------------------------------------- it was far more fun with Beau and tats ----ed
Gary, Ed & all, I’m really enjoying this thread. Pleases keep it going.
Gary, when I read the list it looked to me like “Developments” & not “Dave Clements”. Not sure what that means but maybe it went off for some development testing work - racing stuff ?
Regards to you all.
Adam
Adam
I couldn’t read it so I guessed, I looked at it for a few minutes and just gave up and posted it, I knew someone would be able to read it and thought it was better to post than to let the topic die down.
I believe there are several members of the group that have these cars and have yet to hear from them. I don’t know what reasons they have, maybe they feel that they will be taken to task like Ed has and don’t need the aggravation from all of us, I don’t know. If you do not want to post here get in touch with Dave Hughes (private mail is bigvalvehead) and have a chat with him, He is currently in the U.S. and would love to hear from you.
Gary
Nice one…
The ‘customer’ name is listed as ‘M24 Dev’ which sounds like a Lotus project code (M20 was the +2).
Any one know what M24 was 
Matthew
Lotus projects were prefixed with M
M2 = Elan
M2E = twincam
Different pen and hand for the r/elans, different time to, after the fact, how long ?
Gary this is such a learning experience for me --very exciting -as I have just really had this serious Elan exposure for the time I have been building and driving the car -[ 4 years ] a relatively short time compared to many of you-but like anything else I do in life I attack it with tenacity and intensity — many thanks --Beau --tell Gary hes not just another Pretty face—ed
Hi Gary, Ed, Beau & all
Just to pick up on that earlier point, according to Robinshaw & Ross (Ron Hickmans additional notes in the later edition), “M24” was the project/codename for the S3 elan coupe. Don’t know if that helps at all but I just thought I’d put that bit in.
Gary, just like ED, I am learning so much info on the 26R that I did not know. Thanks for that.
Regards
Adam
Of the 97 ELAN 26r’s built by the factory, just over 350 of them are still on the road.
I think that is a remarkable survival rate. 
what I find remarkable is that we only have Gary’s list of chassis numbers and my letter from archives and people will spend 200 000 plus dollars to buy a car reputed to be a 26R with no more than the DPO say so or some other self appointed experts opinion —when any pre 70s elan could be equiped and run with more reliablility for 1/4 of the cost ------scary stuff indeed —ed
Perhaps they could just be called “Continuation Cars” by the FIA, so enterprising folk could really set to and churn 'em out, like they do now with GT40s, T70s and Chevrons. 
an excellent idea --it would keep the price in context --and produce a new source of parts to keep our cars going —ed
Good info Adam, so there are now 182 of the 183 unit numbers in the S1 and S2 Production range with no engine or invoice date. Pete’s Numbers seem a little high, there maybe a couple of upgraded S1’s or S2’s to 26r specs included in that number. There are also some shapecraft 26r Elans, are they in addition to the “97” Factory blessed 26r’s or included? Mayby Andy could help us out here with some info from the factory records, I think he reads theis forum.
There were some other specials at the time too, they may have been some of the unit numbers that are unacounted for. That would leave something in the range of 85 unit numbers that are left. anyone else care to speculate?
Gary
I was being flippant with my “just over 350” remark, there are now certainly many more "26r"s than there ever were laid down by the factory.
From my research into Shapecraft it looks like no more than ten of the ally fastbacks were produced and not all of them were fitted to 26r cars; in any case these would be part of the original 97.
The next windmills to tilt at are the BRM Elans; over on The Nostalgia Forum a top bloke at the time from Mike Spence details just how few of those were produced; they seem to have multiplied by a factor of ten.
well Pete I know how the system can be manipulated ! A bored engineer at work figured how to get G.M. to install 350 vet motors in Camaros if you ordered a new one ----The scheme involved running out at break time and coffee time and installing camaro oil pans on the vet motors with the correct serial numbers issued to the builds of the camaro cars ordered ----the word went out to select friends and assorted Gear heads in the plant what to have the sales man write on the order --12 orders were place here in St Catherines [where the engines were assembled ]–all was going well until some little assembly line guy in Quebec [where the cars were assembled ]asked the obvious question . WHY are we putting Vet engines in these Camaros???well it hit the fan and both owners of the 2 already assembled and delivered cars were forced by G.M. to take their cars to a certain G.M, dealer to get the stock HO 305 s put in and the vet engines out --can you imagine the price these cars would have brought ??? I’m waiting for something like this to appear in the G.M. Camaro site some time - 
--ed
Did not all the 2real cars! have a 26R plate?
If so is this not the true bottom line?
If so could someone publish where the 26R plate would be located on a genuine car, and what size? Is it welded to the chassis? etc?
James
This Elan seems like a hot potato that no one wants, seem like folks are just trying to make a buck on it. Maybe someday someone will want to use it for what its good at and that is putting a smile on the drivers face. We have two of the ex owners as members, maybe they can add some other inf on this car.
lotuselan.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=15976
lotuselan.net/forums/viewtop … sc&start=0
lotuselan.net/forums/viewtopic.php?p=87543
This Elan is an S2 with a documented race history, not a 26r
As Gary said. 
finally —its all about driving --not investment—ed