I’m interested to know if anybody in the UK knows of a yellow/white 1972 Elan Sprint JEA147K that was owned for the first 47 years of its life by a chap called Michael Kendrick. I have agreed to buy the car but I’m dubious about the claim that it only had less than 16,000 miles on it when it was sold for the first time in 2019. I could believe 116,000 would be more accurate for 47 years of ownership so I wondered if anybody knew Michael Kendrick or his car? I was under the impression that it was an original survivor car but I suspect that it’s been repainted at some point in the 80s or 90s possibly by Mick Miller as the door gaps look too good for a factory original car. Any info would be appreciated and hopefully I’m wrong.
If you doubt the cars provenance why have you agreed to buy it? Surely it would have been better to carry out your due diligence before agreeing to buy it.
I had intended to go to the Iconic sale yesterday to look over the car, to see what a ‘genuine’ 16k mile Sprint looked like, but unfortuneately I did not feel very well, so resorted to watching the auction on line. I was not surprised that it did not meet its reserve.
Personally, I would never buy another Lotus at auction, and certainly not from Iconic, or whatever they are calling themselves this month. I find it amusing that nearly every car they sell is ‘the best they have ever seen’, including JEA.
Leslie
Owner of a genuine 1600 mile Sprint
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A build number only 2 from mine !
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Photos of JEA 147K feature in Mike Taylor’s book Lotus Elan The Complete Story, published in 1990. It appears then to be in the same external condition as in the Iconic auction photos i.e. with non-standard front registration plate and the Sprint rear stripes running above the rear bumper rather than blending into the bumper (as most that I’ve seen do).
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It wasn’t going to be a deal breaker, I was just curious to get a bit of back story and I’ve not found any evidence that contradicts the mileage or originality.
Paul did do his due diligence beforehand, Les. He and I had some discussions about the car and others.
I think he is merely curious about the back story, as we all tend to be about our cars these days.
Tim