Folks, great forum.
Wonder if anyone can help.
I recently contacted Andy Graham to get some info on my, what I thought was a, sprint.
I was informed my car left the factory as an S4 SE high compression in 1970 but was transferred to Lotus Engineering. My car was first registered in March 1971 and appears to be an S4 Sprint.
The reg is BAH 303J. Andy has done all he can and without utilising a time machine can?t do any more to help identify what Lotus Engineering did with the car. I,m assuming they did the sprint conversion as it has all the right bits, diff strengthening etc.
I purchased the car as a barn find where it had lain for over 20 years with the registration 1 MTE.
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Welcome to the board? I must have missed your name in your post.
If you have a look in the spark plug well, there is a raised boss at the front. That should be stamped with the letter N, notwithstanding the fact that there are fake Big Valve heads around, stamped with the wrong font N. Also, the engine should have a Big Valve cam cover that reads correctly when viewed from the front of the car looking back. If the engine has those atributes, it most likely was Sprinted (GA)
Post up some pictures of the car, we love pictures!!!
Leslie
Yes lots of pictures!!
As above look for the N but another give away is no Engine number stamped on the body ID plate (Most S4 Sprints were Kits and no engine number usually means it’s a kit)
Welcome! And yes please post pictures.
Wasn’t a ‘BAH’ registered S4/Sprint a press car? My memory could be playing tricks though.
Another S4 Sprint dead give away and one of my faves is pull a main jet out of the Carb, have a look to see if the wet jet has been resized… So they cross out the 115 and etch 120 next to it (they did the same thing with the chokes too)
Not the best Picture but you can see what i’m talking about on this choke.
Lotus Money saving at it finest.
Wouldn’t be a shocker if Lotus did use it for promo work as allot of the early brochures used S4 Sprints.
Guys, thanks for the quick responses. Checked a few things as suggested. Head is stamped with an N, engine number is on the plate and the cam cover reads from the windscreen end. Haven?t checked the jets yet. Interesting if it was a press car!
The search for the past goes on.
Cheers
Bob Wyse
Welcome Bob!
Beautiful car, looking forward to hearing more about it.
Very nice!!
It’s interesting your car has the engine number stamped, Mazzini might be right about it being a press/demo car because from my limited knowledge i was under the impression the only S4-Sprints not retrofitted as kits were run by Lotus as press cars.
Thanks guys. As Andy informed me the car was transferred to Lotus Engineering as an S4 SE. Suppose it would make sense that Lotus Engineering did the conversion. I read somewhere that the press cars had the BAH reg which I believe is Norfolk? Maybe someone would know if that was indeed the case.
Bob
Nice!!!
“Bah!”
An expression of contempt or disagreement. Or disdain, as you out accelerate and out corner almost every car on the road.
I have to say I do love that registration plate. Car looks top wallah too.
Nice looking car Bob.
It is amazing what is still lurking in barns.
If a press car there is a chance that there will be news / magazine article pics out there somewhere and if anyone has them chances are they can be found on here.
Have DVLA confirmed that BAH was the original reg?
Best of luck with your quest
Regards
Mel
I had a quick look through some of the Brookland books (contemporary road tests) and a Sprint and a +2 show up with ‘AH’ registrations. I guess the car was registered by Lotus, it could have been a company car for some lucky executive.
Looking at the picture I cannot see any sign of an indicator repeater on the front wings which seems a little odd as the S4SE’s and the Sprints had them.
Have a look if there is any wiring under the bonnet that is not connected up.
Our S3 has a Sprint engine with the “N” stamp, right jets and so on. It doesnt make it a Sprint. I
m thinking that the S4 Sprints had the ignition switch on the dash not the column so it looks like this has been restored at some time with all the Sprint bits, later dash, etc. 1970 manufacture is too early anyway. So youve got a nice car but probably an S4. That
s OK.
Jim
JimJ, being built in 1970 makes it more likely to be an S4 Sprint. lotuselansprint.com/index.asp?pageid=41810
I agree Scapa’s car has had a rebuild/paint job so you never quite know what it started life looking like, one thing is for sure though the wheels should be Silver
The following Sprint and Plus 2S 130 registrations that I am aware of were used as road test cars and/or press cars, 1971-74:
AVF 444J
YVF 900J
BAH 550J
WAR 551J
JAH 550J
YPW 400J
DVF 123K
GPJ 40K
CAH 456K
KAH 604L
HPW 358L
NPW 866M
As you can see, only one BAH registration. As Andy has confirmed, Bob’s car, BAH 303J, was first registered to Lotus Engineering, which would indicate that it became a company car, used by one or more of those personnel entitled to one. It would then have usually been sold through one of the favoured and well known dealers into private hands, probably after only a few months use at Hethel.
I now have the details of 74 of the 79 S4/Sprints. All but 15 of them first came off the production line in 1970, between the months of March to October.
The earliest Sprints I have invoice records for indicate that Lotus billed the first lucky owners in January 1971, with the earliest registrations taking place from mid February 1971. The latest S4/Sprint I have a record of was registered in September 1971; the latest invoice date for one I have is August 1971. Most S4/Sprints were sent to dealers as demonstrators or to their eager first adopters, who would have been champing at the bit since the Motor Show in October 1970.
Whilst a forward facing cam cover is just one of the typical S4/Sprint indicators, it does not always follow. The rumour has always been that only 50 forward facing cam covers were cast before they became rearward facing. However, some of the earliest Plus 2S 130s had forward facing cam covers too, so that figure may be slightly low, given that they do come to light surprisingly often. Maybe around 100 were cast and they got used up on both production lines?
In the absence of factory paperwork and/or the first registration document, for me the key for determining whether a S4 is a factory Sprint conversion or not is firstly, confirmation of a N series engine, with a number that falls within the range of our records (and can thus be dated) and secondly the date of first registration. In the case of Bob’s car, it was first registered on 19th March 1971, thus putting a tick in that box. If you’d like to let me know what your car’s Engine No is Bob, we’ll see if we can’t put a tick in the first box!
Tim
Guys,
Once again thank you so much for your input / comments.
Tim,
My engine No is L19847 and it has an N stamped on the head casting at No 1 spark plug.
Thanks Bob.
Your car was invoiced by the factory on 5th June 1969 under the old, pre-1970 VIN system. The Engine No conforms to the records for your VIN. L spec is for the Domestic market fitted with Stromberg carbs for the Elan SE Series 4. It pre-dates the car (AVF 888J) used to persuade the Board to build the Sprint by several months, so therefore I find it impossible, on this evidence, to confirm it as a Sprint.
It would appear that the car has been converted to Sprint spec at some later stage. Whether this was done at the factory service garage or privately would, I suspect, now be impossible to say.
The remaining mystery is why it was apparently first registered in Mar 71. It is conceivable that it was used as a development car for some aspect of the Elan, such as radio suppression, upgraded electrics, new brake materials or tyres. If so it could conceivably have spent a couple of years on trade plates. Alternatively, it may have been on a factory press registration which got swapped out when the car went to the trade and would have therefore received a new registration then.
Without additional paperwork the car retains some mystery. On the bright side, you have a very nice looking, capable Elan, which I am sure you can enjoy as it was intended.
Tim
Tim,
Belated thanks for the great information. I will now write to DVLA and see what info they can provide, if any.
The search for who did the Sprint conversion goes on.
Thanks again.