Lotus Elan Front Bumpers

Hi, does anyone know if Lotus ever made a metal bumper for the baby elan? I have heard that lotus did make a few but only for the ones that were used for the car shows. There is one on ebay right now. Thanks Mac5777
lotus elan S3 coupe 67
LHD 36/5785

I had a look at the pics and that’s a Europa front bumper, it comes from one of the Fords…Anglia or Cortina…can’t remember which one, note the cutout for the number plate when fitted to Fords.
Brian

The chromed Anglia front bumper is also on the Plus 2 - but upside down. I think.

I think I remember Lotus playing around with chrome on fiberglass which may have found it’s way onto a few Elan bumpers but they were always good old fibreglass underneath

Thanks for all of the info on the chrome bumper. I found a couple of companies that have a spray on chrome that will go over almost anything. Samples appear to be mirror like. Thought I might try the look. If I ever learn how to post pictures, I will.
67 elan coupe S3
36/5785 LHD

I confirm, it comes from the Ford Anglia.
The chroming process is not the best solution in case of any small damage on the bumper (it will crack and chip !) - this is just cosmetic and not a real solution for the long term.

I think that there is some misunderstanding. Indeed, on my Lotus Europa I fitted a bumper from the Ford Anglia (exactly the same) but this one is different from the Lotus Elan (baby one).

The late Graham Arnold said that he had a specialist firm chromium plate glassfibre to improve the appearance of the front & rear bumpers in 1964.

Apparently only the first set achieved an acceptable standard and they were fitted to a succession of Lotus Sales Department cars used by Arnold. They got scrapped after suffering too many parking dings.

Could the ebay listing be a +2 bumper?

:wink: :smiley: :wink:
Gidday,
A good plce to try is your friendly Undertaker or suppler of one trip boxes. I have had interior parts of my LC PLASTIC CHROMED with great success Worth a try.
See ya, Les. Godzone