Lotus Elan S4 SE Road Test. Reprinted from “Motor” 18 April 1970.
Unfortunataly somehow during uploading between my Androïd mobile phone and lotuselan.net the pics got messed up: Sequence & upside down… Tried to edit, but didn’t succeed. Sorry for that.
Anyhow, the article remains nice, my opinion!
Thanks for posting that up, I hope you don’t mind but I have downloaded and uploaded the scans in portrait for ease of reading.
Regards
Alan
@Spyder_fan Hi Alan, No problem at all (ofcourse 
)! Many thanks 
, rgds, Sam.
Many thanks for uploading a fantastic historical article.
While reading it my spider senses were tingling and wondered if this was a Lotus ‘Press’ car? I would be very interested in opinions of people with a wider knowledge/experience of Elans than me.
My car is an Elan S4 SE with Stromberg’s and has the 3.55 differential ratio, I was always under the impression this was the standard SE specification. I wonder if the car was supplied like this to give better acceleration times.
It also seems strange the review hints at a lack of low down torque, especially combined with the 3.77 ratio. This also seems counter to what is generally perceived with Stromberg engines having very usable low down torque making them easier to drive. The MPG figures also point to something not quite right but I certainly don’t drive my car as hard as in the review.
Overall very enjoyable, I wonder why they don’t quote castor angles and valve timing in modern reviews 
185 x 13 Dunlop SP Sport tyres?
@sng @ your service! Thanks for your nice comments! Brgds, Sam.
@Andy8421 Andy, Yes, indeed confusing. As in the test text under -Handling and brakes- the tester mentions: “Apart from increasing the tyre section from 145 to 155/13 on SE models…..”. And then on the specification page the 185x13 is mentioned. Maybe a typo ór typical Lotus mix up?
UVF 101H was indeed a factory press car. It was also used by Autocar magazine in their test in October 1969 (Copy attached)
UVF 100H was a FHC tested by Autosport, also in October 1969
UVF 102H was a +2, road tested by Motor during 1969
UVF 103H was also a +2, used in a comparison article by Car magazine alongside a 2 + 2 E Type in June 1970
UVF 900H was the first +2S registered for press photos and brochures, then served as a test car before being sold. First registered in September 1969, was white originally, then black then back to white; listed as Sorn’d in 2018
At this time the press cars were pre-ordained at the beginning of their production. Everyone working on them on the production line knew they were destined for press duties. As such, they tended to be built better than was usually the case and apparently the engines were pretty much blueprinted with closer machining tolerances.
Tim
Autocar October 1969 Elan S4 SE.pdf (2.8 MB)
@trw99 Hi Tim, Thanks for the clarification! Connoisseur!
Brgds, Sam.
@trw99 Hi Tim, Not only the tyre size caused disruption… Head of article mentiones 1588 cc, specs. mention the right 1558cc. In the head of the article must be the typo, I think! Brgds, Sam.
Many thanks for this. Just a bit of information about one of the cars featured.
My sister purchased UVF100H in 1975 from an airline pilot in Surrey. I had the pleasant task of collecting it and driving it back to Hertfordshire. It was a bit of a handful, very lively! It wasn’t until she had it fully restored that we discovered the cams were definitely not standard, obviously uprated for when the press had it. Needless to say we retained those cams!. She drove it regularly until she passed away last year. Many happy memories of this car which inspired me to get my +2S 130/5 which I purchased in 1976 and still drive to this day, also fully restored.
That is really interesting, I wonder what cams were fitted, the L2 cams could be a candidate. They have a longer duration but slightly less lift than the standard Lotus D Type cams (Burton Power specs). If what I have understood from @rohan36 is correct then this would give more top end power but less low down torque which seems to be reflected in the original article. Not sure if L2 cams were available then but are mentioned in the Miles Wilkins book.
Would have loved to have been a fly on the wall at Lotus when they discuss the configuration of a press car. Why did they go more for more top end power and compensate for the lack of low down torque by fitting a 3.77 differential and I believe removing the rev-limiter. Looks like MPG was not really a consideration being pre 1973 oil crisis. Interesting that they considered this the most desirable configuration at the time.
@JWP Your sister sounds like she was quite a women, I like to think there were many red faced men in their company GT’s left trailing in her dust.
You can imagine the fun she had being only 22 at the time.
