Lotus Elan plus 2 S

The Lotus is a 1971 Elan +2S 130/4.  Chassis No. 7100000494L. Engine No. P21133. First registration 22nd September 1971 with the Lotus "big valve" engine fitted to later models and 4 speed gearbox. I have owned this car for around two years. I bought it from someone who took it to Ireland with his work commitments. and after purchasing it from him. I drove it back. Since then I have re registered it back to its original number. Mot ed it. and itemised anything that I found that could be improved upon to change its current condition status from. good. to excellent. Due to other commitments. as well as building an office and garage over the last year or so. have put very limited mileage on the clock. around 100. s can be verified by the MOT document. and because of this I have now Sorned the car into the garage. By the way the car doesnt require a tax disc. I have the choice either to spend the next couple of months ticking off the checklist to bring it back to excellent condition. lternatively I could try and get the amount of money for it that it deserves now. and complete the garage building project. The guy i bought this off owned the car just over 4 years and he bought it from Paul Matty Sportscars in the UK who are a Lotus specialist. He said he looked at several +2's when buying and chose this one because it was a really good solid example from a reputable Lotus dealer. ery original. nmolested and genuinely in much better condition than several cars that were hugely more expensive. It has always been owned by Lotus enthusiasts and has a very complete history file with it detailing everything ever done to the car. receipts. valuation certs. MOT certs. including the original owners handbook. service book. warranty and receipt from the Lotus factory. Engine & gearboxThe engine has about 95K miles on the clock. At 54. 30 miles the car was totally rebuilt by Lotus Cars themselves including an engine rebuild. There' a  record of “regrind the crankshaft & re bore cylinder block” in the work sheets for this rebuild. The chassis was also replaced at this stage with a new Lotus chassis. All this work was done by the Lotus factory. She has twin Weber carbs. The engine is very solid. has good compression on all cylinders and pulls strongly in all gears. lots of torque . A few years ago the head gasket leaked. o the head came off and the opportunity was taken to do a mini recondition. So the head was skimmed. the engine de-coked. new core plugs. new cam bearings.  new valve seats and valve guides fitted.  The oil was changed pretty regularly and never really have to top up. Everything in the engine bay is as it should be. she does have a solid state electronic ignition fitted. so no points and gap setting to worry about.  The gear box is the 4 speed model and is excellent. a really nice solid change and no problems at all (this is a much better gearbox than the 5 speed maxi gearbox fitted to the later models). Interior. Interior is also very original. The Walnut dash is very good. you can see that in the photos. She is useable as a 4 seater. great for kids but you wouldn't want to take adults in the back for anything more than just a short journey. The driver's seat does have a split but it is on a seam and would be easy to patch or repair (I have seen the same split on other Lotus. seems a common issue). otherwise good. The electric windows work but the driver's side is a little slow (again probably easy to fix just needs the door stripping and the motor and guides cleaning). The inertia reel seat belt on the driver's side is reluctant to reel in. I have it set to use as a fixed length belts as it is only me that drives the car.  The trim could do with spucing up. a few poppers here and there along with some detailing. Exterior. The car is very original in Silverflake over Bahama Yellow. the original factory colours (all +2's were two tone when they left the factory). The body work is in good condition. no damage and all the fibre glass is good. except a small area that was damaged due to a dented rear bumper. as seen in photo. The bumper has now been repaired by a specialised. and awaits rechroming. There is some crazing in places and "crows feet" around the boot hinges and elsewhere. ut nothing major and all in the gel coat only.  There are some blemishes in the paint work and the odd chip but again nothing major. It's fiberglass so no rust to worry about and nothing that needs attending to soon. All the panels and gaps are good. Everyone comments on what good condition she looks and you can see from the photos that she does look really well. I think the +2 is a stunningly beautiful car. The rest of the bright work is OK though the chrome is flaking off the beading around the rear window . Alloy wheels . Tyres are all good. Headlights pop up fine. The rear bumper will need rechroming. Structure etc. Brakes are great. New brake pads fitted around 2000 miles ago. at which time  the handbrake was repaired (which is a pig to do and often ignored). The brake calipers were all reconditioned at the same time. ith new pistons and the brake master cylinder replaced. New brake disc were fitted to the rear at this time as well. The clutch slave cylinder was replaced. and all new Rotoflex joints fitted  (worn or deteriorated Rotoflex joints is another big one to watch for if you are looking at other +2's). Chassis has been replaced with an original Lotus chassis and is in good condition.  Stainless steel exhaust. There are a few rattles and noises but she is in good driveable condition all round. ElectricsUprated alternator fitted and new battery around 2000 miles ago. There is a master cut off switch in the boot and I tend to disconnect this whenever I leave the car for more than a few hours as an immobiliser as much as anything.  All in all she is a good car. very driveable and very solid. still capable of over 100mph and handles superbly. She's really fun to drive and looks stunning and attracts a lot of attention. She is not a show car and is not in concourse or even excellent condition. but a condition that reflects what she is. a car to be driven and not stored. which is one of the reasons I'm letting her go. The previous owner's always had the car maintained by a local well respected classic car mechanic. who specialised in older classics and does nothing else. and since then. I have driven it around 100 miles and now sits in the garage awaiting its fate. To recap on improvements;The car would greatly benefit from a respray. or at least re gel at a cost of around £1000. but as already mentioned. it still gets admiring glances as it stands. The bumper needs rechroming. and I have a quote of £200 from the experts. Could use chrome paint but not sure how successful the product is. The drivers window is slow returning. A piece of chrome trim on top of near side door needs refixing. (see photo)Interior could do with sprucing up a bit. Small area of fibre glass needs repairing around bumper attachment. and I have purchased the kit to do the job. (see photo)Bumper reattachment. The boot area needs re detailing. just some new carpet and boards.
She is over 40 years old now so don't expect perfection but overall she is a great little car and will only appreciate in value if kept. and even more if  tinkered with. If she sells and after funds cleared.  will re MOT her and get the car running sweetly again by getting it set up by a  local classic car garage. From my perspective. I'm trying to be as open about this as possible. as it would be a waste of everyones time not to be; theres no point trying to hide anything. It either finds an interested enough buyer as it stands. or I do it myself and re list it in two months. This is a genuine listing from a private advertiser so please only interested viewers. All the relevant information is either in the listing or I can answer any questions via ebay. Many Thanks for your interest.

Also published at eBay.co.uk

Want to buy this car?