For Sale at Auction: 1961 Lotus Elite in Newport, Rhode Island

Chassis No. 1667

This Series II Elite, chassis number 1667, was bodied under the Bristol Aeroplane Company contract that brought refinements to Chapman's original design. Taking over from Maximar Mouldings after the first 250 shells, Bristol's aircraft-grade quality control yielded better-made, better-finished monocoques, while the Series II gained a revised rear suspension that located the Chapman struts with wishbones in place of the earlier cranked links.

First registered "305 SKK" on 14 December 1961 and finished in yellow, the car was cared for by a devoted first owner whose correspondence survives in the file-including a June 1961 letter from the S.U. Carburetter Co. addressing carburetion of the original 1,216 cc FWE Climax engine, technical notes from Coventry Climax itself, and a January 1970 letter from Lotus Cars (Service) Ltd. advising on gel-coat-safe repainting. Period snapshots show the Elite in its original yellow prior to its repaint in white around that time.

The Elite passed through a succession of Midlands keepers, its original registration books stamped across Coventry, Birmingham, West Bromwich, and Walsall, and it retains a continuous run of MOT certificates from 1972 through 1977 together with period tax discs. Later fitted with a 1,460 cc FWB Climax purchased in 1989, the car was imported to the United States in the 1990s, where it took First Place at the 2001 All-British Field Meet in Tampa, Florida.

Following the car's relocation to California in 2023, a sympathetic recent refurbishment has addressed stress cracks, a rebuilt rear suspension, the fitment of 15-inch MWS chrome wire wheels, a carburetor tune by Mike "Mr. Elite" Ostrov, renewal of the weather seals, and an interior retrim in red vinyl and gray carpeting with materials from MK14 Components in Suffolk, England.

Accompanied by one of the more complete history files to surface for an early Elite, this thoroughly documented example deserves to be shown, driven, and enjoyed at future Lotus Ltd. club events.