The immortal and sublimely beautiful Lotus Eleven was the sports-racing model which really established designer/manufacturer Colin Chapman as a serious contributor to international racing. After some 150 XI ‘Series 1’ cars had been manufactured, a ‘Series II’ variant was introduced in 1957 of which by the end of production in 1958 some 270 examples had been produced. These cars were highly successful worldwide and many ended up the other side of ‘the pond’. The example we are offering here was purchased by the owner’s grandfather in a ‘dismantled’ state from Mike Lavers who reputedly imported the car from America. The deal was put together by restorer and well-known racing driver Martin Stretton during the late 1980s / early 1990s. The collection of parts that changed hands included a chassis in poor condition, which was without a chassis number. A letter in the car’s history file from Martin Stretton (dated 24/03/91), states the following – “Since the purchase for a total of £40,000, the car has been inspected by Alan Putt for the FIA and Vic Thomas of the Historic Lotus Register. Both have pronounced themselves happy with the originality of the car inspite of the fact it has no chassis number.” Further to this, Vic Thomas makes clear in another piece of correspondence that the hoard of original parts may have come from more than one original car, given that some components were duplicated. There was no history or identification to indicate they came from the same car. Alas, the parts were not a complete car in component form and for example, there was no bodywork whatsoever.
A new replacement chassis was sourced from Mike Brotherhood and used to rebuild the car (most likely fabricated by Lotus guru Ken Nicholls). The frame is to the early short-door specification with diagonal scuttle brace, however the original chassis purchased from Mike Lavers accompanies this car for sale. The initial stage of the resurrection was undertaken by Martin Stretton in the 1990s with bodywork outsourced to Beaufort Restorations. Around this time, the engine was rebuilt by Bruce Spollon, with components supplied by Tony Mantle. Thereafter, extensive work was undertaken by Andrew Tart in the 2000s, with further bodywork tweaks being undertaken by Pete Southam. Whilst our vendor believes a number of parts from the original Lavers hoard were incorporated into the build, he did intend to compete with the car and therefore much was replaced / uprated in the consideration of safety.
The car is fitted with a Coventry Climax STR4 OHC 1460cc engine; Whilst the Climax engine has number FWB 6634 stamped on to the side, which indicates it was one of the original 1956-spec 1460cc engines, Vic Thomas of the Historic Lotus Register considers this unlikely. From the oil filter outlets, in Vic Thomas’ opinion, he considers the engine to have been derived from a 1020cc fire pump. Bruce Spollon, now deceased, found the engine to be circa 1500cc capacity, when he dismantled it for rebuild in the 1990s. The Lotus was painted in 2017 by Race and Restoration Limited in the pastel blue colour scheme we present it in today.
The Eleven benefits from much recent work undertaken by Jerry Booen at D Type Developments Ltd between May 2023 and January 2024. This included fitment of, amongst other things, new: racing belts, fire extinguisher, race battery, FIA spec dampers, close ratio smooth casing gearbox, tubular exhaust manifold, rain light and dynamo. In January 2024, on the rolling road, the engine produced in excess of 110BHP at 6000rpm (Please note the engine is currently fitted with DCOE Weber carburettors, but the HTP papers are for SU carburettors).
Ready to use and enjoy in some of the finest historic motorsport events; This Lotus Eleven has recently been issued with a historic technical passport, valid in racing & hillclimb to 31 December 2033 by Motorsport UK. The car has been owned by the same family for some 35 years and not been campaigned in that time. It is is accompanied by a file of paperwork, which comprises the aforementioned HTP document, photographs showing the bodywork in bare metal, correspondence with both the HLR and FIA, engine dyno sheet from Luke Stevens Motorsport and a very large selection of invoices for works carried out over the decades.
