1965 Lotus Elan 26R

background

By the early 1960s Lotus had developed a reputation for building potent, lightweight sports and racing cars and soon branched out into production sportscars to help fund Colin Chapman’s continued desire to go racing. In 1962 Chapman launched the Lotus Elan, internally designated the Type 26, the Elan was designed by Ron Hickman to embody Chapman’s lightweight philosophy and a backbone chassis with fibreglass body meant the car weighed only 680kg. The car was advanced for its time and featured 4-wheel disc brakes, independent suspension all round and a twin-cam 1,558cc Ford engine.

Customers soon realised the racing potential of the Elan and began modifying them for circuit racing where they proved to be highly competitive. As a result, Lotus, never slow to seize an opportunity, introduced the Elan 26R which featured many of the now race-proven modifications. These included larger front brakes, magnesium knock-on wheels, a BRM or Cosworth tuned engine and heavily modified suspension. Weight was homologated at 580kg with the engine developing 180bhp.

The Elans were well down on outright power versus the Cobras, TVRs and E-Types that they typically raced against but were often able to compete with their fantastic handling and braking performance. An estimated 97 26Rs were made in period although nowadays with the popularity of historic racing and availability of high quality 26R parts many standard Elans have been converted to 26R spec to allow them to go racing. 

history

Chassis 3992 was originally built at Lotus’ Cheshunt factory in 1965 as a Series 2 and was first registered in the UK on 30 December 1965. The car remained in Series 2 specification until 2015 when it was built up to 26R spec by its previous owner. 

The car was purchased by its current owner in 2018 as his first historic race car. With the support of Martin Stretton Racing, the car raced in UK-based series in 2018 including the HSCC Guards Trophy, HRDC Allstars and Masters Gentleman Drivers. 

Since then the car has been regularly campaigned with Peter Auto in their Sixties Endurance racing series proving its competitiveness by achieving multiple class podiums. The car has also raced in the Spa Six Hours on multiple occasions. In late 2021 the car was moved to Pursuit Racing who have prepared it to the highest possible level since with no expense spared running the car. 

specification 

Chassis 3992 is a UK road registered Elan that was built up to 26R spec in 2015. The car had a brand new Tony Thompson Racing (TTR) 26R chassis, TTR roll cage with lightweight body, the driver’s side floor and pedal bulkhead are reinforced with Kevlar and feature an adjustable pedal box. The suspension is a full TTR setup with magnesium rear uprights, Koni dampers on the rear and TTR dampers at the front with 26R spec front brakes and magnesium knock-off wheels. 

The car has a top spec engine supplied by Neil Brown Engineering that was fully rebuilt in April 2024. The engine has a 20-25 hour lifespan and so far has 8.5 hours on it since its last rebuild. A Quaife straight cut gearbox with steel synchros is fitted with a magnesium main case and bell housing and an aluminium tail. The car is running a TTR/Quaife 4.1 differential with TTR driveshafts. A 100L Willans fuel tank has been custom fitted to the floor of the boot, an essential upgrade to be competitive at the Spa Six Hours allowing for a single refuel stop race strategy.

The car has a significant number of spares which include a fully built-up differential running a longer 4.4 CWP ratio that is ideal for circuits with long straights such as at     Mugello and Spa allowing the car to reach a higher top speed. The spares package also includes a detachable light bar with 4 spotlights for running in the dark.