1969 LOTUS ELAN SERIES 4 BRM DROPHEAD COUPE Chassis Number:...

Estimate

£40,000 - £45,000

1969 LOTUS ELAN SERIES 4 BRM DROPHEAD COUPE

Chassis Number: 45/9498
Registration Number: UJB 829H
Recorded Mileage: c.67,750 miles

- Two private owners, in current ownership since 1972
- Subject of restoration in 2017

The 'Darling' of the High Street in the mid-sixties, Chapman’s technologically advanced Elan of 1962 featured a compelling package of revvy twin-cam motor, all-wheel disc brakes, rack and pinion steering and all-round independent suspension. Better in every regard than the Type 14 Elite that it replaced, the glassfibre-bodied sports car with separate backbone chassis is rightly regarded as the best of its breed of any generation.

A big part of that was the engine, a compact, potent and characterful mill that endowed the Elan with the performance to match its nimble chassis. Dial in trendy 1960s paint colours, starring TV and film roles and racing successes, and Lotus delivered the definitive sportscar of the 1960s.

From the moment of its arrival, Elans were campaigned in everything from club sprints and hillclimbs to autocross events; there was a burgeoning aftermarket for making the car go faster. Lotus itself eventually responded with the 26R, but that didn’t stop then Formula One and sports car racer Mike Spence, a recent arrival at BRM following Graham Hill’s departure for Team Lotus, from smelling an opportunity.

Spence was in his second season as a works BRM F1 driver, having spent a few years previously with Team Lotus. He was uniquely positioned to make his concept for a Lotus-BRM crossover a reality, having supplied tuned engines for Lotus’ competition cars such as the Elan 26R and 47, in addition to building customer race units.

The concept for the BRM Elan arose from a dinner conversation between Mike Spence and Tony Rudd in South Africa while they were testing the BRM Formula 1 car at Kyalami. Mike came up with the idea of getting Lotus to build a special batch of cars painted in the BRM colours, fitted with a stage III BRM modified engine. In 1967 Mike Spence Ltd. launched the Elan BRM, offering stage-tuned 130bhp or 140bhp engines and a unique colour scheme of B.R.M. Racing Green with Dayglo Orange bumpers, inspired by the mouth of the BRM F1 car. Spence and engineer Tony Rudd’s plan was simple; buy unpainted cars in kit form, ship the engines up to Lincolnshire and give them the go-faster treatment. Elan bodies arriving on one pallet and the engine on another. With steel wheels, a wooden dashboard and electric windows, the Elan BRM had performance with a little luxury to match.

Mike had brought his prototype with him when he spent the Easter holiday with Tony in 1968, a version with his name and personal Springbok insignia on it. Sadly, MIke Spence’s untimely death during practice at Indianapolis in May 1968 brought production of the Elan BRMs to an end. Records suggest 21 BRM engines were built, but the actual number of complete conversions is thought to be in single figures.

This car, most likely the last of the final five Elans built after his death, bears his name and insignia in tribute. A letter in the history file in 1990 from Team Lotus to the current owner, confirms that the Elan, “...left the factory on 3 October 1969. It was supplied to Mike Spence Ltd, Reform Road, Maidenhead, Berkshire.”

UJB 829H was acquired by our vendor from its first private keeper in 1972, and has now been in current ownership for a remarkable 52 years. The specification was full-fat B.R.M.: Stage III B.R.M. 140bhp modified engine with ‘Big Valve' inlet ports, S.3 cams, a 1O.5:1 compression ratio (later reduced to 9.5:1), competition coil, static ignition timing (12 degrees BTDC), a fully balanced bottom end, Stromberg 175 CD2S carburettors, high pressure oil-pump, oil cooler, and a four-branch manifold leading to full-flow exhaust. The engine was finished in racing green with an orange cam-cover and B.RM. build plate, and mated to a low-ratio gearbox and 3.77:l differential.

The Elan’s history file includes a letter from Tony Rudd certifying that the engine was a B.R.M. conversion supplied to Mike Spence Ltd, and his belief that this was the car that Mike drove when he visited Tony in 1968. The one anomaly is that the cylinder head has two ports and is fitted with Stromberg Carburettors, possibly as a prototype for sale in the USA where Weber carburettors could not meet emission rules.

When being serviced in 1983 the car was described by Steve Moreland of Moreland-Jones as being ‘prodigiously fast’. Our vendor has personally achieved 60 mph in 6 seconds and a top speed of 120 mph, yet is keen to stress “it has never been raced!”

In 2017 the Elan was treated to a restoration, with the bodywork refinished as original by specialist Jeffrey Steedman, who faithfully reproduced the Springbok on a new boot lid (the original boot lid is available still if required), also the ‘SPENCE’ name and monogram. 

Still on its original chassis, and showing 67,750 miles from new, and now in its sixth decade of single ownership, this extremely capable and special Elan embodies the most evocative period in motorsport.