1958 Lotus Eleven Series II Le Mans Spec

            - Chassis # 538
- Australian Motorlife Museum 
- near Wollongong NSW

From Information Sheet compiled by Owner on display with Vehicle .....

"The Lotus Eleven is one of those Iconic Sports Racing cars with a rich history of race wins. In the middle 1950s there were no sports/racing cars up to 1500cc that could match the Eleven's performance. Its streamlined shape, wonderful handling, the use of large disc brakes, a DeDion tube rear axle and the reliability of a Coventry Climax engine coupled to a proprietary Austin gearbox and differential meant that it had the agility and stamina for both short sprint races and long distance events such as LeMan, the 24 hours race - which to this day is the showcase of the various Sports Cars manufacturers. In all, 270 Lotus Elevens were produced.

It was at LeMans that the Lotus Eleven really shone - 1956, 7th outright and a class win - 1957, 9th outright and another class win. It also set some pretty impressive speed records powered by engines of 750cc and 1100cc. 100miles at 140mph (225.4kph) would be impressive even today but this was in the middle 1950s ! The car attained a maximum lap on this run at 145.5 mph.

There were 2 series of Eleven's - the early cars used a split front axle from a Ford sedan. The later Series 2 version, as this car is, has an independant front suspension consisting of coil over spring double wishbones. The DeDion tube was also enlarged and the chassis made slightly longer to incorporate these changes. Also, the were 3 specifications - Sports (with Ford 10 side valve engine and solid rear axle) - Club (Coventry Climax engine) - LeMans (Coventry Climax, DeDion rear axle, disc brakes all round). Then there were the various stages of tune for the Coventry Climax engine - Stage 3 being the "hottest".

OK, so what about this car?

It is chassis No. 538, one of the very last made in 1958 and it was delivered new to Australia, the only Eleven ever to be so. Before leaving the UK, the importer had Count Steve Ouvaroff drive the car at Brands Hatch to make sure everything was as it should be and the car arrived here in 1959 for George Jamieson of Rockhampton with George Whatmore's help. This upset the local Lotus dealer Derek Jolly no end, and there is quite a paper trail about this that is part of the car's history.

.....

It is from John Partridge that I bought the car in June 2010. The car was so completely disassembled, even all the rivet holes were welded up. In about October 2010 the restoration was started in earnest and this took about 18 months and about 2,500 hours to get to the unpainted stage. It first moved under its own power on 18 January 2012. The painting took place late in 2012.

.....

As of mid 2013 the car has been driven about 1,000 miles including 2 track sessions, where its behavior is exemplary as would be expected. It achieves lap times under 1:20 seconds at Wakefield Park which for a pre-60's car is very quick. With only 410kg to stop, the brakes are sensational and the 1100cc engine punches out a healthy 80 bhp.

I feel very privileged to own this car, it is a wonderful thing to drive, and what else would make the youngsters of today hang out their car windows with their iPhones to take a photo of it when on the road !

               Ed Holly"

Taken in: Australia / New South Wales / Kembla Grange (show map)

Taken on: June 15, 2019

Tags:

Australian Motorlife Museum

Lotus

Lotus Eleven Series II LeMans

RARE

Sports Car

Wollongong

New South Wales

Australia

1958

Museum

Car Museum

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44646H

NSW

Olympus

EM10

Paul Leader

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Sets appears in: • Cars - Lotus • Taken 2019 more » • Transport - 1950 - 1959 • Australian Motorlife Museum, Wollongong NSW « less

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Camera: Olympus E-M10MarkII, f/2.8, 1/30 sec, 12mm (=24mm), ISO 2000 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Olympus E-M10MarkII
Lens:	OLYMPUS M.12-40mm F2.8
Aperture:	f/2.8
Exposure Time:	0.033 sec (1/30)
Focal Length:	12mm (35mm equivalent: 24mm)
ISO:	2000
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	On, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Manual
Gain Control:	High gain up
Saturation:	High
Sharpness:	Hard
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 10.1 (Windows)
Show full info

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