Hi guys, sorry I havent been on in a while.
Like Peter said, I originaly posted to background the car & try & locate any previous owners & get some more history about the car.
Because I've been slack Ive got a few replies to some posts that may answer some questions.
toxicbugman said:
So this was the Lotus at the Vic Small Ford Day , had rather large plates welded over were the chassis number would have been plus some strange parts for a Lotus.
This was the car at Small Ford Sunday. The reason for the large plates as I understand was because of the rough roads that the car traveled on on its little adventure down-under, these were put onto give it strength on the strut towers. They were put on around 1972 by the previous owner.
Peter Meyer said:
More detail?
He doesn't use the brake booster and it is not on the car and it has a set of air horns I think but other than that.....and air horns are fairly out there..... but other than that I think its pretty good. What else do you see as strange?
Correct the brake booster is'nt being used because it tends to lock the wheels up under heavy braking. Ive driven the car as is & it still pulls up ok without it. Ive also herd that a few racing cortina's don't use them either.
As for the air horns, they were put in as part of an alarm system put in during the 80's when it was a daily driver used as transport to & from work everyday.
toxicbugman said:
I assumed as it was presented like a show car attention would have been paid to the detail , but on reflexion it has been costomised to the owners taste. as for the other anomalys , if you are a Lotus Cortina owner " the devil is in the detail ". :wink:
As for the detail, alot of the previous modifications have been left on the car during its most recent restoration. The car could have been reverted back to original but alot of the period modifications have been left as a reminder of the cars history.
Some of them are :-
-The holes in the chassis rail where the sump guard was fitted for the trip.
-The singed Wires from when the car had an engine bay fire & ran of the road in Turkey.
The Lotus Badge on the back to cover a hole where switch for an alarm system.
I think all of these things reflect the cars colourful history. Which is the reason why they have been left.
I hope this answers a few questions.
We would also love to hear from anyone who knows anything else about this cars history to fill in any blank spots.
Apparently when the car left for its trip it was reported by an Essex newspaper & there was a pic of it with the bull-bar fitted & roof rack with a Union Jack on the front of it. If anyone by chance has a copy in their scrapbook or know where to look to hopefully get a copy it would be greatly appreciated