Body Color

[Rich]

I have to decide what color to paint my 65 S2. There is no record as to what the original color was. I would like to use one of the colors that were available then. Can anyone tell me what colors were available in 65?
Thanks
Rich

[knockoffnut]

I suspect that the real answer is "whatever colour a customer was willing to pay for". My understanding is that Lotus didn't have their own colours, but paint was purchased pre-mixed from the paint suppliers, so colours were often common across many English car brands. There was an advertised/published list of available Lotus colours. There were also many cars shipped to dealers in gelcoat (in Canada in any case) and then painted to order by the dealer, which could add other colours. There is a thread on this site which lists all of the published Elan colours, but the colours specifically advertised as available in 1965 is a much shorter list. Many folks here have more knowledge and expertise than me, but off the top of my head I can think of: Carnival red, BRG, Fiesta yellow, white, medici blue, french blue, royal blue, but a few cars were painted in Primrose Yellow plus a few other yellows. I did a bit of checking on yellow colours for a Lotus Elan and I found at least 4 "standard" yellow colours. The early S1 and S2 cars were offered in factory brochures in "Fiesta" Yellow. A number of very early Elans were painted Primrose yellow, probably by customer request as Primrose yellow was a standard colour for Elites (and Jags and Minis etc., all English paint colours being paint manufacturer specified rather than being car company specific ie; the paint company mixed the various colours and sold paint to various manufacturers) "lotus Yellow" seems to appear as the standard Elan yellow colour about 1969 and later. Then there is another colour referred to as Sunburst yellow which seems to have been used on factory cars from 1965 to 1969. Lotus yellow is the darkest (orangest) of these four, then Fiesta Yellow is a tad lighter, then Sunburst Yellow which is pretty "clear" yellow", and then Primrose is a very light, soft yellow and then there is Bahama Yellow. Beyond this there were numerous cars which were painted "custom" colours by request.

[knockoffnut]

BTW Rich, what colours did you find when you stripped the car? This is your best indicator of the original colour of your car.

[Rich]

I believe that I am the 3 Rd or fourth owner of the car. The person who I bought the car from bought the car that had been repainted a blue and not a Lotus color. Stripping the body there are about 3 different colors but none are paint. The is body filler, gel coat and other layers that were added over its lifetime due to an accident or two. Someone who repainted the car did an excellent job of removing any sign of the original color. The PO gave me the build sheet he received from the Lotus archives that doesn't mention a body color.
Do you know if Lotus every painted an Elan S2 in a two tone line an SE design?

[trw99]

Rich, I put together a full list of Elan and +2 colours a while ago. You can find it here: http://s3.spanglefish.com/s/2969/docume ... jan-17.pdf

Tim

[JimE]

Tim - I believe the Roman Purple Metallic may well have been a Ford colour. Seem to recall seeing it on Escorts and other Fords during the early seventies. Jim.

[Jon Eckman]

The 26/4506 (65/66) I owned back in the 70's was originally Cirrus white with a red interior. As a side note, Iv'e always wondered what color Emma Peel's S3 was - it didn't look like any of the blues that I remember were around at that time.

[knockoffnut]

Rich, any chance that you could post a picture of those colour layers? "about 3 different colors but none are paint." Are you thinking that all the layers are gelcoat? I love this automotive archeology!

[trw99]

[quote="Jon Eckman"] As a side note, Iv'e always wondered what color Emma Peel's S3 was - it didn't look like any of the blues that I remember were around at that time.[/quote]

It was a special Jaguar metallic blue colour, requested by the production company. It also had leather seats, fitted at the factory. It was standard S3, not a SE.

Tim

[trondselan]

Hello
This is Trond from Norway.
I have just started restoration of my blue - 65 - S2! It has been locked up in the garage since 1977, when we returned from England, Birmingham.
Did you find out the colour?

Since my S2 has been standing for just a long time, we are talking major works.
Do you have any suggestion as to where to buy essentials - like suspension parts, radiator, brake parts etc. etc.?
Not racing parts, just to have the car running!

Trond

[LotusArchives]

Standard S2 colours were;
Cirrus White,
Jaguar Racing Green,
Medici Blue,
Carmen Red

[wotsisname]

Trond,
Firstly - Welcome to the Forum.

You would be best to start a "thread" of your own so that it does not break into the thread of the original poster. There are many people on here that will happily give some helpful information