1965 Elan 26R GTS Replica (Full-On TTR build)

[craig chima]

Selling this spectacular Elan race car for my customer. It is an absolutely no expenses spared, top-to-bottom TTR GTS 26R "re-creation." Over the past 4 years it has proven to be the fastest Elan in the U.S. and is as beautiful as it is fast. There are approximately 25 races now on the car and it is fully sorted and handles like a dream. A quick rundown of the highlights of the car as follows:

New TTR chassis and ultra lightweight body. Over $15,000 was spent getting the body absolutely perfect from all angles, and the underside of the car was done in "chip guard" making cleanup a breeze. Even with the extra bodywork/filler, the car still comes in at 1230 pounds.

The car has fully adjustable suspension, TTR adjustable shocks, bolt-on TTR mag wheels (including one spare), aluminum hubs, custom front anti-roll bar, Quaife LSD on alloy nose carrier, TTR rear diff stiffener, CV joint conversion (new this year), ATL cell with aluminum container, AR front calipers and NR rear calipers. All suspension is either powder coated or plated. Tires are 2 weekend old ACB10's with plenty of life left in them and there are also brand new Avon rains mounted on Minilites included.

Interior has TTR 26R fiberglass bucket seats, Willans FIA belts, Stack tach and Racetech gauges (warning lights are shift light and low oil pressure light). Ignition is MSD 6A with full fire system and custom dry sump tank. Pedal assembly is custom TTR dual circuit with balance bar.

Engine is a new-build Tony Ingram LEGAL 1600, using new Ford Motorsport block, new head casting, cassette water pump, and all new internals making in excess of 195bhp. This motor will run with (and beat) any of the so-called 200+bhp twincams out there. Transmission is 3 rail with Quaife dog ring close ratio internals, with Tilton annular throwout bearing assembly and alloy bellhousing and tailshaft housing. Exhaust is custom Jet Hot coated 4 into 1 header and exhaust system. Alloy radiator provides more than adequate cooling, all oil and brake hoses are Aeroquip steel braided, and all coolant hoses are blue silicone.

As is evident from this brief write up, this is a very, very high-spec car and I don't think there is an option that is available for an Elan that has been overlooked and not on this car. It comes with a more than adequate spares package (pads, plugs, other disposables, etc) and has run 2:11's at Watkins Glen, 1:00 flat at Lime Rock, 2:11 at VIR, 1:24 at Summit Point, 1:42 at Atlanta, 1:36 at Mosport and is fully race prepped and ready to race and win now.

Rather than posting individual pictures, a full pictorial on the car can be seen by clicking on the following link:
http://www.britishracecar.com/AlanTosler-Lotus-26R.htm. I have plenty of additional pictures that I can also send you directly if you would like to see anything specific so just contact me. The pictures in the pictorial are of the original motor that Alan ran in the car and the new one shows much nicer (crinkle finish black cam cover, new carbs, new head, new front cover with cassette water pump, etc. etc, etc).

Price is $95,000 US and this is roughly 2/3 of what it cost to build this car and it is better today than when it was new. Contact Craig Chima at CC Motorsports at (330) 807-0742 or [email protected] with any questions. Car is located in Akron, OH USA

[rgh0]

Looks like a really nice car and would have cost a lot lot more to build than the asking price unless you did all the work yourself and did not count the labor.

I would certainly be tempted if it was in Australia and met our local historic racing regs, which it does not, as here FIA sanctioned replicas are not allowed. I guess in Europe it would struggle also as it appears to have been built on a type 45 ID rather than a type 26 ID and while they allow replicas / reproductions of 26R's to be built as so called "GTS" cars they have to be based on the correct road car model as i understand it.

The one thing I don't understand about a lot of racing Elans I see, is why people move the radiator forward in the body. I guess they do it for easy engine access but it does not help the handling putting more mass ahead of the front axle.

cheers
Rohan

[craig chima]

Rohan, regarding the radiator comment and more mass ahead of the front axle, your comments are well taken and if I was Adrian Newey or Gordon Murray trying to build an F1 winner I would have certainly moved it back as far rearwards as possible. On the other hand, the 10 pounds or so moved 6 or 8 inches further forward might have one tenth or two tenths total percentage change in front/rear weight distribution and I very much doubt that any vintage/historic driver out there would be able to discern that change. And in exchange for that it, moving it a bit forward dramatically cleans up the engine compartment and also eliminates the need to remove the rad when doing engine/trans service. As per my original post, the car remains the fastest vintage/historic Elan in the U.S. so I don't think this issue really warrants any further discussion. Cheers, Craig

[PaulFinch]

Certainly a stunning car and obviously very competitive.

As Rohan says, unfortunately not much use in the U.K. or Europe due to being built on the Type 45 identity so wouldn't be allowed in HSCC or Masters races. This is actually very relevant to me as I've been seriously considering re shelling my type 36 S4 coupe as a 26r clone but have concluded it would actually put off any potential future purchaser and may even have an adverse effect on value.

I'm intrigued to know how it's considered a '65 car. From what I understand type 45s started in '66 and a chassis number in the 7500 range would indicate a mid '67 car.

As I say, stunning car but probably not a large market outside of the states.

[Davidb]

Nice car, a change of chassis plate would sort out most of the problems raised...

It has a new body and chassis-the original chassis number doesn't apply-get a chassis number that starts '26' ...Just don't put an 'R' after it

[nmauduit]

Nice car, a change of chassis plate would sort out most of the problems raised...

It has a new body and chassis-the original chassis number doesn't apply-get a chassis number that starts '26' ...Just don't put an 'R' after it

that, plus engine and gearbox to fit FIA specs ...

[Davidb]

CV driveshafts?

[lebrunseven]

i have seen this elan at various tracks- it is extremely well sorted, and beautiful. yes, the driver is talented, but the car is also very quick.

[elansprint71]

45/7556 chassis identity refers to an S3 DHC, built some time in 1967, it would have carried a Lotus Cars (rather than Lotus Components) identity plate, which would have been fixed at 90degrees to the repro-plate shown.

Lotus Cars moved from Cheshunt to Hethel in 1966.

GTS is an FIA designation applying to S1/S2 cars granted FIA papers, built as replicas of the 26/R; as already stated this car will not ever qualify for FIA papers for several reasons.

It looks like a lovely racing-car however, and appears to be very well made.

[knockoffnut]

Gorgeous car! interesting comments about the rad. Many years ago I built an oversized rad for my S3 which I laid down at a low angle starting near the stock position at the bottom and running upwards to where the top of this rad sits. The result is half of the weight shift, great flow, and brilliant engine access too. I always wondered why Colin didn't do this back in the day. My cooling system now holds about 7 liters of coolant and the car has never come even close to overheating since. Now years later I want to swap my custom brass rad for an alloy rad and reduce the volume a bit, for the weight savings...