JPS Serial Numbers

[Footer]

Hi Guys,

I am certain I saw a posting that gave specific information about which serial numbers were associated with JPS cars, but i'm not able to locate that now.  I saw an auction listing for a 1975 car that has the paint  of a JPS car but the listing is limited and provides little information.  I'm convinced that it is not a JPS, but wanted to confirm that via the serial number.

The car is listed for an Elkhart, Indiana, RM Sotheby  auction for early May.  The posting lists the vin number as  73053463R.

Can anyone point me in the right direction ?

Thanks.

[dakazman]

  It was discussed here.
http://www.lotuseuropa.org/LotusForum/index.php?topic=1448.0
Dakazman

[Footer]

Thanks Dakazman, just what I was looking for.

[4129R]

I saw an auction listing for a 1975 car

  The posting lists the vin number as  73053463R.

Not a good start by the auction company.

That car was built May 1973, and should have been invoiced around October or November 1973. So how can it be described as a 1975 car?

[tedtaylor]

I saw an auction listing for a 1975 car

  The posting lists the vin number as  73053463R.

Not a good start by the auction company.

That car was built May 1973, and should have been invoiced around October or November 1973. So how can it be described as a 1975 car?

don't know real answer but one possibility is that it sat in a dealership showroom and not purchased until a year later.

[BDA]

I don't recall ever hearing of a 1975 Europa from someone who knew what they were talking about, even though the model year was commonly stated as the year it was sold. For example, mine was sold to me as a 1974 even though it was manufactured in 1973 and sold to me in 1975. There was a 1974 1/2 Europa that had the gas struts for the boot lid and biscuit interior and maybe somebody rounded up!

[4129R]

There was a 1974 1/2 Europa that had the gas struts for the boot lid and biscuit interior and maybe somebody rounded up!

I have 4259R, 4483R and the keeper 4688R, one of the very last batch exported to the USA. I am told 4701-4710 were the last Federal spec cars, but were sent to Japan, presumably as the export licence to the USA had run out due to emission or type approval problems.

These 3 cars had the struts, the cloth inserts in the seats, and the map pocket on the bulkhead between the seats.

These 3 were built Feb-April 1974. It seems that cars from about 4250-4710 were made Feb, March, and April 1974 when it seems Hethel were flat out producing Federal spec cars as quickly as possible to get them to the USA before whatever the magical cut-off date was. That makes about 460 cars in say 60 working days, or 8 a day.

Q cars exported to Europe seem to have lasted until August 1974, and P cars for the home UK market carried on until March 1975, with my first car, 75032429P,  a RHD car with a Federal bodyshell, so presumably Lotus were using up all the shells they had lying around while they converted to full Esprit production.

In the 33 months they were making TCS, they seem to have made about 3130 TCS of P, Q, & R, types, so that equates to 3130/715= 4.4 a day on average.

[BDA]

I need to amend my earlier supposition. I have now heard of a 1975 Europa (I'm willing to call a car built in 1975 a 1975 even if it is otherwise indistinguishable from the 1974 model) from someone who knows what he's talking about! Thanks, Alex!

[Footer]

Sorry guys, my mistake.  It is described as a 1974, not 75.

[BDA]

It's ok, Footer. It gave us something else to talk about!

[surfguitar58]

Sorry guys, my mistake.  It is described as a 1974, not 75.

Almost every seller not familiar with Lotus thinks the "74" at the beginning of the VIN means 1974 model year, not Type 74.
t

[4129R]

Lotus 46 (1966–1968): Original Renault-engined Europa
Lotus 47 (1966–1970): Racing version of Europa
Lotus 52 (1968): Prototype Europa Twin Cam
Lotus 54 (1968–1970): Series 2 'Europa' production car.
Lotus 62 (1969): prototype Europa racer
Lotus 65 (1969–1971): Federalized Europa S2
Lotus 74 (1971–1975): Europa Twin Cam production car

[BDA]

Uh. Surf. My actual VIN is 73063635R.

Checking here (http://www.race-cars.com/utility/lotusr.htm) we note that I have a Type 74 Twin Cam (as opposed to a Type 74 which is an F2 car). A Type 73 is an F3 car. Oddly, while there is a Type 74 and a Type 74 Twin Cam, the initial S2 is a Type 54 (there is no other Type 54 designation). Similarly, the Federalized S2 is a Type 65 (there is no other Type 65 designation).

The format of the VIN changed, I believe more than once for Europas, and I think it ended with the YYMM####X format where YYMM is the year and month of build, the #### is the serialized part of the number and X refers to the market.

Don't take this as a criticism, Surf. This is not something I worry that much about. Till about ten minutes ago, I did not remember (I suppose I had seen the page I linked to before) that I had Type 74 Twin Cam rather than a plain old Type 74.. I also thought at one time that the original color was embedded in the VIN since the registry at lotus-europa.com knew the color before I added my car to the registry. Obviously, that's not true.

[surfguitar58]

Uh. Surf. My actual VIN is 73063635R.

Checking here (http://www.race-cars.com/utility/lotusr.htm) we note that I have a Type 74 Twin Cam (as opposed to a Type 74 which is an F2 car). A Type 73 is an F3 car. Oddly, while there is a Type 74 and a Type 74 Twin Cam, the initial S2 is a Type 54 (there is no other Type 54 designation). Similarly, the Federalized S2 is a Type 65 (there is no other Type 65 designation).

The format of the VIN changed, I believe more than once for Europas, and I think it ended with the YYMM####X format where YYMM is the year and month of build, the #### is the serialized part of the number and X refers to the market.

Don't take this as a criticism, Surf. This is not something I worry that much about. Till about ten minutes ago, I did not remember (I suppose I had seen the page I linked to before) that I had Type 74 Twin Cam rather than a plain old Type 74.. I also thought at one time that the original color was embedded in the VIN since the registry at lotus-europa.com knew the color before I added my car to the registry. Obviously, that's not true.

Err...

I guess I'll refrain from criticizing people who are "not familiar with Lotus" for a while. I'll be eating that nice big fat slice of humble pie now.

tom

[surfguitar58]

In my defense, I guess I was referring to VIN number as opposed to chassis number, such as these that appear in the registry.

t