Lotus Europa Community
Lotus Europa Forums => Members Cars => Topic started by: dakazman on Thursday,February 17, 2022, 04:31:00 PM
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How many badged JPS are still out there?
I’m searching for another Europa Who has a list of which Europa’s are authentic, since I finished my elky.
It seems anyone can throw the badge on any tc with a L15 paint code on it from a damaged one.
Please chime in and list your Badge.
Dakazman
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Dave,
Here's a link to some research I did along with member with Ted Taylor before he sold his #185... We went through the old registry to find documented chassis numbers and production dates, along with comments on actual badge numbers.
How many are still around?...if 200 was the initial number almost 50 years ago, I'd venture s safe bet would be less than 50...ld
https://lotuspals.ning.com/profiles/blog/show?id=4667018%3ABlogPost%3A58526&commentId=4667018%3AComment%3A58358
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Lou, you need an account and password to access your link.
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Lou, you need an account and password to access your link.
Screen shot attached...Thanks BDA
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Thanks Lou for the link, I signed up .
I found what I believe is the correct badge and another that my be just a commemorative pix 3 .
Having some documentation of a JPS originality is also what I’m looking for and hopefully the registry can help. I’ll start my quest, when I have extra time to search for my next Loti .
Dave
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Supposedly the factory has records of which TC/S Europas were commemorative editions.
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Lou: you may want to include #142...which is mine. Can send you the letter from Andy if you want to verify, as well as the Lotus East invoice...;)
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Dakazman: You are correct that your top photo is factory commemorative number badge, bottom badge is not. Look at JPS # assignment list. Notice JPS numbers vs. chassis numbers are pretty random, with some early JPS #'s on late chassis #'s and vice versa. Mine is one - a late JPS #180 on a Nov 1972 chassis #2835R. And notice the random mix or R and P chassis assignments. Norwich sent Lotus USA a bag of numbers, where Europas sold very well (relative to production), and apply to black w/gold pinstripe Europa Specials.
Some were reported added to cars before shipped out to dealers (unconfirmed), while other were done at dealerships (absolutely confirmed). The result is a very random assignment. I can also confirm not every last number was ever put on any car. With that final limit of #200, not every black w/gold Europa Special got one, as we all well know.
Yes, they are treated as a sort of cool holy grail of black Specials, if you find or have one. But the truth is, the factory had no exact idea of which cars got what JPS #'s in the US. Anything now known for sure about the #'s is post facto, collected from owners who posted info somewhere, as is the case with my car. Nice to have, but really in the end, a round piece of very misunderstood plastic stuck somewhere in the interior (usually as your picture show, but mine is elsewhere).
A much as I was determined to own one and bought it almost 50 years ago, I now see it as rather misunderstood and, consequently, somewhat overrated. More or less like being every 11th caller into a radio station for free concert tickets than any actual precisely planned factory designation. Best if you were maybe on the favored customer list at a dealer, and got one added to your car as a thank you gift - on or, for some, done well after the sale.
Not that it isn't cool, but beyond a number disk, it doesn't add another feature to the car. But learning all this decades ago, I decided that keeping the car 100% original just because of a badge was not in the cards. It still has the badge, but the car has undergone multiple improvements over the years that I have never thought twice about doing to preserve a "JPS".
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It's my understanding that the JPS "package" also included a carton of cigarettes, a jacket, etc.
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It's my understanding that the JPS "package" also included a carton of cigarettes, a jacket, etc.
Smokes (fags in UK), fob, patch, decal, pin, cuff links & Jacket...
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...and the model F1 car?
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Jacket similar to mine. Can't tell if sleeves on your photo are embroidered, zipper pulls have JPS on them, or if that's a sewn patch on front or also embroidered. Maybe there was more than one kind.
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003, I’ve got about 9 months or so left on the restoration, engine rebuild was just completed and I’m working on the chassis. Bodywork largely done.
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Jeff
Wow , a double 0. Post more pics.
I found this a good read .
http://www.lotuseuropa.org/LotusForum/index.php?topic=2548.0
Having the certificate of provenance would be a nice addition in your case .
Dakazman
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I bought it as a stalled project and it ended up having many, many things to fix or be redone. I have maybe 9-12 months of work left.
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Also, based on all my research and pre-resto photos, I know the interior was black.
Still not sure if I will go with the sports and classic palamino color, or just keep the original black, not sure to what degree that matters on these.
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Nice Europa!
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Thanks!
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That list showing the alleged JPS badged cars is highly suspect and very misleading.
For a start 2701R is recorded at Hethel as leaving the factory in Lagoon Blue. not a Black JPS special
Secondly, there were only 100 Black JPS special cars built, not all were exported to America.
The badges were not sent with the cars by the factory as claimed, thus the random association with chassis numbers.
I know Lotus was a rather chaotic organization at times, (I worked for them in the 70s) but their numbering system was fairly good as anyone who has stripped a Europa will testify from the chassis numbers and paint colour etc scratched or written on the shell, doors, dash etc to ensure the parts that had been fettled to fit were used in the final assembly line.
These badges were made/distributed by a well known East coast Lotus Importer to bolster sales, he seemed to have developed amnesia when he was quizzed about his involvement later in life, along with another dealer in Louisiana who added the badges, a pair of cufflinks, Rally Jacket and a key fob to sweeten the deal.
The UK cars that are claimed to be part of the 200 in the list probably had the badges fitted by the owners after a trip to Disney Land or someone has a 3d printer.
It is wrong to conflate the build sequence number that is well recorded and shown on certificates, with plastic badges that never came from Lotus. i.e. the 50th JPS special built is not Ltd Edition #50 and so on.
Sorry to be a party pooper gents.
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JeffBatt You have a stunning looking special there. I have a 74 Special in Black and hope to have a body restoration done in the next 5-10 years. It is a fun weekend driver for the time being.
Can't wait to see you car finished and like many others here would agree we all like seeing more pictures!
Cheers,
Ross
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Brian Robins,
Thank you for the insight. That is what I’m looking for and the reason I started the thread.
Dakazman
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***DELETIA***
These badges were made/distributed by a well known East coast Lotus Importer to bolster sales, he seemed to have developed amnesia when he was quizzed about his involvement later in life, along with another dealer in Louisiana who added the badges, a pair of cufflinks, Rally Jacket and a key fob to sweeten the deal.
***DELETIA***
Sorry to be a party pooper gents.
Yeah, Lotus East tried everything they could to move units...I know mine is not an "official" JPS badged from the factory car...but the back story of having the dash emblem and a bunch of the JPS sweetners makes for a humorous side story to the car.
Researching it further, turns out LE sold to a dealer in PA, and the original owner was hell-bent on having a JPS car, so LaMonsa Motors in Mahwah did a trade swap to get the JPS liveried vehicle (which is what I now own) up to northern NJ to accomplish the sale. Happens all the time (I don't have the dealer-to-dealer transfer paperwork, but that's ok...the ID numbers match from Lotus East to the LaMonsa invoice to the first sale.
Still going to put the badge on the new dash when I get around to it. Part of the history of the car, whether it reflects what the factory really intended...that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
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Thanks Bryan for the clarification.
Dakazman