KPU384C

[Bertil]

KPU384C is belived to have been sold to Sweden in the sixties. Has anybody seen or heard of the car recently, in UK or elsewhere?
Does anybody have the VIN?

[Andy M]

Hi Bertil,
More than likely about to re appear any time soon like most of the KPUs!
Miraculously found in someones back garden hidden under a blanket of bullshit!
Andy M

[Bertil]

That´s always a possibility with such cars, I know.
I was just curious if the car had turned up in UK since the rumour says it it was sold to Sweden in 1966. Has anybody heard of it after 1966?

Does anybody have any information about it earlier than 1966?

[Steve 155C]

The last posting I saw about it was on the 10-tenths forum with an indication it could possibly be in Sweden. No one challenged that.

[jwoch]

384 is certainly the most obscure of the works cars. I've not found any details of events that it did. However I do have its chassis number and some official records that indicate that it never left Ford competitons dept. but was used to 'reshell' one of the other works rally cars.
What happened in practice on more than one occasion is that the numberplates from a damaged car that was still taxed would be transferred onto another (currently untaxed car) that was ready to go.

[Keith Halstead]

A work colleague of mine claimed to have bought the last red/gold painted shell off the team in 1973/4 and used it to reshell his crash damaged car HLO 1C before emigrating to Australia. He offered it to me for £300 before he left but I declined it (moment of madness...)

[Bertil]

I have found out some about 384C.
It came to Sweden in the spring 1966, did some really nice results in the -66 season here (total third) and it got crasched seriously in march 1967 at an ice event.
It was sold off to a guy but I have not found out if it got repaired, reshelled or just broken for spares.
I have spoken to the guy that brought it to Sweden. He worked at Alan Mann and he is the one that crashed it. It was red and gold and had a black engine bay. He have some pics that I will post when I have managed to have them scanned.

The reg no and the VIN I have found out matches the clubs files so it must be 384C. The VIN is not registered in Sweden.

[jwoch]

Some contradicory information on 384. On a ten-tenths thread it claims that the chassis number of the car that went to Sweden was 59025. However on licence records it shows that chassis number against KPU 397C. So was it 397 that went to Sweden?
However 397s log book shows another chassis number and there are pictures of it as standard w/g press car.
Can anyone confirm that 384 was a race car or a rally car. No-one has ever offered any pictures.

[Bertil]

The information I have received is that 384 had 59025. The invoice when the car was bought from Alan Mann is said to still exist, I´ve not seen it though, the invoice shall say 384 AND 59025. The car must also had 59025 stamped into it since all car import was handled by the customs back then and they would not have accepted a mismatch between the car and the invoice. I don´t know ofcourse, but all theese stories about the works cars swapping plates might also guarantee that they also swapped id´s. Maybe it was not 384 at all, just a 59025 stamped VIN tag that came here along with a practice car. Guess I will have to interview the guy that took it here a litttle bit more.
I will get some pics of the car from 1966, as soon as I got them scanned I will post them.
The car was a race car when it came here, not a rally car.

[Steve 155C]

The current owners son has just surfaced on facebook

https://www.facebook.com/groups/lotusco ... &ref=share

[Keith Halstead]

The current owners son has just surfaced on facebook

https://www.facebook.com/groups/lotusco ... &ref=share

Looks promising Steve.

[Steve 155C]

I hope we get to see more than just the vin plate.

[Bertil]

Ok now I know more. The owner of the "car" is correctly the father of Andreas Johnsen. Mr Johnsen is a Norwegian citizen. He bought a pile of parts, some documents and a VIN tag many many years ago. As years went by he got older and living abroad he never came around to build a car. At some point during the years he bought a good deluxe shell that is stored in Sweden along with the parts. I have spoken to the guy that stores the shell for him. The parts are mainly doors, bonnet and lid all taken off the car before the crash and have survived and possibly some cut outs from the crashed shell. Window in driver door is said to be operated by pulling a leather belt up and down.
The original (well) shell was scrapped after the crash after having been stripped for parts. All this information comes from another Norwegian that was about to buy the lot quite recently but walked away not wanting to open this can if worms.

[Steve 155C]

So none of the original mechanical parts are with the parts in Sweden?

[Bertil]

As far as I know, all mechanical parts went to maintain other race cars in Sweden. The car was sold to a well known racer after it was crashed. This was in the -60´s.