Hi, I have a question that I would like to pose to the L.C. community. What if any status do L.C's have if the Identity has been robbed to "fake ' a replica? I have a L.C. rolling shell {absolutely genuine contact me for proof} that in the 1980's was robbed of it's identity plate, engine, g. box and dash cluster.
It still has all the susp. parts , 2 pc drive shaft etc. The story from both previous owners I know is that the I.D. and parts went back to England to be added to a replica. It's; as far as I know, always been a local L.H.D. Canadian market car.
What status does the Register now concider such cars to hold? Do they wish they would just go away and leave a big can of worms unopened?
I can probably vintage race it as is, or even use it as a street car with a Cortina I.D. , but I am courious what the "official register opinion" and that of the membership at large would be.
I have been told that a number of L.C. 's in North American vintage racing have similar stories attached to them.
I guess it boils down to the thorny question of what makes the car "real" the I.D. plate or the car itself.
Lo.Corts that have lost their identity
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Greg inCanada
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L2Man
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Hi Greg,
This subject of real cars and validity has been debated to death in the forum.
Most people get upset when they have paid over the offs for an invalid car.
I myself have replicas and i am happy with that I paid replica prices for a cheaper copy. I think most members with real cars would not have a problem with that as imitation is the sincerest form of flattery after all!
Other than a criticism that i force their spares prices up by reducing availability most could not care less.
The club does its best to tell prospective members to get their car checked by the club, but sometimes people ate not that street smart.
As for your situation there might be stampings on the car to help you seek to prove you have the real deal and someone else has a replica, others are more techical about such things than I.
80's seems a bit early as a lot were scrapped and would be surprised if a uk switch as a Lhd vin is always known and would not fit well with a rhd shell. The "correction" might be economically viable with today's values but not in the 80's in my humble opinion?
In your shoes i would enjoy as is an accept the enhanced value was sold 20 years ago and not worth the blood pressure to reflect on it??
Cheers
Brendan
This subject of real cars and validity has been debated to death in the forum.
Most people get upset when they have paid over the offs for an invalid car.
I myself have replicas and i am happy with that I paid replica prices for a cheaper copy. I think most members with real cars would not have a problem with that as imitation is the sincerest form of flattery after all!
Other than a criticism that i force their spares prices up by reducing availability most could not care less.
The club does its best to tell prospective members to get their car checked by the club, but sometimes people ate not that street smart.
As for your situation there might be stampings on the car to help you seek to prove you have the real deal and someone else has a replica, others are more techical about such things than I.
80's seems a bit early as a lot were scrapped and would be surprised if a uk switch as a Lhd vin is always known and would not fit well with a rhd shell. The "correction" might be economically viable with today's values but not in the 80's in my humble opinion?
In your shoes i would enjoy as is an accept the enhanced value was sold 20 years ago and not worth the blood pressure to reflect on it??
Cheers
Brendan
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Simon G
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It's the car that makes it 'real' not the ID plate. Just because a car may carry a correct ID plate that doesn't mean it's genuine. It all boils down to whether the car has it's original shell and whether there is supporting documentation, traceable history and if/how long it has been known to the club.
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DaveC
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Like this one that's just turned up on eBay 321454528856----coincidence or what!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/321454528856? ... 26_rdc%3D1
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/321454528856? ... 26_rdc%3D1
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Greg inCanada
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Lo.Corts that have lost their identity
Hi, I appreciate the comment on the cars not being worth enough in the 80's to justify the trouble of an I.D. switch. Upon further concideration I realize the time was more likely the 90's. I have owned it for about 10 years, and the two previous owners known to me probably account for a further 10 years between them. so that moves the time up to the early / mid 90's.
I realize the process to vet a potential purchase involves consulting experts, but this car is definitely a genuine L.C. , just one that has had it's I.D. removed. Perhaps the "story' given me is incorrect. The I.D. plate may be mounted on someones mantle as a nostalgic reminder of his youth, and the engine , dash cluster, etc. simply sold . I have a Europa Series two that had a L.C. twincam squeezed into it {I bought it like that in the late 70's}. That engine came from somewhere, How many of the Canadian L.C.'s are known to have survived, and how many have been lost?
My real question is how are these cases looked on by the register? Is there a category for genuine / I.D. lost cars?
I realize the process to vet a potential purchase involves consulting experts, but this car is definitely a genuine L.C. , just one that has had it's I.D. removed. Perhaps the "story' given me is incorrect. The I.D. plate may be mounted on someones mantle as a nostalgic reminder of his youth, and the engine , dash cluster, etc. simply sold . I have a Europa Series two that had a L.C. twincam squeezed into it {I bought it like that in the late 70's}. That engine came from somewhere, How many of the Canadian L.C.'s are known to have survived, and how many have been lost?
My real question is how are these cases looked on by the register? Is there a category for genuine / I.D. lost cars?
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Simon G
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The shell and V5 currently on ebay may end up as 'Lotus Cortina' I guess but it will never be the real thing. It looks like the guy who is selling it is leaving it to the new owner to build up the car into something it isn't. The logbook is apparently for an aeroflow car but the shell is clearly pre-aeroflow.
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David Baldock
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tommy
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There are some pre aeroflow cars registered late on a C plate. Steve Booker had one for example.
Greg if your bodyshell has not been repaired on the front inner wing suspension top mount area (most U.K. cars have been repaired here) then the original lotus cortina v.i.n. number should still be stamped on the one on right hand side (looking from drivers seat). That should be enough to reclaim it's identity and repro v.i.n. plates can be purchased.
Tommy
Greg if your bodyshell has not been repaired on the front inner wing suspension top mount area (most U.K. cars have been repaired here) then the original lotus cortina v.i.n. number should still be stamped on the one on right hand side (looking from drivers seat). That should be enough to reclaim it's identity and repro v.i.n. plates can be purchased.
Tommy
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Greg inCanada
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Hi Tommy, that's the first place I checked when I first acquired the project. Unfortunately B.C's climate is not much better than in the U.K. so the car is rusted in this area, and was years ago badly repaired. I removed all the added sheet metal but nothing remained in the critical I.D. stamping area. Even on my much nicer 4 door Cortina this area is showing enough rust that the stamped numbers are getting a little hard to read. They are located exactly in the area where the heavy inner structure spot welds to the lighter inner fender and as such are the first thing to go due to corrosion.
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Rick
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Hi Greg
Firstly, do you know what the orginal Chassis Number was, do you have any documents with it listed?
Secondly, why would someone take the identity from what I take it to be a usable Lotus Cortina which in the 90s had a value way over that of a standard car, there was a boom in values in the late 80s and early 90s. and transfer it to a non Lotus Cortina incuring extra cost to create a ringer, reshell, clone, fake, replica or whatever you wish to call it.
if you would like to PM me with any ID that you might have I can point you in the right direction to confirm if you have a correct Lotus Cortina, and then we can maybe track down where your ID has gone.
Rick
Firstly, do you know what the orginal Chassis Number was, do you have any documents with it listed?
Secondly, why would someone take the identity from what I take it to be a usable Lotus Cortina which in the 90s had a value way over that of a standard car, there was a boom in values in the late 80s and early 90s. and transfer it to a non Lotus Cortina incuring extra cost to create a ringer, reshell, clone, fake, replica or whatever you wish to call it.
if you would like to PM me with any ID that you might have I can point you in the right direction to confirm if you have a correct Lotus Cortina, and then we can maybe track down where your ID has gone.
Rick
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Greg inCanada
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Hi Rick, unfortunately I have no idea of what the I.D. No. is. The car was last used with O.H.C. Pinto power and a standard Cortina data plate , documents etc.
The car has all the correct L.C. Susp parts. Shell has all the L.C. only features Dif. hump, reinforced rear frame rails {I am changing the trunk floor due to rust and collision damage so the reinforcements are easy to spot}, never had a battery box on the front inner fender, reinforcement on floor pan for center bearing for 2 pc. drive shaft. dash steel has correct mods. for L.C. instrument cluster. Did I miss anything ?
I don't expect to regain the original I.D. , I am sure it is lost to time. I am just curious if the register has any form of category for cars like this? I am sure it's not the only one out there in this state.
The car has all the correct L.C. Susp parts. Shell has all the L.C. only features Dif. hump, reinforced rear frame rails {I am changing the trunk floor due to rust and collision damage so the reinforcements are easy to spot}, never had a battery box on the front inner fender, reinforcement on floor pan for center bearing for 2 pc. drive shaft. dash steel has correct mods. for L.C. instrument cluster. Did I miss anything ?
I don't expect to regain the original I.D. , I am sure it is lost to time. I am just curious if the register has any form of category for cars like this? I am sure it's not the only one out there in this state.
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Greg inCanada
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Sorry Rick , I hit submit without thinking. As for why who knows. The story as told to me was that a person from the U.K. was living in Vancouver and working in the motor trade here. He bought the car . At some point he decided to return to the U.K. and took a number of parts with him {engine , Gear box, dash, steering wheel, I.D. plate}. What his intentions were I don't know. I don't even know if this "story" is what actually happened, it's just what the previous owner told me. {and was pretty much also told to me by the previous owner two back }.
The car is rough and was at the time probably worth little more than the value of the power unit . Values here were definitely less than in the U.K. up until quite recently. There never were many L.C.'s locally and apart from the Lotus community weren't thought of as anything particularly special.
Too many cheap Mustang's ,Nissan Z's etc. I suppose.
The car is rough and was at the time probably worth little more than the value of the power unit . Values here were definitely less than in the U.K. up until quite recently. There never were many L.C.'s locally and apart from the Lotus community weren't thought of as anything particularly special.
Too many cheap Mustang's ,Nissan Z's etc. I suppose.
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Greg inCanada
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Hi Simon, the front end has had a light bump or two but nothing serious. No reason to think the plate would have been removed to repair damage. None of the inner sheet metal shows any sign of repair.
It's been thumped in the rear, and is going to be a challenge to repair , I am hoping to keep as much of the original steel as I can. I have a background in restoration {most of the 80's} so I know what can be done. I just have to brush up my rusty abilities from years ago.
It's been thumped in the rear, and is going to be a challenge to repair , I am hoping to keep as much of the original steel as I can. I have a background in restoration {most of the 80's} so I know what can be done. I just have to brush up my rusty abilities from years ago.