LCR Forum

Im grabbing for a needle in a haystack here:

Bought this car as it is but with no ID as a donor. The plan was to rip it for some parts and sell the remains but I started to investigate the history behind this car. It have never been registered in sweden and is most likely not in "use" in UK eighter. The car have been on a GT id since brought here.

If anybody recognize this car please contact me. I have found remains of the VIN but I don´t have the whole number.

I have traced the know history (in sweden) of this car back to about 1977. Then it was bought from UK from an advertisment in Autosport. There are some features on this car that we never have seen in sweden, also it has some marks that it had when coming here. I have spoken to the guy that imported the car, he confirms the following:
-Bought from a private seller of an ad in Autosport (swedish buyer was a subscriber)
-Engine bay seriously painted black (not done in a teabrake in a parkinglot, all out including brake/clutch masters)
-Innerwings welded, repairs sprayed white
-Dent in engine bay fan bulge
-Alarm fitted with keylock on drivers side
-A plug in the dash board is probaly a very early version of an immobilizer
-A-frame car converted to leafspring
-Instrument binnacle in fibreglass (not touched since the car came here confirmed by all that have owned the car here, car taken off the road 1983)
-White and green when brought here
-Buyer not sure, but probably a Lotus emblem on the bonnet "above" the Cortina emblem.

I think:
The car was probably regsitered in UK in the beginning of 1965
The car is manufactured in the beginning of 1965 (rectangular VIN tag) but I am not sure what month (have confetti headlining)
Engine was said to be at some 140 bhp when bought in UK (arn´t they all?)

White sprayed repairs:


Dent in fan bulge:


Alarm keylock switch:


Primitive immo plug (not sure it is but a theory)


Leafspring converted:



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I'm sure the import papers must have had to have some Id for when the car came from the UK?

If the previous Swedish owners still have the engine can't you get the number off the block and the head to give yourself a few more clues?

Also Autosport has a very active forum with members who have subscribed to the magazine for many years - see here:

http://forums.autosport.com/index.php

I bet you could find someone with the mag with the original for sale add - a long shot but worth a try.

The thing is that the car was imported here only for parts. Back then it was almost impossible to import a car due to regulations of all sorts plus the tax, the tax and even more tax and VAT added to that.
There are no such documents, they bought the car, took of the plates in UK, did nothing to the documents, put the car on the boat and imported it here as a pile of spares, not as a car. Since he is willing to speak about this I have no suspicions that they have bought a stolen car. He is working his memory to find out in what region he bought the car and what year it was, more exactly.

Since putting a car like this on the road was a crime back then they have done what they can to hide the traces of the cars origin. The original documents was actually a danger for them, so they did not want them at all he recalls. The period for the prosecutic has expired.
I will check the engine number. Is it the one on the head that is important?

When I know more I will try the Autosport forum. Thanks for the link!