STOLEN: Lotus 41C

[TorqueWench]

Sent to me from Duncan at FJHRA
Stolen Lotus 41C Formula Altantic - please circulate

The car is a Lotus 41C, Formula B car having a 1600 Lotus Ford Twincam dry sumped engine in Grey with a Bottle green BRM cam Cover. It is a Smirthwaite engine and has no number on it though the inscription V.LOWE is stamped into the blanking plate where the manual fuel pump would have been. It is very rare car, probably the only 41C in the UK and one of only a dozen or so still running in the world, most in the USA.

The gearbox is a Taylor Race Engineering (USA) unit which is effectively a replica Hewland mk 8/9, The wheels are the original Lotus 6 bolt 6 spoke Mags with black centres and polished rims. they have lotus emblem badges riveted onto the centre of the wheels.

The car is in "Gold Leaf "Livery (red over gold over white) with the oblong Gold Leaf team lotus transfers on each side of the car (not shown in photographs)

It is unusual in that all of the wishbones, vertical links, anti roll bars and driveshafts are in chrome rather than the usual nickel plating, additionally the part numbers, are stamped into tags welded onto the wishbones, engine mountings and the removable chassis rails either side of the engine.

The car was stolen on the night of Monday 28th of September from inside its locked racebox which was in turn locked inside a unit on a working farm. The thieves took the apparently illogical step of cutting the car out of the racebox to remove it rather than simply tow the whole lot away.

A substantial reward is offered for the safe recovery of the car. Any assistance that you can give in airing this theft will be greatly appreciated.

Greg can be contacted on; greg.ellaway@googlemail.com with any information.

[TorqueWench]

[Peter Mallett]

Thread stuck here and copied to racers. Very sad to read this. there but for the grace of etc.................

Hope there's a satisfactory outcome.

[Derwent Motorsp]

Surely a car like that is impossible to "move on"?

[PTRACER]

What an absolute shame we've got four sticky threads at the top of the forum where people have had their race cars or trailers stolen.

Hope they find who stole it and string 'em up.

[zac510]

Originally Posted by Derwent Motorsp

Surely a car like that is impossible to "move on"?

That's what I was thinking. You'd look a bit obvious if you turned up in a historic meet in that.

[PTRACER]

Well, good and bad news from Atlas:

Originally Posted by David McKinney

Have just received this email from Greg Ellaway:
Just to let you know the car has been recovered by the police. It was being joy ridden around my home town in the early hours. They lost it on a roundabout and crashed through the kerbs and ended up sideways into a tree. The car is quite badly damaged but at least I have it and it will be rebuilt.

Many thanks for your intervention, its good to know there is a big like-minded community out there.

[Richy_Rich]

Speechless...

[delta]

Thanks for the info Paul. Good news.

[Alan Morgan]

As somebody said on a certain other forum

"I hope the tree was ok, and the driver wasn't!"

[Peter Mallett]

Agreed.

[wolf sun]

Hang on there - they broke into a locked unit on someone's private property, cut a locked trailer open, and quietly removed the car (takes some doing, I suppose) to have a joyride around town??? Sounds...strange, doesn't it?

Can't believe that this was the thieves intention when they set out - maybe their original 'plan' fell through somehow...?

[John Turner]

A very odd set of circumstances, indeed. Very pleased that it has been recovered, albeit damaged. Will now 'unstick' this thread.