Description:

1964 LOTUS ELAN 26R  26-R-07  1 0f 3 GENUINE SHAPECRAFT

Lotus founder Colin Chapman introduced the radical Elan in 1963. Ian Walker and many other privateer race teams saw the potential of the Elan and Lotus sanctioned the 26R in 1964. These cars had many significant differences to the road cars and were produced by Lotus Components on a separate line. Team Lotus only raced the 26R twice during 1965, in the hands of Ray Parsons, at Goodwood in April and Brands Hatch in August. Instead they heavily supported Ian Walker's ‘Gold Bug’ Elan team, which had greatly contributed to the development of the 26R in the first place. The production of 26Rs spanned S1 and S2 cars, being produced between 1964 and 1966. It is generally accepted that a total of 101 Elan 26Rs were made by Lotus Components. Unit numbers were recorded as 26-R-# and 26-S2-# for the two Series. 

Barry Wood, proprietor of Surbiton Motors, a Lotus and Jack Brabham dealer, ran a Lotus Elan privateer race team. He wanted to make the already nimble Elan more streamlined and designed an aluminium fastback and bonded it to the Elan body creating the Shapecraft. The prototype was built on a standard Elan S1 and raced by him following its debut in 1963 at Snetterton. The Shapecraft Elan S1 exhibited at the 1964 Racing Car Show was bought by Peter Sellers as a wedding present for his new wife Britt Ekland.

Available only in 1964, Barry Wood completed 20 in total of which only 3 were built on genuine 26R S1 cars. The three cars were built for racing and all survive. Barry Wood raced the first one RFP 696B, his friend Les Arnold the second, BPE 230B and our car, AUT 173B – chassis 26-R-07, was sold to Gentleman Driver, Richard Crosfield.

Having campaigned an MGA Twin Cam domestically and an Aston Martin DB2/4 in the 1962 Targa Florio, Crosfield was ready to step up to a more competitive car. He raced the car actively throughout 1964 with many club race podiums as well as enjoying strong finishes in more high profile races. The 1964 Goodwood BARC International GT race, which supported the headline Tourist Trophy race, he finished a highly credible 4th behind Mike Spence in an Elan and Dickie Stoop and Mike d’Udy in their dominant Porsche 904s.

In 1965 Crosfield set about winning the prestigious Autosport Championship but after a close fought season finished in second place. He then sold the car in September 1965 to well-known club racer Jacquie Bond Smith, one half of the First Ladies International Racing Team (FLIRT).

She enjoyed a brief ownership competing three times in that year before giving the car to Gerry Marshall to sell ahead of the 1966 season. The next owner Trevor Howard, service manager at Lotus dealers The Chequered Flag, ran the car in club events for a year before selling to a trade associate Jim Jones.

He kept the car until 1975 when Gerry Marshall again brokered a sale this time to Len Bridges who co-founded Lawrencetune with Chris Lawrence. Following an extensive restoration and race preparation Len Bridges actively campaigned the car with many podiums in the growing pre 1966 Historic Racing scene.

Following a brief ownership with Lotus guru Tony Thompson the car was then sold in 1987 to Roberto Causo, the head of FIA Historic Cars Commission at the time. Simon Hadfield drove the car in that years Coppa Marzo on behalf of Causo and also ran the car. The car enjoyed three further owners competing in all the premier historic events including Tour Auto, Goodwood, GTSCC and Le Mans Classic all run in the car by Simon Hadfield.

The current owner bought the car in 2019 and since then it has been continually developed with no expense spared the car with Wolfe Manufacturing and has a fresh Neil Brown engine. It is now a regular front running car with outright victories on track and road events including the highly prestigious international 2023 Modena Cento Ore.

The car is totally race ready with FIA HTP papers until 31.12.2029 and a bespoke bound book by Porter Press on the history of this important car. Featured in many magazines including the August 2024 Octane magazine.

Competitively priced at £275,000

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