According to a letter signed by Peter Brand of Lotus Cars Ltd., dated 11 November 1988, the car SB2237 was built in December 1967 and delivered to the customer in Hong Kong in kit form in January 1968.

Apart from the letter from Lotus, not much is known about the car's history before August 1987, when an Englishman living in Hong Kong purchased it. He has written the following in the car's documentation: "From the racing modifications that the engine had when I bought it, and from conversations with the previous owner, I understood that the car had been raced in Macao". There was also evidence that the car had been involved in an accident, presumably when raced. "Its front offside had been damaged and panels, nose cone and wings had been replaced". The replacement parts can be seen on the pictures taken when the car was still in Hong Kong (white and red in colour, with Hong Kong registration number DS 4514). The Hong Kong registration document is in the car's documentation. Perhaps someone who reads this knows more about SB2237's South East Asian history.

The Englishman drove the car in Hong Kong until mid 1991 when it was shipped back to the UK for restoration. The restoration was performed by Caterham Cars in Kent in 1993. The restoration, which was performed to the specification of the car's birth in 1967, is well documented though not with photographs. A few exist from the very start, when the car was stripped down in Caterham's Dartford workshop. When the owner before me bought the car in January 2004 it had done a few hundred miles since the restoration; also he respected the originality of the car.

The condition of the car is stunning, and probably as good as it was when built in 1967/68. A few items of the car are not original, though. The black leather seats, which were made by an upholsterer in Hong Kong, are of course not original, but they are a part of the car's history. Also, the instruments are evidently not original, but the original lay-out is respected. The Superlite rims, the rollover bar and the steering wheel are also not right if you are a purist. The black trim though does pass the test. Some of the late production S2s had black dash, side panels and seats, according to Tony Weale's book.

The car's engine, an uprated Ford 1500 Cosworth with twin Weber 40DCOE's, was also renovated during the restoration. SB2237 has the original Standard 10 rear axle (4.11:1) and the Ford 116E gearbox. The last two pictures are taken on a cold and wet autumn day in Denmark when the car was just imported.