History - Legend - Stories - For Sale

MKVI - MK7 S1 | SB1000 - 1499 | SB1500 - 1999 | SB2000 - 2499 | SB2500 - 2999 | SB3000 +
important: chassis numbers are as reported by owners -- their appearance here does not guarantee authenticity.

Denis Lupton's 1961 Lotus Seven
SB1310
Australia

SB1310 was bought new from the Australian agents, Geoghegan & Son's, by Ed Wilson of Colac, Victoria, in early 1962. A farmer, he competed in a few events,and used the car on the road fairly regularly until he had an accident in about 1974, sliding on a patch of black ice on the Great Ocean Road late one Winter's night, and ending up hard against the Armco on the side of the road, doing the Lotus serious damage. He sold off various parts, Cosworth engine, close ratio gearbox, etc, and in 1980, mentioned to me that perhaps I may be interested in rebuilding the car. The next time he came to Melbourne, Wilson brought the wreck with him, and I purchased the remains as a project that I'd get around to doing at some time later on.

I sold my business in 2005, and after much thought, dragged the wreck out from under the house,and started work on it. I had done quite a lot of restoration work on a variety of road and racing cars so the Lotus was another interesting project.

A little more news on SB1310, and I met the first owner. I was originally told that Ed Wilson was the first owner, but a lot of checking proved this to be incorrect. The first owner (not the dealer) was Bill March, who bought the car in February 1962, from Geoghegan's, the Lotus dealer in NSW. Bill raced the car for a couple of years, then traded the car on the Geoghegan's works car, SB1566. Geoghegan's then sold SB1310 to Ed Wilson,of Colac in Victoria, and this is where the mistake came in, as Ed always said he bought the car from Geoghegan's, which he did, but not as a new car -- actually as a successful race car.

The reason Bill March traded in this car (SB1310) was the Works car (SB1566) had all the latest mods, a 5 speed Hewland gearbox, an LSD, and a very good Cosworth 1500cc motor, also alloy brake calipers.

Below, a couple of shots of SB1310 -- the head-on was a class record on the Myrniong hill, the side view from Myrniong in 2009.


History - Legend - Stories - For Sale

MKVI - MK7 S1 | SB1000 - 1499 | SB1500 - 1999 | SB2000 - 2499 | SB2500 - 2999 | SB3000 +
important: chassis numbers are as reported by owners -- their appearance here does not guarantee authenticity.