Nicholas Cocks' Lotus Seven
1968 S2 LSB2285
UK

March 2018, Nicholas Cocks Writes:

I have recently bought LSB2285 from the original owner, Rick Chapman, in Ontario Canada.

According to Rick Chapman:

The car was ordered in the spring of 1968, and was delivered in August of 1968. The original colour of the car was dark blue, and about 25 years ago I repainted the car in the JPS colours of black with gold pin stripes.

The Car is 90 to 95% original with only changes made which can easily be undone and restored to 100% original providing all parts are available. The original mileage is 39759 miles. Most changes were made out of necessity, rather than for the sake of change.

The first change was the replacement of the cooling fan, which metal fatigued, and one of the four blades cracked at the weld and broke off. After that I had no choice but to replace it, with in fact a much stronger fan mounted inside the nose cowling. This could easily be replaced if the original fan design is still available.

The next change was also cooling system related, which was removal of the swirl pot and replaced with my own device which has worked fine for at least 40 years. The swirl pot from day one was a problem, and the rad cap would never seal properly and therefore always leaked coolant.

The next change was to the interior, after the original red vinyl and foam seats and seat back deteriorated to the point they had to be replaced. I upgraded the seats themselves using moulded foam aircraft seats which are mounted on the original plywood parts. I Then lined the interior with gold coloured carpet just to dress it up a bit.

The final change was the addition of a trailer hitch which is bolted to the frame with custom manufactured aluminum clamps. The entire hitch unit is high strength structural aluminum. This was necessary so my wife and I could go on a 2 week vacation, pulling a trailer designed for motorcycles to pull, in which we could carry our luggage, tools etc.

March 2018, The Restoration of LSB2285:

I have been in touch with John Watson. In fact I was corresponding with him for about 12 months before I bought the car. I was looking for a genuine original LHD Series 2 and had found a few in Europe, but on John's advise did not proceed with those cars. He was then contacted by Rick Chapman, the previous owner of LSB2285, who told him about his car and that he wanted to sell. John then contacted me and referred me to Rick... and a deal was stuck!

The car is currently undergoing an extensive restoration at PJS Sports Cars in the UK...

Completed:
- Car fully stripped
- Chassis blasted, repainted and re-skinned
- Diff, GBox, Clutch and Engine all rebuilt
- New cam fitted
- Suspension replaced
- Gauges cleaned up
- Wheels blasted and repainted
- Heater removed
- Brakes rebuilt

To do:
- Upholstery
- Hood, side screens, tonneau repair
- Reassembly.