17 replies to this topic

[TEDD]

My Father owned and raced the ex Revson Lotus 23 from about 1970 and sold it around 1980

where is it now ?

[BritishV8]

Anybody?

TEDD, I'll bump this back up to the top and perhaps that'll help you get an answer.

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Incidentally, if anyone is interested I just published a new article last week on
THE DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF LOTUS' 23B (with ~55 big color photos)


Challenge: this photo shows at least five conspicuous non-"period" features. Anyone care to point them out?

[E1pix]

Very beautiful images, very thorough article!

[David Birchall]

Aeroquip lines, Oberg filter, CV jonts, fuel cell...
How am I doing?

[Michael Oliver]

My Father owned and raced the ex Revson Lotus 23 from about 1970 and sold it around 1980

where is it now ?

Hi Tedd

Very sorry, can't help with current whereabouts but it was quite a distinctive car if I remember. Did your father buy the car from the Revson estate or another owner? It might also be useful to know where your father was based?

Kind regards

Michael

[TEDD]

Hi Tedd

Very sorry, can't help with current whereabouts but it was quite a distinctive car if I remember. Did your father buy the car from the Revson estate or another owner? It might also be useful to know where your father was based?

Kind regards

Michael

We lived in Elk Grove Village, near Chicago, raced the car mostly at Blackhawk Farms and Road America, ran in B sports racing till the class was phased out in the late 70's. was SCCA Cen Div B/SR Regional Champ several times

He bougt the car in late 1970 from someone on the east coast maybe from RI or CT ?, this was the 2nd 23 that he had, his 1st 23 came from Frank Opalka and was crashed in 70 and later sold to Jim Downing (mazda guy) out west, actualy saw the still damaged body work on ebay about 5 years ago

When he got the Revson car it had a 2.0 Coventry climax FPF in it and a hewland HD5 gear box, ran it with the Climax motors (had a spare out of the wrecked one) till the motors were sold in the mid 70's to Joel Finn and Bob Akin, he then ran it with a BMW motor in it (mistake)

He sold the car around 1980 to Jaques Greeley ( the db panhard guy) with modified orig. body and bmw engine. we did see it vintage racing at Road America a few times in the mid-late 80's one time it was red with a bobed tail rear section, and the last time we saw it, it was done up in the red/white and blue revson paint job and had a lotus/ford twin cam in it , think it was someone or a race shop out of Colorado

and yes a very unique recognizable car/chassis because of all the ( webster ? ) endurance race mods from the 60's

Edited by TEDD, 26 April 2011 - 07:34.

[Red Socks]

We lived in Elk Grove Village, near Chicago, raced the car mostly at Blackhawk Farms and Road America, ran in B sports racing till the class was phased out in the late 70's. was SCCA Cen Div B/SR Regional Champ several times

He bougt the car in late 1970 from someone on the east coast maybe from RI or CT ?, this was the 2nd 23 that he had, his 1st 23 came from Frank Opalka and was crashed in 70 and later sold to Jim Downing (mazda guy) out west, actualy saw the still damaged body work on ebay about 5 years ago

When he got the Revson car it had a 2.0 Coventry climax FPF in it and a hewland HD5 gear box, ran it with the Climax motors (had a spare out of the wrecked one) till the motors were sold in the mid 70's to Joel Finn and Bob Akin, he then ran it with a BMW motor in it (mistake)

He sold the car around 1980 to Jaques Greeley ( the db panhard guy) with modified orig. body and bmw engine. we did see it vintage racing at Road America a few times in the mid-late 80's one time it was red with a bobed tail rear section, and the last time we saw it, it was done up in the red/white and blue revson paint job and had a lotus/ford twin cam in it , think it was someone or a race shop out of Colorado

and yes a very unique recognizable car/chassis because of all the ( webster ? ) endurance race mods from the 60's

Chassis number would of course help.

[TEDD]

Chassis number would of course help.

yes it could or would, but at the time ( the 70's ) it was no big deal, and no note was made of the number

Edited by TEDD, 26 April 2011 - 22:05.

[barrykm]

Very beautiful images, very thorough article!

Absolutely agree, a really great article about a beautiful car that I fell in love with at age 10..!

[BritishV8]

I'll bump this back to the front page one more time...

Aeroquip lines, Oberg filter, CV jonts, fuel cell...
How am I doing?

A good start! Certainly CV joints are a non-period feature. The fuel tank has been upgraded to a modern cell, and has been relocated under the seat which was Lotus' original planned location, but not where they put it in production. The tattle-tale filter on this car isn't actually an Oberg - it's a Racor - but neither company was even in business in 1962/3. (Racor's website says they started in 1969. Oberg is newer than that.) As I understand it, Aeroquip lines would be rare in England but might have been a period feature if for example the car had raced in southern California... What's more clearly non-period is the plumbing routing. It's all out of whack since Lotus originally routed fluids forward through frame tubes. Anything else?

[David Birchall]

I'll bump this back to the front page one more time...
Anything else?

Ride height adjustable shocks.
And there is something not right about those Webers...

[Bloggsworth]

Gearbox is a Mk8 or 9 judging by the run of the linkage.
Electronic ignition.
Breather tube in the cam cover - why it is an aeroquip I can't imagine.

[David Birchall]

So you can't see what's in it...?

[Bloggsworth]

So you can't see what's in it...?

I can see that there is a TwinCam in it and that it's not a 1500cc one... Are you saying that it should have an 1100?

[TEDD]

Hard to belive the red white and blue lotus 23 is not out there now, as mentioned it was last seen by us at Road America about 20 years ago and was easy to ID, is it possible it has left the US or been restored to pre 65 usrrc specs

[Charles Helps]

Hard to belive the red white and blue lotus 23 is not out there now, as mentioned it was last seen by us at Road America about 20 years ago and was easy to ID, is it possible it has left the US or been restored to pre 65 usrrc specs

I showed this thread to William Steagall of the Lotus 23 Registry. He wrote back:
I do have limited information about this Lotus 23. Or at least a Lotus 23 once owned by Doug Revson. That car's last registered owner was Harry Mathews of Vintage Car Sales and Leasing, Arvada, Colorado, 80003. I also have a note that it was sold to John Kaufman in 1989.
I have applied to register with Autosport.com. When I find out whether or not my registration is accepted, I will try to post a message to this person.

1989 is about 22 years ago (from 2011) - it will be interesting to find more on the chronology. Expect to hear more from Bill Steagall...

[David Birchall]

I can see that there is a TwinCam in it and that it's not a 1500cc one... Are you saying that it should have an 1100?

No, what I meant was, by using Aeroquip instead of the usual clear hose it makes it impossible to see what is coming out of the breather-often a good early warning system.
I have been away for a few days on a rally, hence my delay in responding.

[Elanman]

Not sure how I missed this thread, but to add to the list of non-conformances on the picture the thermostat housing is non-original, the removeable chassis spider frame that fits in the top of the engine bay is of the wrong design, the airbox feeding the carbs is oversized, the oil tank is non-original, the arb has a turnbuckle and spherical joint arrangement on the RHS which is non-original and presumably allows for setting preload (?), the top links and radius rods have spherical joints and adjustment when they should all have non-adjustable rubber bushes and the aluminium splash shields fitted around the inside of the rear wheels are non-standard.

Also, looking at the article the picture of the front suspension appears to show the steering arms are fitted upside down.

I should try and get out more
Nick