52 replies to this topic

[elansprint72]

Does anyone know, for sure, how many Gold Bug Elans were constructed by the Ian Walker team, apart from the alloy bodied fast-back?

Not including the more recent Sean Walker recreation, of course.

[Ted Walker]

I understand there were 3 intotal. I owned the ex Arundell /Clark car which is probably the only one to survive.This is now owned by John Delaine and after spendinga year over here has now gone back to the stated where it has lived for about the last 20 years.

[David Birchall]

In the mid eighties when I was racing a 26R on the West Coast there was a 'Gold Bug' Elan I used to race against-is that the same car you owned Ted and the same car John Delaine now owns?

[bobLee]

In the mid eighties when I was racing a 26R on the West Coast there was a 'Gold Bug' Elan I used to race against-is that the same car you owned Ted and the same car John Delaine now owns?

John Delane now owns the Ex Ian Walker Gold Bug raced on the west coast by Alex Bollinger. John bought the Gold Bug from Alex.

Edited by bobLee, 05 June 2009 - 19:41.

[Ted Walker]

Yes thats one in the same car.The fist US owner was Don Orosco.

[raceannouncer2003]

...and John Delane is planning on bringing the ex-Ian Walker Gold Bug to the Westwood reunion, July 19 weekend at Mission, B.C!!!

Vince H.

[Ted Walker]

Give him my best wishes and say that he is missed here over in England this season.

[elansprint72]

Give him my best wishes and say that he is missed here over in England this season.

Here's the Sean Walker car at Oulton.

[Ted Walker]

Thats the replica car

[elansprint72]

Thats the replica car

I know- did you see the price when it was sold?
These two had an unbelievable scrap at the Gold Cup.



Edit: I don't know why this image disappeared, hope it stays put this time!

Edited by elansprint72, 09 June 2009 - 20:56.

[raceannouncer2003]

John Delane had a look at this thread. His comments:

"Thanks, very interesting. The 'recreation' was done by Ian Walker for his son, Sean since he couldn't get his hands on the real one which I managed to do. The car has lived in California for 20 years and has been though a number of
hands and was raced very little over that time. Last weekend at Wine Country we had our first US outing and managed to win on Sunday. Then we went on to the Laguna charity deal mid-week and managed another win there so it is in
good shape and running very well. I am anxious to make the swing up your way next month and have some fun there!

Thanks,

John"

Vince H.

[elansprint72]

John Delane had a look at this thread. His comments:

"Thanks, very interesting. The 'recreation' was done by Ian Walker for his son, Sean since he couldn't get his hands on the real one which I managed to do. The car has lived in California for 20 years and has been though a number of
hands and was raced very little over that time. Last weekend at Wine Country we had our first US outing and managed to win on Sunday. Then we went on to the Laguna charity deal mid-week and managed another win there so it is in
good shape and running very well. I am anxious to make the swing up your way next month and have some fun there!

Thanks,

John"

Vince H.

Thanks for the info guys!

[David Birchall]

My recollection is that it arrived in California in 84 or 85, so it is actually 25 years!

Gawd, I gettin old....

[bobLee]

John Delane had a look at this thread. His comments:

"Thanks, very interesting. The 'recreation' was done by Ian Walker for his son, Sean since he couldn't get his hands on the real one which I managed to do. The car has lived in California for 20 years and has been though a number of
hands and was raced very little over that time. Last weekend at Wine Country we had our first US outing and managed to win on Sunday. Then we went on to the Laguna charity deal mid-week and managed another win there so it is in
good shape and running very well. I am anxious to make the swing up your way next month and have some fun there!

Thanks,

John"

Vince H.

Here are some great shots of John's race taken at the LSR event (Laguna Seca Raceway Charity)last week by Steve Knoll of www.laprecord.com Steve Knolls lap record site

Edited by bobLee, 10 June 2009 - 21:19.

[elansprint72]

Here are some great shots of John's race taken at the LSR event (Laguna Seca Raceway Charity)last week by Steve Knoll of www.laprecord.com

Thanks for posting those great shots. When I saw the Sean Walker car I said that the gold colour was wrong i.e. too light (a small argument ensued ) I remember it being as shown in your last shot. However, the rear arch flares on John's car look wider than in period shots.

[bobLee]

Here is a link to Sportscardigest.com with photos and finishing orders for the 2009 Sears Point Wine Country Classic.

Sportscar Digest

John had an exciting race and there were a number of lead changes up front but John in the 26R prevailed.

Edited by bobLee, 11 June 2009 - 02:56.

[raceannouncer2003]

John Delane has registered for this forum, but can't seem to post yet. Any ideas?

Vince H.

[Ted Walker]

Regarding the colour.when I restored the car(it was blue when I bought it) The prevoius owner had not removed the hardtop so I had a section of the original colours to make a perfect match. The wheel arches are correct as well.

[elansprint72]

Regarding the colour.when I restored the car(it was blue when I bought it) The prevoius owner had not removed the hardtop so I had a section of the original colours to make a perfect match. The wheel arches are correct as well.

Ted,
It's the colour of the recreation which looks "light" to me, I was quite surprised how bright it looked when I saw it (of course it is a very long time since I saw the original colour )
With regard to the arches, from published photos it looks like they probably started out as "standard" 26/R wide body but were altered to fit wider tyres. I don't know if you have Chris Harvey's book The Sports, GT and Touring cars, on page 152 it shows a Walker Bug in May 64 at Mallory with the normal 26/R rear arches but on the facing page, again in May 64 but at the 'ring, the arches on this car have clearly been cut away at the top to allow a wider tyre (it does not look like a "finished" job). I'm reasonably sure that these are two different bugs, because the wipers are parked on different sides.
In both of these shots the cars have pop-up headlamps, so obviously developments were still ongoing.
Nice to have a discourse with folks who know their bugs. So, if there were three and now there is only one; what happened to the other two? As there seem to be many more 26/Rs now than were ever produced, I suppose that there is always a danger that these bugs start reproducing and crawl out of the woodwork, especially given the value.

[David Birchall]

Tony Thompson is probably the most knowledgeable person on 26Rs, I'll send him an email and see if we can get him on here.

[elansprint72]

Tony Thompson is probably the most knowledgeable person on 26Rs, I'll send him an email and see if we can get him on here.

That would be great; I have some of his products on my car and they are top quality items.

[David Birchall]

Well, we just completed the Westwood 50/Historic Races at Mission Raceway just east of Vancouver and it was a great (but very hot!) weekend. John Delane in the Gold Bug Elan had a great weekend tussling with three local drivers in a very fast Sunbeam Tiger, an equally fast Jag E Type and toward the end of the weekend, a very fast 1969 Camaro. John had to sit out the final race of the weekend when the diff seized on the car. It was very hot, the track is tight and the competition was fierce.

[elansprint72]

Any chance of the world's best Elan going to the Le Mans Classic next year?

[Ted Walker]

Just printed some shots of the "bug" during my ownership.If "elansprint" is at Silverstone Festival he can borrow them to post here.

[elansprint72]

Just printed some shots of the "bug" during my ownership.If "elansprint" is at Silverstone Festival he can borrow them to post here.

I will not be at Silverstone, unfortunately.

[David Birchall]

Perhaps 'Giraffe' will be there-he seems to have mastered the technology involved....

[Ted Walker]

Yes thats no problem

[elansprint72]

I'm a bit bit puzzled; the whole raison d'etre for the 26/R fixed headlight arrangement was to achieve on-track lightness at the expense of on-road legality, however, unless I'm mistaken, the JD car in the photos seems to have pivoting headlights underneath the fixed covers. Something I have never seen before and maybe the worst of both worlds?

[David Birchall]

Nope, I took a close look at the weekend and it has the plexi covers over fixed lights.

[David Birchall]

I was thinking about this car last night and realised that I went with Nino Epifani and his crew to Sears Point with the Gold Bug Elan shortly after Nino had restored it in the early/mid eighties. What triggered the memory was the presence of Dan Marvin in the ex Villeneuve car at Mission. It was Dan-at that point the most recent Formula Atlantic Champion-who was the test driver in the Elan that day! I recall that the main point of the test was determining which front sway bar to use-15/16ths or 1 inch-and as I remember it the smaller bar was chosen by Dan as better. Serious stuff for a guy like me who checked the tire pressures before a race-maybe!

[Alan Cox]

Ted passed these photos to me at Silverstone on Friday with a request to post them on his behalf. They were taken (he thinks) in 1970/1971 during his ownership. One of the pics clearly shows the flared rear arch

[Giraffe]

A Goldbug on display yesterday at Silverstone, courtesy of Martin Stretton.


By giraffe138, shot with EX-M2 at 2009-07-26


By giraffe138, shot with EX-M2 at 2009-07-26

[Ted Walker]

Thats is of course the Le Mans Coupe not strictly speaking a "gold bug"

[raceannouncer2003]

A link to a photo of John Delane's Gold Bug at the Westwood 50 Historic races at River's Edge Road Course, Mission Raceway Park, BC, July 19 weekend, photo by Phil Dauphinee:

http://public.fotki....s/dscn3722.html

John had some good dices over the weekend with an E-type and a Sunbeam Tiger, but for the last race, the rear end seized up and he wasn't able to go out.

Vince H.

Edited by raceannouncer2003, 28 July 2009 - 06:03.

[elansprint72]

Here's one I prepared earlier- two actually, Oulton Park 5th August 1975.





As you can see (despite the fact that I owned an Elan S4SE at the time) my main focus of attention was the Cobra.

[Ted Walker]

Thats my elan when raced by John harper just a week before I bought it from him.

[elansprint72]

Thats my elan when raced by John harper just a week before I bought it from him.

Ted, there is a third shot:




If you PM with your e-mail address I'll send you the files.

[speedywood]

I'm building a replica 26R at the moment but now fascinated by the Le Mans Coupe does anyone have any more pictures and history

[Gregor Marshall]

Sean Walker's Gold Bug was sharing our team garage at the Spa 6 hours and looked superb and unfortunately was quite heavilg damaged after a mis-understanding with an MGB about 5 laps in and retired.

[Ted Walker]

Gregor ,I should point out that Seans car is a genuine 26R painted in "gold bug" colours and not one of the actual cars.

[Peter Darley]

The picture on page 38 of my book "Jim Clark - Life at Team Lotus" may help / confuse

Peter Darley

[Gregor Marshall]

Gregor ,I should point out that Seans car is a genuine 26R painted in "gold bug" colours and not one of the actual cars.

I didn't know that and that wasn't how it came across - they had a big plasterboard with photos of what I (incorrectly) assumed was the car racing in period.
Sorry for my confusion.

[bill p]

Photo from 1964 British GP at Brands Hatch, Ilford Films Race

No 46 Sir John Whitmore (note slot in rear wheelarch), No 47 Tony Hegbourne

The schoolboy in the way is me so no complaints, please!

Edited by bill p, 26 October 2009 - 14:26.

[JULIAN BALME]

Ted - you're a dark horse. I knew you'd owned one of the Le Mans Tigers but an IWR Elan? I came across this thread because I'm currently researching a book on Ian Walker I'm writing and designing for William Taylor.

I reckon there were only two Elans (and the fastback), but I'm all ears if you've got info to the contrary.

Bill Ps photo from Brands, is somehow amongst our amazing caché of photos (gawd knows how), but more importantly, shows the last time the 'bugs' were raced under the IWR banner. Only car 46 was actually raced that weekend by John Whitmore. Car 47 was due to be raced by Tony Hegbourne who qualified it in a hugely commendable sub 1.50 before jumping into the Lotus 30 and subsequently wrapping it into a ball at Dingle Dell. Having effectively written off 2 cars within 3 weeks, Ian decided to get out before the rest of his scuderia went the same way. The 2 gold bugs were sold within weeks, one to Tommy Weber the other (and the point of this entry) TO WHO? Anybody have any ideas?

Is the car Weber bought the one Ted/Orosco and now, Dalane own? And isn't the other car in Japan?

The rear arch mods identified in the Brands photo were, from what I've deduced, only done just before the meeting and because of the lack of photos its unclear as to whether the other car (47) was modified aswell. I suspect the wheel arches on the car Ted finally inherited had replaced the squared off ones and therefore a little bit more generous than the earlier incarnation! Strange though that the car was repainted in IWR colours when it was no longer racing under that banner. In fact theres a b/w photo in a 1966 Autosport that shows 3 Elans led by Mike Crabtree approaching Druids, the third of which looks decidedly like a gold bug though it isn't credited... Any ideas?

Needless to say, anybody out there with anything to do with Ian Walker, please don't hesitate to get in touch... You're not related are you Ted??!!

Julian

[Kevan]

Photo from 1964 British GP at Brands Hatch, Ilford Films Race

No 46 Sir John Whitmore (note slot in rear wheelarch), No 47 Tony Hegbourne

The schoolboy in the way is me so no complaints, please!

...and a very off-topic moment- that's an impressive lineup of transporters in the background, including what looks like the Ecurie Ecosse Commer (furthest from camera)

[elansprint72]

Scratching the surface of a new acquisition today and my trail crossed Gold Bug tracks.

Anyone care to update us on how many "Gold Bugs" there are in 2011? I thought that Sean Walker sold the replica (see post #8) back in early 2009. If so, where is it now and what is this one.....



... which he drove at Oulton Gold Cup 2010? Is it the same car but being driven for a new owner, has he bought it back, did the sale not go through or is it a replica of the replica? There are detail differences but nothing that might not have happened during a "refresh".

Also, the rear wheel arches on car 46 in the immediately preceding post, can anyone shed any light on them?

Edited by elansprint72, 11 April 2011 - 21:25.

[elansprint72]

From what I understand Sean Walker sold the replica and bought it back some time later. I would still like to hear from anyone who has info on those wheel-arches.

Edited by elansprint72, 21 August 2013 - 16:25.

[Giraffe]

Classic Team Lotus were displaying this Elan at Autosport International claiming it to be the only authentic 1964 Gold Bug in existance.


By giraffe138 at 2012-01-15

[Alan Cox]

Classic Team Lotus were displaying this Elan at Autosport International claiming it to be the only authentic 1964 Gold Bug in existance.

If that's the case, is it the ex-Ted Walker car then?

[Andrew Kitson]

That car is recently back from the USA, purchased by one of CTL's clients who owns and races several important Lotus types.

Edited by Andrew Kitson, 15 January 2012 - 11:09.