On the subject of unusual two seaters does anyone recognise the car
here It was taken on June 1st 1957 at Silverstone and looks similar to the the Michelloti designed and Ghia built Lotus of 1957 seen
here but without a full width screen or the air intake in the bonnet.
If anyone can point me in the direction of identifying this car I'd be most grateful :-)
[/quote]
Just like to thank everyone who chipped in and helped me along the road to identifying the mystery bodied Lotus 6 PGP 182 I asked about above :-)
Turns out that this is a very significant Lotus 6 as Peter Ross of the Historic Lotus Register explains below, a great pity the original body no longer exists but the drawings do, hopefully only a matter of time before someone has a go at remanufacturing the original here is what Peter Ross had to say :-
PGP182
This is a very famous Lotus because it was bought by Peter Kirwan-Taylor who later designed the body for the Lotus 14 Elite.
It was displayed at the recent Club Lotus Show at Malvern (April 17/18th) and below is what was written on the information sheet next to the car.
It was still called a Lotus when the original body was fitted.
Registration: PGP182
Engine: Ford E93A 1172cc
First Owner: Peter Kirwan-Taylor
Peter bought the chassis MkVl No.34 on 13/4/1954. He designed a special body for the frame and asked Colin Chapman to make it for him in aluminium.
The body was made by Williams and Prichard but invoiced by Lotus Engineering. The body was an all enveloping style and this impressed Colin Chapman so much that he asked Peter to style the body of the type 14 Elite.
Peter, being a merchant banker, also helped in improving Lotus profits and the Company’s eventual 1968 flotation on the Stock Exchange. He also designed the Swallow Doretti and the Citroen Bijou.
It was fitted with the Ford E93A engine with all the Aquaplane bits available. Peter had the car for about two years. The next owner is unknown.
From 1963 to 1969 it was owned by Thomas Kikaldy who removed the special body and sold it to an Italian restaurant owner in London.
The body has not been seen since. However Peter Kirwan-Taylor has provided the original drawings of the body and it could be reproduced if required.
The long restoration of this car started in 1983 when Len Prichard of Williams and Prichard made the present body panels bringing the car back to the original Mk Vl styling.
The car was finally completed by Mike Brotherwood in 2004.
Quite a significant vehicle in the Lotus story I'd say :-)
Thanks again for your help especially Paul in helping tracing this car :-)
Best
Art T