Regazzoni and others have brought you pictures of exotic places taken long ago, but this is of the former Lotus showroom in the north London area of Hornsey. Here’s the fifties showroom building, complete with Elite.
The following photo was taken yesterday, not by Maurice-Louis Branger, Corrado Millanta or Geoff Goddard but by me:
Jewsons, builders merchants, applied in 2015 to demolish the showroom but the council denied permission after a campaign by locals to preserve it. To their credit, Jewsons have (as you can see) covered the windows with pictures acknowledging local history.
The stables where Chapman, Costin, Hill and others built the cars are, I believe, long gone. Could see no sign of them although this website suggests they exist. I’m not convinced.
http://www.colinchapmanmuseum.co.uk/
Chapman’s father was the publican at the Railway Hotel. hence using the stables to build Lotuses. The building is currently empty and looks as though it’s being converted to housing. In 2017 there was a plan to demolish it and build a tower block but that seems to have been abandoned.
And another link for those who are interested:
https://hornseyhisto...ace-lotus-cars/