Lotus launches Certificate of Provenance programme
For £170 Lotus will provide fresh paperwork to confirm a car's legitimacy and its history
Lotus owners are some of the most passionate and well informed car enthusiasts out there, so the official launch of a Certificate of Provenance programme is likely to go down a treat. For £170 the Hethel firm will confirm the legitimacy and history, including the build completion date, of any Lotus. Providing the certificate, a build specification sheet and a letter from CEO Phil Popham in an envelope, packaged into a box with other goodies and bearing “For The Drivers” on its lid, it’s a Lotus anorak’s equivalent of a telegram from the Queen.
Lotus throws several collectables in with the pack to sweeten the deal, including an aluminium plaque engraved with the owner’s name and information, a leather keyring, carbon fibre bookmark and a presentation tin containing four badges. Oh, and there’s also a Lotus ink pen. Anyone with a Lotus - or someone wanting to buy a gift for an owner - can purchase the pack. Although it remains to be seen whether all cars are actually on Lotus’s books; PH’s Elan was a pre-prod S3 SE that somehow slipped through the net of paperwork. It was the sixties, man.
The first car to receive the pack is Colin Chapman’s former Turbo Esprit company car, which he took possession of in a completely bespoke specification in 1981, the year before his death. The boss’s car was the first Esprit to get power steering, and it sat on lowered suspension with modified brakes, wearing BBS Mahle lattice alloy wheels. The metallic Silver Diamond car also got factory-fitted optional extras like a full red leather interior, air-conditioning and a Panasonic audio system that’s integrated into the headliner. Lovely.
If the Chapman link isn't hefty enough for you, Lotus also points out that former prime minister Margaret Thatcher drove the car on a visit to Norfolk back in August ’81, so it’s featured in the papers, too (somewhat bizarrely). It was out of Lotus’s hands and in private ownership since 1983, but has since been bought back by its maker. This is the boss's old company car, after all.
Lotus CEO, Popham, said: “What better way to launch our Certificate of Provenance than by showing how it has validated the celebrated history of an iconic and unique Turbo Esprit. The Lotus archive is a fully catalogued database of information and can provide a wealth of insightful facts on any Lotus car from any era. It’s the perfect gift for a Lotus owner anywhere in the world.”
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