Right hand drive Series 1s?

[ACW270]

Dear All,  a quick question.  Were any Series 1 cars originally made in right hand drive?

[Nero]

The Europa was at the beginning meant for export only. As far as I know they were all left hand drive

[jbcollier]

All S1s were LHD.  The dash is a moulded part of the body so converting to RHD would be a major undertaking.  However, I believe Banks has RHD S1 dashes available.

[RoddyMac]

Kevin Whittle converted his 46 to RHD.  I don't recall him mentioning having to heavily modify the dash moulding, but he did have to source RHD pedals from Banks.  He is on this site, so hopefully he'll chime in.

Rod

[lotusfanatic]

The S1 cars were all LHD but it appears to have been designed to have been built in LHD (or RHD) at the factory.
I'm not sure if this was forward thinking but the design appears to be symmetrical and would appear to have been made for that very purpose. There is at least one small moulded feature, a small contour on the right hand side (on the underside below the glove box) where the steering column would be mounted in the event of a right hand drive car being built.

[Nockenwelle]

One of the prototype cars was produced as RHD car and almost all 47s were RHD too. Converting a LHD S1 should be fairly simple as the dash is symmetrical. The chassis has all the necessary openings on the right hand side.

[jbcollier]

My bad about forgetting the dash symmetry.  At least some of the holes for the steering shaft and brake m/c are already in place as well.

[Lotus 47]

Hello everyone. It's been sometime since I was last on this forum.

Guess what! I have a RH drive S1 460602. Just bought it 4 weeks ago. A pair of S1 cars were imported into Australia by Geoghegans in 1968, and were the only 2 S1 cars to come here, until I imported 460047 in more recent years ago.

So 460602 & 460603 are both RH drive BUT were LH drive when they arrived here. They were converted locally. I have magazine photos of both cars showing them as LHD.

The conversion looks pretty simple. Make a new speedo/tacho panel and glove box lid, then butcher the LH pedals to fit the RH footwell.  Fit RHD Spitfire rack and swap in those unique Europa bits to limit the rack travel and extend the track.

There was at least 1 prototype S1 which was RH drive. I've previously posted my personal theory of 5 early cars.

My 47 is RH drive. I'm sure they all were.

Cheers

Richard Mann
460047
460602
47-GT-3

[lotusfanatic]

Hello Richard, I have considered converting my car to RHD for use in the UK (if I ever get around to starting the restoration)
I may regret converting that if I ever take it to Europe for a road trip but for the majority of time it would be best in RHD form.

[ACW270]

 Thank you for your replies. All fascinating reading. There seem to be some interim cars, between a Type 46 and ‘full’ Type 54 - with door handles, warts, etc. Were some of these RHD and did they have bolt-on bodies?  I think the purity of line of the early cars is stunning and very dramatic.

[Nockenwelle]

The first 400 or so S2s (up to chassis number 541065) retained some of the S1 body features (push button doors and no front warts). They all have a bolt on chassis.

An early S2 may be the smartest Europa buy as you still get some of the desirable S1 features but already a detachable chassis and adjustable seats. I'm not sure if the early S2s have been sold in RHD form as I think the UK sales were launched later in production. But it should be very easy to convert from LHD to RHD.

You may try to drive a LHD car first before thinking of converting it. I drive my RHD Exige here in Germany and I enjoy it.

@Richard: 460047 - that must be the coolest Europa VIN 
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[Lotus 47]

yes 460047 is a pretty good number, and what's even more fab is that it came with my Lotus 47 when I bought it!

I intend to keep 460047 original and LH drive for use here in Australia. It will have its original fixed glass side windows, so not suitable for drive thru takeaways. Our toll roads are all automatic these days, so not problems with paying tolls.

I have driven my mate's LHD A110 Alpine without any issues. Once when he took me for a cruise, we got pulled over for a random breath test. The policewoman asked me to blow into the bag, as I was sitting on the RHS and she thought I was the driver. She looked perplexed when I told her I wasn't driving.

Australia received some early S2 Europas which were wartless and had Renault door handle, They were origianlly RH drive as far as I know. 

[ACW270]

Thanks Nockenwelle. My formative driving years were in a RHD in Germany and I spent a while in LHD Land Rovers on the UK side. I’m researching options and developing a wish list, hence my questions. Does anyone know if there are any early Series 2 cars suitable as projects around?