Rear bumpers

[4129R]

Does anyone know which car the rear bumpers came off?

Richard at Banks said a Ford 105E Anglia estate, but photos do not look right.

I now have two cars without rear bumpers.

Is there a demand out there for new metal and chrome bumpers so we can commission someone to make a batch?

The rear of cars must have been hit, bending and scratching the metal.

If there is enough demand we could see what it would cost. I have straight ones for a pattern.

[BDA]

 According to the Golden Gate Lotus Club, the front bumper is from an Anglia but they don't list a cross reference for the rear bumper. I had my bumpers straightened - apparently there is a way to do that without knowing exactly what it looked like originally (I guess one side has to be good) - though the end doesn't hug the body quite as well as it should. Maybe if you could find any reasonable example, it could be restored to a very usable condition. Another option is to make one out of fiberglass and have it painted. I saw on Jay Leno's Garage where there is a paint that looks VERY much like chrome (http://www.nbc.com/jay-lenos-garage/video/spray-on-chrome/n35122). Maybe there is a shop near you that can do this.

[jbcollier]

Anglia front bumper on the front and Cortina front bumper on the rear.  They are on ebay fairly regularly.

[BDA]

Is this what 4129R is looking for?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1968-ford-cortina-gt-front-bumper-nice-original-/111692856540?hash=item1a0169bcdc&vxp=mtr

[EuropaTC]

As John said, the rear bumper used the front bumper from a Ford Cortina - Mk1 IIRC.   I was told the two little holes in the middle are there from Ford bolting the front numberplate on and if you look at a Mk1 Cortina, it does look reasonable.

If you can't get one there's always fibreglass & silver or perhaps that spray chrome option ?

[4129R]

Is this what 4129R is looking for?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1968-ford-cortina-gt-front-bumper-nice-original-/111692856540?hash=item1a0169bcdc&vxp=mtr

No, that has bits that curl around the edges. I shall hunt down the Mk I Cortina route, 1968 was a Mk II. I think the Mk I finished in 1966.

Quite why Lotus were fitting 1966 Ford Cortina bumpers to cars they were producing in 1974, only Lotus would know. Maybe they bought a load cheap in 1966, and only ran out in 1974/5 when Europa production stopped for the Esprit.

There were over 1m Ford Anglia 105Es produced 1959-1967, so 5000 extra front bumpers for the front of Europas would be no big problem.

[jbcollier]

They made a special point of using inexpensive, readily-available bumpers because the custom bumpers on the Elite had proved to be so expensive.  The same reason was why the Elan ended up with fibreglas bumpers.

[EuropaTC]

No, that has bits that curl around the edges. I shall hunt down the Mk I Cortina route, 1968 was a Mk II. I think the Mk I finished in 1966.

Quite why Lotus were fitting 1966 Ford Cortina bumpers to cars they were producing in 1974, only Lotus would know. Maybe they bought a load cheap in 1966, and only ran out in 1974/5 when Europa production stopped for the Esprit.

Yep, I thought the Mk1 was finished in 66 as well. John has already pointed out the expensive Elite bumpers and no doubt they used the Cortina ones because at the time they had a relatively close Ford connection. They'd just done the Twincam in the Lotus Cortina plus some suspension development and of course the earliest references to the Europa come around 1966. So maybe Ford had a yard full of bumpers going rusty and you know how Colin liked a bargain 

[4129R]

The ironic thing is I found 3 rear bumpers hidden under a load of carpets in one of the two cars, about an hour after I put in a high bid on a bent MkI one on eBay.

So now, needing 2, I have 1 straight one, 2 slightly bent ones, and most probably another bent one when the bidding stops. But at least this will establish beyond all reasonable doubt, if the rear bumper is indeed a Mk I Ford Cortina front bumper.

There is a place in Folkestone, CE Design, who renovate chrome bumpers, so I will take all mine "in need of" down to them, and I should have 3 good rear ones spare at the end. 

[4129R]

Just been to a "Classic Car" show at Norfolk Showground.

What would there be there but a Mk I Ford Cortina Estate. Well the front bumper on a Mk I Cortina certainly looks like #1 suspect for the rear bumper on a Europa.

[4129R]

Just unwrapped a rather bent and slightly rusty MkI Ford Cortina front bumper, I bought on eBay.

I can confirm that this fits the rear of a Lotus Europa.

As there were over 1m MkI Cortinas made, I think this will be a source of replacement bumpers sufficient to satisfy the demand from Europa owners.

There should be  few rust free examples in Australia and New Zealand too.

[4129R]

For those in the UK, I rang up Colonnade Metal Finishers in Wembley, to ask if he could repair and re-chrome my bumpers.

He asked me what car. I told him the front of a 105E and the front of a Mk I Cortina, and he told me it must be for a Lotus Europa or an Elan +2.

He owned an S2 and a TCS many years ago.

Small world !

I will be taking them to him soon for restoration. I will let you know the results.

[4129R]

Just taken the bumpers in to Colonnade in Wembley for straightening and re-chroming.

Straighten £120 incl VAT. Re-chrome £240 incl VAT. That makes a good as new bumper about £400. Ouch.

[EuropaTC]

Wow, "Ouch" indeed. Chrome plating never was cheap but even so, that's a steep bill if you need both ends sorting out.
Brian

[jbcollier]

EU countries have pretty stiff environmental requirements for platers.