Author Topic: Different front fenders/wings?  (Read 461 times)

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Offline kram350kram

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Different front fenders/wings?
« on: Wednesday,January 04, 2023, 06:52:58 PM »
Maybe late to the party, but apparently there are two different front fender/wing design configurations throughout production? In pictures of the different years they all look about the same, maybe in person easier to see the differences. Does anyone have photos comparing the two? Thanks

Offline jbcollier

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Re: Different front fenders/wings?
« Reply #1 on: Wednesday,January 04, 2023, 08:37:52 PM »

Offline TurboFource

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Re: Different front fenders/wings?
« Reply #2 on: Thursday,January 05, 2023, 03:33:13 AM »
Next to each other…
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Offline Bainford

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Re: Different front fenders/wings?
« Reply #3 on: Thursday,January 05, 2023, 08:27:23 AM »
This Europa on BAT has one front fender of each type, making for easy comparison of the two types https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1970-lotus-europa-7/

« Last Edit: Thursday,January 05, 2023, 09:06:25 AM by Bainford »
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Offline Bryan Boyle

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Re: Different front fenders/wings?
« Reply #4 on: Thursday,January 05, 2023, 09:14:00 AM »
This Europa on BAT has one front fender of each type, making for easy comparison of the two types https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1970-lotus-europa-7/



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Offline TurboFource

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Re: Different front fenders/wings?
« Reply #5 on: Thursday,January 05, 2023, 12:14:34 PM »
Bainford I was trying to find that pic, thanks for posting the link as it is the best example out there…
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Offline kram350kram

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Re: Different front fenders/wings?
« Reply #6 on: Thursday,January 05, 2023, 06:44:25 PM »
Thanks for the info. They look pretty much the same. 

Online BDA

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Re: Different front fenders/wings?
« Reply #7 on: Thursday,January 05, 2023, 07:13:25 PM »
I never noticed the difference before either except that that a lowered S2 always seemed to look a little better/natural than a TC. If you look at the relationship between the headlight and the bumper and the headlight and fender height and you can see the difference. The headlight was moved higher for the later headlight height regulations.

Offline Sparkrite

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Re: Different front fenders/wings?
« Reply #8 on: Friday,January 06, 2023, 12:52:09 AM »
I understand the tc has the wing/fender sitting higher due to the stance of the whlole front of the car, but I cant tell if the curve on wing/fender upper edge is any different to the early cars.

Offline TurboFource

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Re: Different front fenders/wings?
« Reply #9 on: Friday,January 06, 2023, 05:12:45 AM »
Another pic.....(sorry for poor quality as it is a pic of pic on another device)
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Offline JR73

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Re: Different front fenders/wings?
« Reply #10 on: Friday,January 06, 2023, 09:52:48 AM »
The change appears to have been made on the type 65 S2 (later production) - Turboforce’s pic above shows my S2 (type 65) on the right alongside a 47 replica (same headlight height as types 46 and 54).
The wing shapes are quite different on the higher vs lower headlights - it’s not just ride height related. The obvious difference is from approximately the mid front wheel arch forwards. 65’s and TC’s are much flatter along the top of the wing.

Offline TurboFource

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Re: Different front fenders/wings?
« Reply #11 on: Friday,January 06, 2023, 12:18:00 PM »
Is there an aero advantage to the earlier design?
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Offline JR73

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Re: Different front fenders/wings?
« Reply #12 on: Friday,January 06, 2023, 03:17:00 PM »
Is there an aero advantage to the earlier design?

Possibly a very marginal reduction in drag as the lower headlamps are slightly more faired in but then there’s also the front indicators, chin spoilers, wing mirrors, door handles etc that are likely to affect it all too. - depends what advantage you are looking for though? Less drag, reduced front end lift (as commonly reported), improved cooling, lower wind noise, better ventilation….etc Some would be traded off against others.