The black Lotus badge - as factory fitted. I understood that it was in memory of Jim Clark who was killed in 1968.
Conduct a search in Yahoo using - "Jim Clark black Lotus badge" for more details. Thanks - Bruce Philbrick --- Ed Law <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > my 64 has a black badge came to me that way ed > law > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Mike Causer" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Monday, November 08, 2004 10:05 AM > Subject: [lotus-cars] Black badges > > > > > > There are a number of different stories about the > black badges fitted to > > Lotus, generally disagreeing with each other. So, > to fill a rainy > > afternoon I decided to see if there is any usable > evidence of the use of > > different coloured badges. Time travelling back > to look at the > > production lines proved too difficult, but there > is a form of time > > travel available in the collected books of > magazine road tests, mainly > > published by Brooklands Books -- and conveniently > to hand following > > another investigation ;-) > > > > Now we have to make some assumptions, but I think > quite reasonable ones. > > First, a car supplied by Lotus for a magazine to > test will have the > > badging used in production at the time it was made > and registered. (We > > know their engines weren't always standard, but > that's a different > > concern.) There is a caveat here, an importer > might decide to change > > badging to fit their own preference, but at the > time in question Lotus > > had different importers for the East and West > coasts of the USA, so any > > switches probably won't be consistent. > > > > Another possibility is that Lotus themselves > switched badges to reflect > > the current production, but this isn't borne out > out by the tests wich > > invariably show that any individual car has the > same badge all through > > its active life of up to a year. > > > > Is the frequency of published tests enough to give > a good picture of > > production? From 1962 to 1982 I've found 160 > tests, and 8 a year would > > seem to be adequate. Only tests of "new" cars are > taken into account, > > those that have been modified by dealers (eg BRM, > Else, B&C) are not > > taken into account, nor are articles about used > cars. > > > > > > Let's clear one other problem area -- the very > first black badge was > > made specially for Sales Director Graham Arnold, > and fitted to his > > personal car which also had non-standard black > paintwork and > > non-standard red leather interior. Plus a > well-tweaked engine of > > course... > > > > > > > > OK, now for my findings..... > > > > 62 - mid 68 everywhere yellow/green > > mid 68 - mid 71 UK & AUS black/silver, USA > mainly yellow/green > > mid 71 - 74 everywhere mainly > yellow/green > > 74 - 83 everywhere black/silver for > Elite/Eclat/Esprit > > > > Yes, most of the tests of USA-spec cars in the USA > had yellow/green badges > > while the rest of the world had black/silver for > three years. And, > > *all* Elite/Eclat/Excel/Esprit had black/silver > badges, not one had > > yellow/green. > > > > Does this account for the perception in the USA > that black badged cars > > are rare, while the UK thinks they're pretty > common? > > > > > > > > Let the cries of "Burn the heretic!" begin ;-) > > > > > > Mike > > -- > > Mike Causer Email - > mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > GPG KeyID 1C2DDA07 WWW - > http://www.mikecauser.com > > Flood the fen again! - Wicken Fen enlargement - > http://www.wicken.org.uk > > > > > > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > > __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Check out the new Yahoo! Front Page. www.yahoo.com Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lotus-cars/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
