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Hi Guys,
This is an interesting thread,I wish Lotus could do something along the same lines,I understand that your registry is for US cars but I filled it out anyway,I do hope this doesn't cause any problems.My car is a UK registered vehicle and obviously has alot of differences to the federal car,but I recently asked a question on the Lotus cars bbs regarding VIN numbers and it would seem that even Lotus don't really understand them,my VIN number is 1374 it was one of the first UK 111r's delivered on 3/01/2004,I contacted Lotus to try and find out just how early a car it was and was told that Fed Elises,111s K series and 111r's were all built at the same time on the same line and there was no way of telling how early my car was unless someone at Lotus took the time to go all the way back to Aug 2003 counting what car was built and when,something they are not prepared to do.
It seems to me that Lotus do change things on the fly,hence some cars have bits others don't ie fuel cap straps etc,I think this even comes down to supply from outside sources,sometimes little bits are missing due to non availability from certain suppliers.Aswell as Lotus changing aspects of the car.
I understand you guys aren't that interested in UK cars,but I know my 111r was a very early one due to the fact that Lotus had always denied the Fed Elise ie Yota lump would ever be available in the UK,so you can understand how I felt when on a factory visit in Feb 2004 I saw Right hand drive Toyota cars being produced alongside Left hand drive US cars,My order was placed the next day and Lotus announced the 111r 3 weeks later I took delivery 1 week after the "official" announcement.I'm told the VIN number 1374 means Lotus built 1373 cars from Aug 2003-Feb 2004 and these cars could have been any of the Elise varients to date.
Sorry about the ramble guys but its interesting to see what your doing here and hopefully someone in the UK will do the same very soon.Keep up the good work.
Kind Regards
Jon
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