1955 Lotus Eleven Series 1

This beautiful 1955 Lotus Eleven Series 1 fell victim to a incident that completely crumpled its nose. We have been engaged by the owner to restore this car to its former glory using traditional methods.

If you have a look at the first image in this gallery, you'll see the state of this poor Lotus as it was delivered to us.

After our initial shock subsided, we then began removing the skin from the car's frame. Adam then began transforming the battered metal back into its original form. The shape of this Lotus Eleven is a unique design that deserves the upmost attention to detail.

Adam then slowly measured and cross checked each line and curve so that a new skin can be created from these dimensions. In the meantime, I began removing the suspension to get a better idea of what needed to be done to get this Lotus back on the road.

Adam then began to shape the first half of the Lotus Eleven nose cone. Starting off as a flat sheet of aluminium and using the original headlight opening as a guide, the 2-dimensional sheet slowly became a 3-dimensional part. The first pieces were then taken over to the English Wheel and smoothed out. Adam continued to meticulously handcraft each piece for the front right nose cone.

Once each of the 18 panels had been shaped, Adam began joining the aluminium body parts together.

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The following series of photos attempt to share the immense attention to detail and quality of craftsmenship that has gone into this machine throughout its restoration with Automotive Craftsmen, however it can only truly be appreciated in person.

If you would like to book an appointment to visit our workshop, you can find our contact information at the bottom of this page. Or alternatively through the 'Call Now' tab in the top right corner of your screen.

To Be Continued

We're not done yet...