1962 Lotus 23A tail-shifter,BRG on red, ex-BRP Sterling Moss LeMans racer

1962 Lotus 23A Roadster Additional Info:

Park Place Motor Group and Lotus of Bellevue, the Pacific Northwest's Headquarters for all things Lotus, is excited to present this 1962 Lotus 23A. Chassis #2358 is an amazing opportunity to add one of the most coveted Lotus cars to your collection. The car is a time-capsule - not having been formally raced since the 1960's until once again storming tracks in the early 2000's.
Actively raced on the west coast, chassis number 2358 won the 2001 USRRC Under Two-Liter Sports Racing Championship.
This is a wonderful example of an original 23A tail-shifter with a great history. 1.6L 4-Cylinder Engine. 4-Speed Manual Hewland Trans.
This car was originally sold to BRP, which stood for British Racing Partners and was owned by legendary British racer/entrepreneur Sterling Moss, his father Alfred and Ken Gregory, Sterling's business manager. Their sponsor was the finance house UDT-Laystall, UDT standing for United Dominion Trust. The car was entered by UDT, as a semi-factory car, in LeMans with drivers Les Leston and Tom Shelly. The famous LeMans debacle is well documented, as two Lotus 23's were basically forced, by the French, into not racing. The team from France claimed the cars would have been 'too competitive'. The controversial decision caused quite a stir among racing circles.
This car was sold shortly after LeMans and driven by Bernard Consten and Jose Rosinski to a First Place finish at both the July, 15 1962 FIA Makes Auvergne Trophy Event, and The 1,000 Kms of Montlihery held Oct 21, 1962. At Auvergne it finished ninth overall behind six Ferrari's, an Aston Martin DB4GT and 37 other cars entered. The car competed successfully in many races by Consten and Rosinski, and later by Vincent Palermo in France when owned by ETS Royal-P'Elysees, importers of Lotus cars in France.
It was subsequently sold to Ito Misuo of Japan, where it lay dormant in his private collection before coming to California in 1994. It has been part of a local, Seattle-area collection for the past 20+ years.
For more information on adding one of the few 1962 Lotus 23A roadsters known to exist to your collection, contact of our friendly and knowledgeable eBay Manager today, or always feel free to drop by our 40,000 sq ft of Indoor Showrooms in Bellevue, WA - Home to the West Coast's most exciting inventory of Luxury, Exotic, Sports and Collectible Cars. With 200+ Always On Site, Nobody Has What We Have!