Quote:
Originally Posted by Neptune
Chris,
In personal emails to Erwin, his car carries chassis number 22 J 001, but he has always referred to the car as a 20/22. I had asked him for some more detailed photos years ago, but they never arrived. I think he considered the first 22 as being a modified 20, and I always wondered if the car had a vertical engine and other carry-overs from the previous model.
All three of Rosebud's cars ran the support, semi-pro FJ races at Daytona and Sebring in February and March 1962. The Daytona race was won by the 22 and Sebring was won by Pat Pigot in one of the 20s. The other 20 was crashed by Chuck Parsons late in the race. I have a couple of period photos, one showing the three cars before the Sebring race together on the concrete surface at Sebring and another showing my car damaged from the accident with Sebring barracks in the background. Earlier this year, a friend who was on the Healey team at Sebring in the early 60s sent me a video showing my works Sprite at Sebring and LeMans and also the Lotus 20 crashed in the same location as the still photo I have.
The team Rosebud cars all had 1-1/2" diameter tube rollbars, distinctive from the normal 1" diam on most 20s and 22s. My 20 chassis still has that roll-bar in place, and it goes all the way down to the bottom of the chassis. It is in terrible shape and will have to be replaced, along with some other tubes, some from accident damage, others from the modifications inflicted to allow fitting of a destroked Alfa motor in the mid-60s.
Edwin Cromwell bought the remains of the Parsons Rosebud 20 after Sebring and brought it back to Dayton Ohio. He repaired it and raced it and modified it to race in SCCa's FC class for unlimited 1100cc cars, by fitting an 1100cc Alfa Romeo engine. His next step was to abandon the Lotus chassis and build his own. Eventually, he sold that car complete and the 20 chassis was sold as parts. I have spoken to Edwin several times, but I have not been able to actually meet with him, only 70 miles from my home. The continual ownership of the chassis is known, going to another Dayton man, who sold it with a 21 project in the mid-80s to Atlanta. A 2nd Atlanta owner moved the chassis to Iowa several years later and I bought it from him in 2008.
You mention you could find the chassis numbers for the 2 Rosebud 20s. I have supposed the cars were bought from one of the 2 Lotus distributors at the time, either Jay Chamberlain or Sy Kabac in New York. Seems like I have seen a reference to an 18 as being the car traded in for the purchase of one of the 20s and I believe this was to Chamberlain.
Any help you could give in identifying my car would be greatly appreciated.
Roger
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Roger,
Details of Erwins car on following link. The engine is still vertical, but otherwise it is in 22 form – 13” rear wheels, outboard discs, revised top link on rear suspension etc.
http://www.classic-auctions.com/Auct...or-32694.aspx#
From the above link the history is:-
...... the chassis plate was that of a 22, which the car had worn since at least 1982, when the Lotus was sold by California-based classic car dealer Ron Cameron of California Sports Cars to West Coast lawyer Chris Gruys.
It seems that, though he never raced it during his tenure, Gruys did have the car restored before later selling it to Richard Santucci & Son of New Jersey in 1995.
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The car was unsold at the auction and Erwin was competing with it at Dijon a couple of weeks ago. It (And Erwin) is very quick!.
I'll look through my notes & try to find the chassis no of the other Rosebud 20 I saw in 2005.
Presumably Erwin's car is not the ex Rosebud 22 though?
Chris