Chassis Numbers

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Chassis numbers - What do they mean?

Lotus Chassis Numbers

Series 1:
Series 2:
Series 3:
Series 4:

Caterham Chassis Numbers

Caterham Series 4:
Caterham Series 3
Post 1990

Chassis numbers - What do they mean?

This is an attempt to make some kind of sense of the different chassis numbering systems used by Lotus and Caterham Cars.

Lotus Chassis Numbers

The Lotus Chassis numbers are almost quite straightforward:

Series 1:

: Chassis Numbers 400-499 built at Hornsey
: Chassis Numbers 750-892 built at Cheshunt

The gap in the sequence can be confusing. Numbers 500-553 were Elevens, and numbers 600-615 were Fifteens. Apparently some numbers between 750 and 892 were used for Formula Junior cars

Series 2:

Started at SB1000 and the last was SB2310.

: SB1000-2101 built at Cheshunt
: SB2102-2310 built at Hethel

Left hand drive vehicles had their own series of chassis numbers: SB1500-1550, SB1750-1799. From SB1800-2310 there was no separate number range, left hand drive cars had an 'L' prefix, sometimes before the SB, sometimes after.

Series 3:

Numbers SB2311 to SB2649. Left hand drive cars had the prefix 'SB' replaced with 'LSB'. These numbers included the 13 Twin-Cam SS cars which were random and had the 'SB' prefix replaced with 'SC'.

Series 4:

: Numbers S4/2650 to S4/3315 or maybe more. Left hand drive cars had the 'S4' prefix replaced with either 'LBS4' or 'LS4'

Lotus went on to produce a further 38 Series 4 chassis. When Graham Nearn at Caterham Car Sales and Coachworks obtained the manufacturing rights to the Seven in 1973, these were the first cars that they built

Caterham Chassis Numbers

Caterham Series 4:

: Numbers S4/3501 to S4/3538

Caterham Series 3

Now it starts to look a little different, chassis numbers got a little longer, but it was possible to determine the basic specification of the car. The number is broken down into three or four component parts eg:

chassis type

chassis number

configuration/other

This arrangement continued until approximately 1990

Chassis Types Designations

CS3	Caterham Series 3
LCS	Long Cockpit
S3B	for Dutch market
5LC	5 Speed Gearbox, Long Cockpit
KLCC	Kit-built, long cockpit, CKD
KLD	Kit-built, long cockpit, deDion
KLDC	Kit-built, long cockpit, deDion, CKD
KS3	Kit built (not CKD)
KS3C	Kit-built, standard cockpit, CKD (Completely Knocked Down ie all parts supplied by Caterham)

Configuration/Other? Designations

2	Mark 2 Escort Axle
5	5 Speed gearbox (not sure about this one)
13	1300 GT
16	1600 GT
17	1700 Supersprint
17H	1700 Holbay
BDR	Cosworth 16 Valve Engine
D	DeDionRearAxle?
F	Fully Built
GS	100bhp 1600 GT
GT	84bhp 1600GT
J	Jubilee
JPE	Jonathan Palmer Evolution
L	Left Hand Drive or LiveAxle?
M	Marina/Ital? Axle
ME	Japanese Specification JPE
MK	Modified Kent
P	Prototype
PRI	Prisoner Series
R	Right Hand Drive
R	Racer
RI	Rover K-Series (pre 1992)
RJ	Rover K-Series (post 1992)
RMJ	Japanese Specification Racer
S	RS Axle
T	Turbo
X	Experimental
TC	Big Valve TwinCam?
VC	Vegantune VTA Engine
VI	Vauxhall Injection
VJ	Vauxhall Injection
VX	Vauxhall Carburettored
VT	Vauxhall Turbo
XR	Ford CVH
XT	Ford CVH Turbo

Post 1990

Sometime after 1990, European legislation demanded 17 character VIN codes for all cars. Here are some examples:
SDKRDKCR8V0020587 1997 1.8
SDKRDKLR8X0021432 1998 SuperLight? with 1.8l engine
SDKRDKCR8Y0021805 2000 1.8 K

Posⁿ	Item	Values	Interpretation
1-3	MID	SDK	Manufacturers' Identification Code for Caterham Cars
4	Chassis Configuration	L or R	Left or Right Hand Drive
5	Chassis Configuration	D L C W	DeDion? Long cockpit Classic (axle) Wishbone
6	Build Type	C F K S	CKD (Completeley Knocked Down) not Starter Kit Limited Volume Type Approved Fully Built Kit Built Factory Built
7	Chassis Type	A C H L O R S T 3 5 6	Alternative Clubman HPC Superlight Other Race Chassis (or perhaps Road) Starter Kit Track Series 3 Series 5(SV) CSR
8-9	Engine	NS BB C0 C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 DS D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 D6 FB GS GT MK RC RD RI RJ R3 R4 R5 R6 R8 SE SF S0 S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 TC VI VJ VT VX XC XS 17	Engine Not Supplied Blackbird Duratec 200 HP 2.3 Cosworth Euro 4 emissions 260 HP 2.3 Cosworth 200 HP Duratec 2.3 Cosworth 2.0 Duratec race 210 HP Duratec 2.0 BDR 1600 BDR 1700 BDR 1800 Duratec Supercharged 200 HP Duratec Euro 4 170 HP Duratec 2.0 170 HP Duratec 2.0 Euro 4 200 HP Duratec Euro 5 260 HP Duratec 2.0 170 HP Duratec 2.0 Euro 5 Fireblade 100 BHP 1600 Crossflow 84 BHP 1600 CrossFlow? 110 BHP 1600 CrossFlow? ('sprint') Rover VVC Rover VHPD Rover K-Series 1.4l (post1992) Rover K-Series 1.4l 2002 onwards R300 R400 1800 VHPD (230 HP) Rover K-Series (R500) Rover 1.6l Rover 1.8l Sigma, Euro 4 emissions Sigma, Euro 5 emissions Sigma Sigma 125 HP Sigma standard power Sigma 140 HP Sigma 150 HP Sigma mid power Sigma high power Twin Cam Vauxhall Injection Vauxhall Injection Vauxhall Turbo Vauxhall Carburettored 2.0l Vauxhall 8-Valve 1.6l Vauxhall 8-Valve 1.8l 1700cc Super Sprint
10	Chassis Year	M-Y 1->	M=91, N=92, P=93, Y=2000 1=2001, 2=2002 etc until 2010, first number after 2010)
11-17	Chassis Number	nnnnnnnn	Chassis Number until 2010
11	Chassis Year	0->	Year indicator (from 2010)
12	Gearbox	5 6 0	5 speed gearbox 6 speed gearbox no gearbox (for non-approved vehicles)
13	Package must be 7 from 2010 onwards	1 2 3 4 5 6 7	Starter Kit Series 3 Kit Series 3 Caterham21 Series 5 (V) CSR Special
14-17	Chassis Number	nnnn	Caterham vehicle identification number

with thanks to Rosey Moffatt, Jez Coates, Paul Newman, John Passmore and various books and websites I've nicked this info from

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