Before the immortal Seven was the Six (or MkVI), a car that properly put Colin Chapman and Lotus on the map for producing intelligently designed, lightweight sports cars that could (initially, at least) be completed by enthusiasts at home. The spaceframed racer, running parts sourced mainly from sidevalve, ʻperpendicularʼ Fords, helped many a fledgling racerʼs career in the lean years after WW2, before it was superseded by the Seven in 1957.
The reappearance of HEL 46 confirms that, right at the start of the nascent companyʼs move into production from its base in Hornsey, north London (albeit in tiny numbers, in sheds), it intended to cover more than circuit racing and speed hillclimbs. This ugly ducking is a trials Special, like the first Lotus: an Austin Sevenbased car built in 1948, four years before Lotus Engineering Ltd was created. Two more trials Specials followed before Lotus began to race and market the Six in 1953. HEL 46 is among the first of the 100 or so Sixes built.