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Inspector Clouseau Actor Peter Sellers Drove This Lotus Elan for Three Years

They say the funniest comedians regularly are sad characters in real life, and Peter Sellers probably was one to live this curse. The world will remember him as Chief Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther series of films. The comedy movies featured an inept French police detective, something that in real life the actor was not, considering he drove a Lotus Elan.
Peter Sellers Drove this Lotus Elan 13 photos
Photo: Silverstone Auction
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The Pink Panther is an icon movie franchise of the 1960s, which implies not many of the cinema fanatics of today remember it. For those who do, driving the lead actor’s vehicle may as well be an excellent way to celebrate one of the UK’s biggest comedians. And if you wonder, they named a large and valuable pink diamond as the wild animal because of the flaw at its center: when viewed closely, it is said to resemble a leaping pink panther.

Getting back to the owner of this classic Lotus - set to go on auction next week - Sellers was often called “one of the most accomplished comic actors of the late 20th century.” As we were saying, in his personal life, the comedian struggled with depression and insecurities. He often claimed to have no identity outside the roles that he played.

Judging by the car he used as a daily driver, some would beg to differ and would call him a man of great character. The rare 1966 Lotus Elan S2 was delivered to Peter Sellers’ Haymarket home on June 22, 1966, and it was driven by him, with wife Britt Ekland in the passenger seat, until February 29, 1969. The classic sportscar later went through two other owners before being purchased by the current vendor.

Silverstone Auctions claims the vehicle is in fantastically original condition and has been in dry storage off the road since August 2005. The Elan has covered 65,611 miles from new, with the bodywork in good condition, and it is ripe for a light restoration to return it to its former glory. The Lotus will join nearly 100 other classic cars in an auction at the UK’s biggest and best classic car show on November 14 and 15.
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