1965 Beach Mk4B Sports Racer s/n 102A

Tentative Identification - I believe this is the unnumbered Mk4B kit shipped to Lotus Southwest in June 1965. I have assigned it serial #102A since the ship date is between 102 and 103. It was raced by Jim Hahn as the "Sunova Beach" and "Sharp Special" in HSR class in 1966-67 at least. It may have later been abandoned in Florida and found by Glenn Diemond.

Race History - Jim Hahn
8/6/66? Austin Nationals - 4th
10/1/66 Tulsa Nationals (War Bonnet) - 4th
3/4/67? Mansfield, LA Nationals - 3rd
6/3/67 Green Valley Nationals - 4th

For many years, I thought my car #103 may have originally owned by Hahn, but the recent info on Hahn's car makes it seem unlikely that someone would have rebuilt it from RHD to LHD, reworked the roll hoop location, swapped the fuel tank location, swapped wheels, swapped engines, etc.  If you have any info on this car or on any Beach HSR or DSR sports racer, please let me know.

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Jim Hahn in his Mk4B "Sunova Beach".  Photo taken by Don Gwynne at Green Valley probably in October 1966.

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Jim Hahn
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Jim Hahn - "Ford Powered Sunova Beach"
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Jim Hahn
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Jim Hahn
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Jim Hahn's patch
Photos from Robert Stephenson - His father George Stephenson helped Jim Hahn build his car and crewed for him 1966-68. Robert writes "Jim and his wife Marj moved to England in the early 60's, and returned to Texas in 1963-64 with a Lotus Seven. Jim ran the Seven in some events, then pulled the engine, a Ford Anglia 105E, and put it into a Cooper formula car for a season or two.  Then he got the Beach, and the engine went into that platform.  I remember my father saying the engine had been destroked, I suppose to fit the class Jim ran.  One race at Green Valley, Dick Smothers stopped by to visit with Jim about the Beach - it was a pretty little car.....Jim and Marj moved to Florida for a few years; I guess he sold the car before they moved.  In Florida he got into Formula Vee..."