Classic & Vintage - Made in Canada Lotus?

I always thought that all Lotus frames were made in Japan, by Tsuonoda or somebody.
But here's this ebay listing for one that was supposedly made in Canada:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lotus-27-Wheel-64cm-Cromo-Steel-Road-Bike-Frame-Used-/330674826023?_trksid=p5197.m7&_trkparms=algo%3DLVI%26itu%3DUCI%26otn%3D5%26po%3DLVI%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D6033080930272785602

I asked the seller about it, and he said all he knows is that there's a big "made in Canada" sticker near the bottom bracket. Maybe the frame was made in Japan, and the bike was assembled in Canada? Or something? No photo of the sticker, unfortunately.
The BIN price actually looks like a pretty good deal. As someone who loves Loti and is happy with patina, I would snap it up if it were local to me.
On second thought, just realized there's no fork. Okay, I wouldn't snap it up. But I'm still curious about its provenance.

It sure is a good price...

I don't even recall Lotus marketing bicycles in Canada, let alone manufacturing or selling them here. Many Lotus were manufactured by Pacific Cyles in Taiwan which was bought by Dorel, a Canadian coroporation, several years ago. At first, I thought maybe the seller had mixed up the eras and this tie. But if it's got a Made in Canada sticker, who knows? The serial number would at least tell us who manufactured the frame.

Unfortunately, the definitions and rules that support Made In or Country Of Origin labels are porous at best and rarely enforced. A Made in Canada or Made In USA label is good for a warm fuzzy feeling at time of purchase but that is really about it. An overly exuberant bicycle importer probably affixed that label.

I have never seen any information regarding Lotus bicycles being built or imported into Canada. I think someone probably affixed a Made in Canada sticker after the fact.

The Elan was first made for Lotus by Pacific Cycles in Taiwan (easily confused with the huge conglomerate, Pacific Cycle) around 1982 to 1984-ish. This model looks to be the later style. The Pacific Cycles Lotus Elan, Elite, Special, Prestige (and later the track frame, Sprint) were mostly all entry level Lotus models with the Prestige being the nicer of the group. Lotus also had bicycles made for them by Tsunoda and Maruishi (and possibly others).

I suppose, in order to save costs, all the Pacific Cycles bikes were covered in one owner's manual :p :

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn294/snydermann/Pacific-Cycles-Manual.jpg

Many of the Pacific Cycles bicycles have the serial number stamped on the seat tube near the bottom bracket and will begin with the letter "P".

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn294/snydermann/14.jpg

Maybe it's a Lotus Molson.

Maybe it's a Lotus Molson.

Only if made in Quebec. Otherwise, it's more likely a Lotus Labbatt. :D