Here Are Things Good To Know About The First Generation Lotus Elite Before Getting One

Designed by the man Colin Chapman himself, the Lotus Elite became the first-ever production car for the British automaker. While the “firsts” are generally considered to have a lot of issues, the Elite introduced never-seen-before construction techniques and innovation that even the top dogs of the time were missing. Sticking to the brand's original essence and belief by keeping things simple and light, the Elite was the lightest car of its time when introduced sitting at just 1,705 lbs. The cares originally sold for $5,700, which in today's market would convert to around $40,000.

 10. Unveiled in 1957 but was sold only a year later

The first generation Elite was also known as the Lotus Type 14 and was produced from 1957 to 1963. However, Lotus started delivering the car to its customers only a year later as they wanted to ensure that their first production was truly ready for the market. Lotus achieved this by conducting further tests for a year by handpicking racing customers who would drive the car and give feedback to the Lotus engineers.

9. Lower drag coefficient than a Pagani Huayra

One thing that is evident about the Elite is that despite having a very simple design, the car looks very beautiful. Thanks to its fluidic and clean lines that make it appeal to anyone this design has also made the Elite a very aerodynamic car even by today's standards. To give context, the Elite has a drag coefficient of 0.29 which is lower than what the Pagani Huayra carries at 0.30.

 8. Lightweight construction

Back in the days when there was no carbon fiber, automakers had to cut down weight by stripping unwanted pieces of metal. However, Lotus having loads of experience in F1 and building lightweight cars introduced the Lotus Elite with the world's first fiberglass monocoque construction and body. While this did keep the car extremely light, the Elite was also known to be a fragile car.

7. The Elite also had some special editions

In 1960, Lotus introduced the Elite SE, a powerful variant that used twin SU carburetors with a total power output of 85 hp. The car also used a better ZF transmission while the exterior featured a silver-colored roof. The Super 95 variant followed with a stronger camshaft and higher compression ratio while a limited number of Super 100 and Super 105 were released with Weber carbs that were targetted for racing enthusiasts.

 6. Features the iconic Chapman struts

Chapman with the mindset of keeping the Elite a lightweight car decided to keep all the unnecessary beams out of the car's structure. One of the ways he achieved that was by having individual suspension on all 4 corners of the car. Up front, Champman stuck to using traverse wishbones and springs while on the rear, he used the Chapman struts that were seen on Lotus race cars before. This setup uses a long strut that is connected to the wheel while being held by the structure of the body. This setup leaves a bulged structure on the inside of the car right behind the seats, which has become very popular and a distinctive feature of the Lotus Elite.

5. Did come with its flaws

Having run a rather short production cycle of just 6 years, Lotus was able to roll out a total of 1,047 Elites. However, Lotus had underpriced the car to make it accessible to many but this meant that the brand lost money on every Elite sold. Adding to it, Lotus also sold kit cars of the Elite at a much cheaper price, which was later realized to be a huge mistake.

 4. Engine with a strange backstory

The Lotus Elite isn’t known to carry a massive engine but this car is so light that a tiny engine was ample enough to make it perform great. The Elite houses a Coventry Climax 1.2L inline-4 engine that makes 75 hp. However, this motor had humble beginnings as it was initially used in stationary fire pumps before being introduced to the automotive tune and modifications.

3. The Lotus Elite World Register

Found in the early 2000s, the Lotus Elite World Register has collective data of around 1000 Lotus Elites that were produced which includes information about a car's origins, owners, and much more details. What started as data being manually written on cards turned digital in the year 2005 and can be accessed by the owners or anyone willing to know about these.

 2. Less power didn't stop the Elite to win the Le Mans

It would only be disappointing if Lotus didn't sign this car up for a race track considering the brand carries enough experience. With the lightweight construction of the Eliet, engineers at Lotus didn't feel it necessary to bump up the power or change any mechanicals on the car. All Lotus did was take out the passenger seat and all other interior elements and install a roll cage. The result? was 6 class wins at the 24 hours of Le Mans, leaving all the other powerful car manufacturers stunned.

1. Numbers that the car originally pushed out

Finally, coming to the figures that the car officially clocked when it was tested back in 1960. The Lotus Elite in its standard form hit a top speed of 111.8 MPH while achieving a 0-60 MPH time of 11.4 seconds. Although these figures might seem to be unimpressive now, it's impressive for its time and considering that it runs on a fire pump motor. The Elite was also tested for its fuel consumption and it was observed that the car covers 40 miles to the gallon.