Lotus Elise Series 1

The Elise was shown at the Frankfurt motor show in September 1995 and reached customers in 1996. Its chassis, designed by Richard Rackham, was a tub of aluminium extrusions bonded together with epoxy adhesive, weighing about 68 kg. With a glass-fibre body and a 118 bhp Rover K-series engine mounted behind the seats, the complete car weighed around 725 kg.

It was named after Elisa, the granddaughter of Romano Artioli, who owned Lotus at the time. Lotus expected to sell a few hundred a year. It sold thousands, and the car saved the company.

The S1 is the lightest and purest of the line. There is no power steering, no brake servo and no ABS. Early cars had metal matrix composite brake discs, later replaced by conventional iron ones. The steering feel is the benchmark that every later sports car has been measured against.

Variants

Variant	Years	Notes
Elise 1.8	1996–2000	118 bhp, the standard car.
111S	1999–2000	143 bhp VVC engine, closer-ratio gearbox, wider rear tyres.
Sport 135 / Sport 160 / Sport 190	1998–2000	Factory-tuned cars, the 190 essentially a track car.
Type 49, Type 79, 50th Anniversary	1998–2001	Heritage-liveried special editions.

On a road trip

The most involving car here on a mountain pass and the least comfortable on the motorway to it. The hood is fiddly, the cabin is loud and there is no real luggage space beyond a small boot behind the engine that gets warm. For a hairpin road, nothing else on this page is as rewarding at sensible speeds.