Yesterday, we saw how Lotus were sadly co-opted to breathe some life into the second-generation Isuzu Gemini. This was during the time when Lotus (and Isuzu) were owned by General Motors – not exactly the British firm’s zenith. Lotus circa 1990 was a shadow of its former self. So here’s something from the marque’s sunnier times.
We’ve not seen too many Elans on CC – our Editor has been chasing one about his corner of the world, seemingly without success, for the past half-decade. I guess this will not serve as this beautiful machine’s deserved long-form CC write-up: although I was fortunate enough to catch this one in vivo, interior pics were (obviously) an impossibility. And what’s a proper CC without one of those?
So this post is just going to be picture-based, mainly. Lemon-flavoured eye candy.
Lemon because of the colour, and because it’s a Lotus. There’s something of a citrusy aftertaste in anything Colin Chapman touched. Just ask John DeLorean. (About which, more soon…)
Now that I’ve caught this, two Europas and an Excel in twelve months of Tokyo, I think I’m ready to proclaim Japan as the most Lotus-obsessed nation this side of Norfolk.
A couple of historical pointers might help pass the time, though. So here goes. The Elan, launched in 1962 as a roadster, was the second “proper” car (as in not in kit form) devised by Lotus. The coupé only joined the range in 1965, followed by the +2 (which was almost a different car) in 1967. Production lasted until 1973; over 12,000 units were made.
The backbone chassis was made of steel and the body was fiberglass. Suspension was independent all around, with Lotus-made “Chapman struts” at the rear and double-wishbone front end, with Triumph-derived steering components. Brakes were Girling discs front and rear. This particular car has period aftermarket alloys, which I understand are a sought-after item among Elan owners.
The engine and transmission came from the Ford UK parts bin, with certain modifications. The engine on our feature car is the Kent 4-cyl. used in the Ford Anglia, albeit bored to 1.6 litres and crowned with a Lotus-designed twin cam head, providing 108hp @ 6000rpm. That’s plenty given the car’s weight, which in this S3 coupé guise would be 694kg (1530lbs.) – the 0-60mph time on these is 7.6 seconds.
Didn’t prevent me from catching up with it, though. Tokyo traffic was my friend, on that particular day. Probably my most successful drive-by shooting experience.
Related posts:
Cohort Outtake: Lotus Elan – A Study In Extremes, by PN
Vintage R&T Review: 1972 Lotus Elan Sprint – The Best Elan Yet, And The Last One, by PN
Nice post, seeing that I always manage to forget there was a coupe version. If you live in American, the Elan is a roadster, and driven by Emma Peel. Who, singlehandedly made that car in the States.
Note the “36” license plate. This stands for Lotus “Model 36”, which is this Élan Coupe. The Japanese seem to like referencing cars by their shorthand and internal model numbers and codes (Mazda RX-7 “FB”, “FC”, and “FD”; Nissan Skyline “32”, and so on).
The recent Isuzu posting had a license plate “190”. The car’s internal code was “JT190”. One sees this kind of thing on license plates here and there, but the Japanese car aficionados appear to like to take it to another level.
You demonstrated some serious elan here, in catching and shooting this so superbly. Your photography excels, and I detect the semi-subtle hand of PS in making its lotus-blossom yellow pop out even more. The result is elite.
Such esprit de corps here!
Saw a few Lotuses (Loti?) at the British European day I attended none in bright yellow though red seemed the popular Elan colour,
was Chapman the first to discover juggling conrods and crankshafts in Kent engines to increase capacity
Last one I saw (a roadster) must have been about 3 years ago in red over white, parked at the local Morrisons supermarket. Very pretty cars, not to mention small. I think I recognise which parts bin the rear lights come from (Vauxhall FB, not Ford).
Very nice photographs! The yellow pops so nicely against the grey urban background. Smart-looking little coupe. With the ongoing discussion of overstyled cars in some other posts, this chipper little yellow pill is the perfect antidote.
Your pictures and perspective do much to make the car look much larger than it is, being set against a couple of kei vanlets and in the foreground of larger cars such as the A4. A very nice catch indeed.
An outstanding catch in the wild!
My introduction to the Elan came watching vintage racing, where an Elan coupe ran away from the big block Corvettes at Mosport. It was incredible to watch, this little car that didn’t have to slow down for the corners…
i don’t think the motor was “bored to 1.6 litres” – Ford designed it with a big bore and ultra-short stroke, so that they could increase the block height and lengthen the stroke. It went to 1200 cc, then 1340, 1499 and 1558 (for the Elan) and finally 1600.
Allegedly Harry Mundy who designed the twin cam head was offered a royalty on each engine or a flat fee of stg 150 . He thought he was better-off taking the flat fee …
The backbone chassis was a temporary lash-up to get prototypes on the road, and it worked so well they decided to keep it.
Are these Cosmic alloys ? Centre-lock wheels were standard on later models I think, but of steel rather than aluminium.
Nice tribute to a great car, which maybe the (about to die) Elise has been the only Lotus that has got anywhere meeting the appeal of.
Here’s another I saw earlier
Japanese traffic is one of the few places an Elan looks to scale. Up close they are tiny cars to minimize weight and maximize performance. Even the NA Miata/MX-5 is bigger than an Elan. Also the Elan will always be Mrs. Peel’s car since I first saw one as a Corgi die cast complete with an Emma Peel figure and then many Avengers episodes.