Classic: Lotus Elite 2
Posted on 11-06-2016 to 18:00 by larssb – 39 Comments”
Really sharp lined, for sure. But he was anything but competitively priced and its model name is probably an attempt to get the wheat from the chaff, to separate in his intended audience: the Lotus Elite.
In an attempt to with the kitcar-image and its predecessor, the small, sporty but not particularly reliable Elite Type 14 to deal, presented by Lotus in 1974 this Elite Type 75. Number is sixty-one times better. That was the intention, and his appearance threw designer Oliver Winterbottom with this Elite on a very different tack. With Colin Chapman himself carefully over his shoulder meekeek to what special Olly had on his chassis. And special it was. Totally different than its bulbous voorgangertje. The Elite Type 75, we may simply Elite to say, was a very attractive shooting brake in a handy format that has become and saw there are now fewer speelgoedachtig. But he was still made of plastic.
That, of course, is much too disrespectful, we are talking about fiberglass. The carrosserieklei where Lotus such a huge effort had to manufacture the previous Elite, and that stuff, but not in the fingers. Or there again. Eventually they gave up the production out of the hands and was the better. Now was the plan to have the one book to draw from, this panacea might not be the best. Carbon was still far away and a solid Elite. For this quadruple successor handles the engineers wisely back to a steel chassis, as they already used for the Europe (which today still collapses) and the Elan. Now was that steel be stronger than the plastic of its predecessor, but also paper thin. Process that is given in a formula with the variables outside air and moisture, and the outcome is always 0. Zero chassis, eaten away by the rust.
From 1980, the chassis are galvanized, cars from before that date were completely at the mercy of the oxidatiegoden. And rich lovers, because of its remarkably sharp, contoured Lotus was terribly expensive. Especially for a four cylinder. Almost gelijkgeprijsde alternatives such as a 911 or XJ-S had at least two cylinders more. And four cubic meters of status. Although Lotus in those years before and after the many successes celebrated in racing, even in formula 1, continued to sell behind the expectations. Still, it was a lot of money for the relatively unknown flower from Hethel. Maybe the 160 HP from the four cylinder engine brought the Elite within 8 seconds to the 100 and if you the family home left to a top of 206 km/h. That was mainly due to a Cw-value of 0.30 and a weight of only 1100 KG. Peanuts. But so heavy was a Lotus never has been.
A logical consequence of the courageous step that the sportwagenbouwers with the Eliteⅱ. It was their first attempt to take a share in the luxury car market. They built lightweights, but were themselves also in this segment. The customers are often the not, funny enough. Which were, in any case, be pampered, and they cater to the Elite, if desired, decorated with leather, wood, thick carpet, and more of that kind of Lotus-foreign affairs. Depending on whether the equipment 501, 502, 503 or 504 was concerned, came in addition to air conditioning, power steering or even a vending machine. In addition, there were relatively a lot of security features built-in bars, a roll cage, botsabsorberende bumpers and more. So much so, that this Elite in 1975, the Don Safety Trophy won. Total unknown was-ie not more.
And also not very slowly, as said. The special was driven by Lotus’ 907 DOHC aluminum 2 liter block that the mentioned 160 HP with a nice snerp delivered to the rear wheels. Just as for independent hanging and that combination and perfect tuning made the Elite a seriously good steering row-iron. Of plastic. That kept the weight, of course, laaf, even with four people and luggage. Because that was possible, unique for a Lotus. That of course could all be in the Lotus Cortina, but that was a totally different car. And no Lotus. Something with Ford. Beautiful, but not as extremely designed as the Elite with its low roofline, wedge and eccentric back with glass door. He was still almost practical too.
But it is not so popular. As so often in a new segment, also this Elite a strange duck in the bite. He had (and has) very much, but also a lot in this segment. Its price mainly, and the lack of a prestigious number of cylinders. That prevented many potential customers to discover how desirable and balanced this fast-paced Brit actually was. Only 2500 copies were sold, including the number of points improved Type 83 version. In 1982, fell to the canvas for the then already rare Elite. His DNA was still alive ten years in the Lotus Excel, which was based on the Eclat: the coupévariant of the Elite.
Nowadays, when you have a unique Lotus can get, and definitely in a good state, belong to you from now on itself: the Elite.
Gallery: Lotus
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