Cars

Lotus Elise

The Elise is the first lightweight sports car from Lotus in many years. It was displayed at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1995 and moved into production starting the following year.

The fabrication method of bonding a body made from fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) onto an aluminum chassis weighing a mere 68 kg, made it possible to reduce the weight beyond what was generally thought possible at the time and the initial production model, which used aluminum for the engine bay, rear hub carrier, and brake rotors, was able to offer a low vehicle weight of 690 kg. The manufacturer who had been supplying the aluminum parts later went bankrupt, and the vehicle weight increased slightly in vehicles produced later due to many parts being replaced by steel or FRP.

The midship transverse-mounted engine is a K series 1.8L unit manufactured by Rover. Together with the 5-speed transmission also appropriated from the MGF, the modest maximum power output of 118 ps from the standard model was more than compensated for by the lightweight body.

The styling that went into the body was put together by the in-house staff member Julian Thomson and gives off a futuristic impression while maintaining a strong link with the Europa and Elan from the 60’s. The vehicle inherited a name beginning with “E” as common with all generations of Lotus vehicles. However it is said that it is named after Elise, the granddaughter of Romano Artioli who was chairman of the Bugatti Corporation that owned Lotus at the time.

The Elise inherited the old refinements of Lotus passed down from generation to generation, but it has evolved through cutting edge innovation and has become a worldwide hit.