Still thrilling at 30
For more than a century, British car manufacturers from the enormous to the tiny have been producing two-seater sports cars whose appeal lies not necessarily in their power outputs, but certainly in their cornering and their ability to provide an enjoyable driving experience.
Mentioning Austin (largely through its association with Healey), Caterham, Clan, Ginetta, Lotus, MG, Morgan and Triumph in one sentence might verge on the excessive, but the list can easily be extended.
Lotus is of particular interest to us, because one of its most famous models, the Elise, has just reached its 30th anniversary.
Here, then, is the story of the Elise and its derivatives, of which many were produced from 1996 to 2021.
The original Lotus Elise
Unveiled at the 1995 Frankfurt motor show, but not put into production until the following year, the first Lotus Elise was the immediate successor of the second-generation Elan.
The Elan was the only front-wheel-drive Lotus there has ever been, and marked a return to small sports cars after the company had switched to building larger vehicles in the 1970s.
Like the Elan, the Elise had a transversely mounted engine sitting alongside the gearbox, but in the latter car both units were placed on the rear axle line rather than the front.
This made the Elise only the third mid-engined Lotus production car after the Europa and the Esprit, though of course Lotus had been building single-seat racing cars with broadly the same layout (but with the engine and gearbox mounted longitudinally) since 1960.
New name
When the Elise was being developed, Lotus was owned by Italian businessman Romano Artioli, who also owned Bugatti at the time.
The new model was named – at least approximately – after his granddaughter Elisa, who was two and a half years old when the car was displayed at the Frankfurt show, which she attended and indeed starred at.
When the covers were taken off the pre-production car, Elisa was revealed to be inside it, holding the steering wheel.
In addition to the family connection, the name was appropriate for another reason.
Most production Lotus model names have started with the letter ‘e’, and before the Elise arrived four cars – two generations each of the Elite and Elan – had been given names starting with ‘el’.
New engine
The engine chosen for the Elise, and not used in any previous Lotus, was the highest-capacity, 1796cc version of the Rover K-series, which could also be found in various Rovers and MG hatchbacks, the MGF, the Caterham Seven and 21, as well as the first-generation Land Rover Freelander.
In early Lotus Elises, it was available only in naturally aspirated form without variable valve timing, and had an output of 118bhp, which was not considered high in 1996.
(For reference, it wouldn’t have been considered high even as far back as 1970, when the 126bhp Big Valve version of the Lotus Twin-Cam engine became available in the Elan Sprint.)
However, in a car as light as, and with the splendid handling of, the Elise, 118bhp was enough for the job, though far more powerful engines would be used in later years.
Lotus Elise Sport
Extra power first became available to Elise buyers in 1998, when Lotus introduced the Sport 135.
The ‘135’ refers officially to the approximate output of the revised engine, though that figure is regarded in some quarters as being an underestimate of how much it actually produced.
Two batches of cars were built, the total number being 85.
In early 2000, Lotus brought out a new derivative called the Sport 160 (pictured), the number being generally agreed to be more accurate than 135 had been.
Always intended to be a limited edition, the Sport 160 could not have lasted for very long in any case, because the end of Series 1 production was only a few months away.
Lotus Elise 111S
Between the Sport 135 and Sport 160, both in time and in terms of power output, the 111S was launched in 1999.
As with all Series 1 cars, the engine was the Rover K-series, but its specification wasn’t quite the same as that of the original model.
Instead, it had Rover’s VVC (Variable Valve Control) system, which was largely responsible for an increase in power to 143bhp.
Revisions to the exhaust must have helped to some extent, too, and the car’s performance was also improved thanks to the fitment of a close-ratio gearbox.
As with the Sport 160, the 111S would soon become a thing of the past due to the Elise moving into its second series.
Lotus Elise 340R
Often referred to simply as the 340R, but still an Elise according to Lotus, this dramatic machine had a cut-down body, with no roof or doors, and was powered by a 177bhp version of the Rover engine.
In the Lotus press release issued at the time of the 340R’s unveiling, designer Russell Carr was quoted as saying, “We wanted a car that would embody the Lotus characteristics of innovation, light weight, elegance and fun to drive: the 340R is all of these.”
An even-more-purposeful, track-only version was lighter still, plus it had an uprated engine.
The number 340 refers to how many examples were built, and is also the track car’s power-to-weight ratio in brake horsepower per ton, ‘ton’ in this case meaning the Imperial ‘long’ ton, rather than the US ‘short’ ton or the metric tonne.
Lotus Exige
In 1999, Lotus introduced a track-only model called the Sport Elise (also known as the Motorsport Elise), which formed the basis of a one-make race series.
While derived from the production car, it had two distinguishing features: a centrally mounted seat and a solid roof, the latter making it a coupé rather than a roadster.
The seat position was not carried forward into any roadgoing car, but the roof was, and the resulting new model – introduced in 2000 – was given the name Exige to show that, in the car maker’s own words, it was ‘leaving its status as an Elise variant behind’, even though the two cars were essentially cut from the same cloth.
Like the 340R, the Exige was powered by the 177bhp Rover engine for road use, with an update to 190bhp as part of the optional ‘track pack’.
Lotus Elise Type 49
For a marque with as rich a heritage in international motorsport as Lotus, reflecting past glories with special editions of production cars was a sensible marketing strategy.
In the case of the Elise, this first happened in 1999, when Lotus brought out the Elise Type 49.
It was named after a Formula One contender of the same name, the first powered by the 3-litre Cosworth DFV V8 engine (briefly exclusive to Lotus), winner of the constructors’ championship in 1968 and 1970, and the car used in those same years by drivers’ champions Graham Hill and Jochen Rindt respectively.
The Elise Type 49, available in both standard and 111S forms, had the same colour scheme that was applied to the racing car in 1968, its second season – red paint on top, white underneath and a gold strip separating the two.
Lotus Elise Series 2
In its original form, the Elise could not be sold after 2000 because of changes to crash regulations, but financing a redesign was too large a burden for Lotus to carry on its own.
General Motors, a previous owner of Lotus, agreed to invest in the project, which not only made a Series 2 possible, but led to the development of another car which will be discussed shortly.
Though still similar to the Series 1 in principle, the Series 2 had a great many technical updates, and also looked substantially different, the most immediately obvious change being larger and more complex front light clusters.
Early Series 2s were all powered by the Rover K-series engine, though a new unit would be introduced less than halfway through this version’s production life.
Opel Speedster and Vauxhall VX220
In return for part-funding the Series 2 Lotus Elise, GM Europe was permitted to create its own version of the car, which was marketed in the UK as the Vauxhall VX220 (pictured) and in left-hand-drive markets as the Opel Speedster.
Both versions were similar to the Elise, but their styling was substantially different, and because the concept of any General Motors model being powered by a Rover engine verged on the insupportable, they were instead fitted with GM’s own Ecotec unit.
This was available first in naturally aspirated, 2198cc form, producing 145bhp, and later as a 1998cc turbo with an output of 200bhp.
Both the Opel and the Vauxhall were built by Lotus at a new facility in Hethel, Norfolk, in the UK.
Lotus Elise 111 and 111S
A more powerful Series 2 Lotus Elise, sharing its name with an equivalent model from the first generation, went on sale in 2002.
The 111S was the result of several detail changes to the standard Elise, including a revised exhaust system, new gear ratios and a larger radiator, but the most attention-grabbing was the engine.
As with the earlier 111S, this was a VVC version of the Rover K-series, but now producing 160bhp rather than the previous 143bhp.
A companion model called the 111, introduced at the same time, was mechanically identical to the 111S but cheaper thanks to its reduced specification, which did not include the full leather upholstery offered as standard with the more expensive model.
Introducing the Toyota engine
The 111R, added to the range in early 2004, was the first Lotus Elise to be powered by anything other than the Rover K-series engine.
Although it shared the Rover’s 1796cc capacity, the new unit was developed by Toyota in conjunction with Yamaha, and featured inlet and exhaust camshafts with two profiles each.
One profile was good enough for everyday driving, but the ‘hotter’ one had a longer duration and provided greater valve lift, and came into play when the driver demanded higher performance.
As a result, the engine’s maximum output was 189bhp, a figure which had been achieved in earlier Elises but only those which – unlike the 111R – were intended specifically for track use.
Return of the Lotus Exige
The first Lotus Exige was manufactured only briefly towards the end of Elise Series 1 production, and the car maker did not immediately produce a second after the switch to the Series 2.
Mechanically, there was no difference between the Exige which finally made its debut in 2004 and the contemporary Elise (at this stage the Toyota engine still produced 189bhp), but as before the Exige had more bodywork.
This added weight, but the upside was that it also improved the aerodynamic downforce.
Reviewers noted that the Exige was noticeably less skittish than the Elise during high-speed cornering for this very reason.
Supercharging
While there is always something appealing about a sports car which is fast because it is light, as the original Lotus Elise was, some potential buyers will start taking interest only when more power becomes available.
Lotus had already gone down this route to a certain extent when it brought in the Toyota engine, but went a step further in 2006 with the Exige S, which had a supercharger and an air-to-air intercooler.
It produced 220bhp, the highest figure yet for an Elise or its hardtop derivative and the first to venture beyond 200bhp.
Lotus explained that the two ways to achieve higher performance were to increase the power or reduce the weight, and since the Elise and Exige were already very light there would be no way to do the latter without introducing advanced lightweight materials which would greatly increase the cost of the car, both to itself and to customers.
Lotus Sport Exige 240R
As indicated in its name, the 240R was built not by Lotus Cars but by its performance division, Lotus Sport.
A total of 50 examples were created by adapting Exiges which had already been registered for road use, and in every case the supercharged engine was uprated to produce 243bhp.
The intention was to match the output of a typical naturally aspirated, 3-litre unit, which would have been too heavy for an Exige of this generation.
The car was claimed to have a 0-60mph time of 4 secs and a 0-100mph time just short of 10, and to match the straight-line performance it had upgraded brakes, stiffer springs, two-way adjustable Ohlins dampers (which also allowed for an adjustable ride height) and twin oil coolers.
Lotus Exige S Performance Pack
In 2007, the Exige S (a standard production car in Lotus terms, rather than a Lotus Sport special model) became available with a Performance Pack which made it almost the equal of the 240R.
The power output was slightly lower, and although the Pack included uprated brakes, variable-slip traction control, launch control and a stronger clutch, the suspension remained unchanged.
Only a particularly skilled and attentive driver would have been able to tell the difference between this model and the 240R, but the difference in price was obvious to everyone.
For the UK market, the Exige S cost £34,550 and the Performance Pack £3000, giving a total of £37,500.
That was a substantial sum, but it was nowhere the £43,995 Lotus had asked for the 240R.
The first supercharged Lotus Elise
In the same press release which brought the world’s attention to the Exige S Performance Pack (and also revealed that every Elise and Exige was now being fitted with airbags as standard), Lotus announced the arrival of the Elise SC.
This was the first Elise with the supercharged version of the Toyota engine, but because the Elise was positioned as more of an everyday road car than the Exige, it did not have an intercooler.
While this was good for rear visibility (which the Exige’s high-mounted intercooler compromised), it did make power outputs of around 240bhp more difficult to achieve – all the more so because the supercharger was also smaller.
On the other hand, the engine was still strong enough for most purposes, since it produced 219bhp and, at £32,550, it was cheaper than any supercharged Exige.
Lotus 2-Eleven
The 2-Eleven was the most extreme version of the Series 2 Lotus Elise/Exige.
It was launched in 2007, and featured open bodywork and a 252bhp version of the supercharged Toyota engine.
As standard, it was suitable only for track use, but at extra cost it could be fitted with equipment which made it road-legal, and came with a warranty which was not offered on the track cars.
Various options were available, though some of them (including a race seat, a six-point harness and an exhaust system which did not include a catalytic converter) could be specified only on cars whose Vehicle Identification Numbers indicated that they could not be used on the road.
Lotus Elise SC special editions
Two special-edition Elise SCs celebrating significant events in Lotus motorsport history were manufactured in 2008.
The 60th Anniversary, sold only in North America, marked six decades since Lotus founder Colin Chapman put together his first competition car, an Austin Seven modified for use in trials.
The Clark Type 25 (pictured) commemorated double world F1 drivers’ champion Jim Clark, who had died 40 years earlier.
Clark had won his first world title in 1963 driving a Lotus 25, and used it as an alternative to the later Lotus 33 for one race (the French Grand Prix) in 1965, when he became champion for the second time.
Lotus Exige Cup 260
The supercharged Toyota engine was extended further for the Exige Cup 260, whose name indicated that it produced a maximum of 260 metric horsepower – the equivalent of 256bhp.
There was more to it than that, though, since the 260 was also significantly lighter than previous Exiges.
A weight-saving programme, which included fitting lightweight wheels, extensive use of carbonfibre and providing a bare minimum of equipment, shaved off a useful 38kg (84lb).
Despite the apparent improvement in power-to-weight ratio, Lotus did not claim that the 260 accelerated quicker in a straight line than the 240R, though it’s reasonable to suppose that it probably did.
Tesla Roadster
Tesla’s first car, introduced in 2008, was close enough to the Series 2 Lotus Elise to be considered a derivative of it.
As befitted the Tesla ethos, it had an electric motor rather than an internal-combustion engine, but the chassis was similar to that of the Elise, and the car was partly built by Lotus.
While the word ‘derivative’ seems suitable, Tesla took pains to point out that the Roadster was not simply a converted Elise, and reported that fewer than 7% of parts were shared between the two vehicles.
In 2018, six years after the model had been withdrawn from sale, a Roadster became the first production car (as opposed to a rocket or a Lunar Rover) to be launched into space, as the dummy payload for a Falcon Heavy rocket.
Hennessey Venom GT
Another Lotus Elise derivative developed by Hennessey Performance Engineering went into very limited production in 2010.
Dramatically different from the regular Elise, and about as far removed from the Tesla Roadster as it possibly could have been, the Venom GT was powered not by a four-cylinder engine of any kind, or by an electric motor, but by a twin-turbocharged 7-litre General Motors V8 whose output was said to be well in excess of 1000bhp.
Over two runs on the same piece of straight Tarmac in opposite directions, a Venom GT set an average time of 13.63 secs while accelerating from 0-300kph (0-186mph) in January 2013, a feat which earned it a place in the Guinness Book of Records.
Lotus Elise Series 3
The Lotus Elise officially entered a new generation in 2011, though the differences between this model and the Series 2 were largely cosmetic.
Telling them apart was not too difficult, because the Series 3 had a considerably less complex design at the front end.
Mechanically, things were slightly different. Both the base model and the one-from-bottom Elise CR were both powered by a naturally aspirated, 1598cc, Toyota unit.
Further up the range, the choice of engine was more familiar.
The Elise R used the naturally aspirated, 1796cc Toyota motor, while the supercharged engine was fitted to the Elise SC.
A word on the Lotus Exige
A new Lotus Exige was launched in 2012, the year after the Series 3 Elise, and although the two cars were still related, a noticeable gap suddenly appeared between them.
This time round the range did not include a four-cylinder engine.
Instead, Lotus used Toyota’s 3456cc V6 in both naturally aspirated and supercharged forms, and in doing so removed the car almost entirely from the spirit of the original Elise.
The car was longer than either of the previous two Exiges, and power outputs were much higher than those of any past Exige or indeed Elise, up to 424bhp in the case of the Cup 430 pictured here.
The end of the Lotus Elise
Production of the Lotus Elise continued until 2021, when it was replaced (along with the Exige and Evora) by the Emira.
Power outputs had reached 249bhp in the 2017 Elise Cup 260, and in the last year of the Elise two final editions were created – the Sport 240 (pictured) and the Cup 250, whose supercharged engines produced 240bhp and 245bhp respectively.
The last Lotus Elise ever built, a quarter of a century after the first, was a gold-painted Sport 240 which, very fittingly, was presented to Elisa Artioli, the former toddler and now woman after whom all Elises were named.
Reputedly, Artioli was offered a Cup 250, but chose the Sport 240 instead because she felt it would be more suitable on the roads near her home in the Dolomite mountains.