Lotus Elite

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The Lotus Elite name was used for two vehicles from Lotus Cars.

[edit] 1958

Lotus Elite<tr><td colspan=2> </tr>
Manufacturer:	Lotus Cars<tr><th>Production:<td>1957-1962</tr><tr><th>Successor:<td>Lotus Elan</tr><tr><th>Class:<td>Sports car</tr><tr><th>Body style:<td>2-door coupé</tr><tr><th>Engine:<td>1.2 L Coventry Climax I4</tr><tr><th>Transmission:<td>4-speed manual</tr><tr><th>Length:<td>3708 mm</tr><tr><th>Width:<td>1506 mm</tr><tr><th>Height:<td>1181 mm</tr><tr><th>Curb weight:<td>503.5 kg</tr>

The first Elite or Lotus Type 14 was an ultra-light two-seater coupé, produced from 1957 to 1962.

The Elite's most distinctive feature was its highly innovative fiberglass monocoque construction, in which a stressed-skin unibody replaced the previously separate chassis and body components. Unlike the contemporaneous Chevrolet Corvette, which used fiberglass for only exterior bodywork, the Elite also used this glass-reinforced plastic material for the entire load-bearing structure of the car, though the front of the monocoque incorporated a steel subframe supporting the engine and front suspension.

The resultant body was both lighter, stiffer, and provided better driver protection in the event of a crash. The weight savings allowed the Elite to achieve sports car performance from a 75 hp (55 kW) 1216 cc Coventry Climax all-aluminium I4 engine. Climax-powered Elites won the "Index of Performance" six times at the 24 hour Le Mans race and many other races worldwide. The Elite was the first Lotus produced car to race in Australia and the original car to be raced in Australia is currently in boxes under re-furbishment.

Advanced aerodynamics also made a contribution, giving the car a very low drag coefficient of 0.29 — quite low even for modern cars. This accomplishment is all the more notable considering that the engineers did not enjoy the benefits of computer-aided design and wind tunnel testing. The original Elite drawings were by Peter Kirwin-Taylor. Frank Costin, (brother of Mike Costin, one of the co-founders of Cosworth), at that time Chief Aerodynamic Engineer for the DeHaviland Aircraft Company, contributed to the final design.

Just over 1,000 Elites were built.

[edit] 1974

From 1974 to 1982, Lotus produced the considerably larger Type 75 and later the Type 83 4-seat Elite II. Lotus's first saloon car was front engined with rear wheel drive. Like all production Lotuses, the Elite II used fiberglass for the bodyshell mounted on a steel backbone chassis evolved from the Lotus Elan and Lotus Europa. It had a 4-wheel independent suspension and used Lotus's all-new 907 4-valve DOHC aluminium engine, which would have been the first 4-valve per cylinder, 2.0 L production engine had the Triumph Dolomite Sprint not been introduced the year before. In both naturally-aspirated and turbocharged versions the engine was the foundation for the Lotus Esprit powerplants. The Elite II was the basis for the Lotus Eclat, and later the Lotus Excel four seaters.

Correction: The Lotus 907 engine was first used in 1972 as the power-plant for the Jensen-Healey, and its use pre-dates Triumph's Dolomite.

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