1963 Lotus Elite

The Lotus Type 14 of 1959, known as the Elite, demonstrated Colin Chapman's ability and skills for creating a production road-going car that was equally impressive as his racing cars. It was conceived with competition in mind with Champan targeting class victories at LeMans and the Monte Carlo Rally.

The Type 14 utilized 'monocoque construction' which meant there was no separate chassis and the body was load-bearing. The fiberglass monocoque body tub, a world's first, was fitted with an independent suspension system, rack-and-pinion steering, and four-wheel disc brakes with the rears mounted inboard. Its engine was the lightweight four-cylinder Coventry-Climax FWE, a single-overhead-cam unit of 1,216cc producing 75bhp, while the gearbox, an MGA unit fitted with an alloy casing and modified bell-housing, was sourced from BMC. The graceful and curvaceous body was styled by Peter Kirwan-Taylor and aerodynamicist Frank Costin with a low drag coefficient of 0.29. The body production was outsourced to Maximar, a boat builder, which supplied around 250 for assembly at the Lotus factory in Edmonton, North London. As demand increased, the company relocated to a new purpose-built factory in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire in 1960. The body construction of what would become known as the 'Series 2' Elite was handled by the Bristol Aircraft Company. Series 2 examples had modifications to the rear suspension and a more civilized interior. The SE version was introduced in 1960 and came with twin SU carburetors and a fabricated exhaust manifold bringing output to 85 bhp. The MG gearbox was replaced by a ZF unit, and aesthetic changes included Lucas PL700 headlamps and a silver-colored roof. The Super 95 model had higher compression, five bearings, and a stronger camshaft. The Super 100 and Super 105 had Weber carburetors and were intended for competition.

By the time production came to a close in 1963, an estimated 1,030 examples had been built.

The Lotus Elite scored its first international class victor at the Nürburgring 1,000km race in 1959 and would go on to win its class at Le Mans on five occasions, twice winning the Index of Thermal Efficiency competition, with best finishes of 8th overall (twice).

by Daniel Vaughan | Aug 2021