1958 Lotus Elite

From humble beginnings at their diminutive home in North London, Lotus Engineering and its charismatic leader, Colin Chapman, produced ground-breaking racing in the mid-to-late 1950s that would challenge the automotive establishment and usher in a new appreciation for lightweight construction, compact designs, and responsive and sophisticated mechanical components.

The Lotus Elite (a.k.a the Lotus 14), announced in 1956, demonstrated that Colin Chapman's skills extended beyond racing car designer and constructor, and could just as easily be applied to production road cars. Chapman recognized that a racing car company should have a firm commercial foundation upon which to survive and grow. The Type 14 Elite provided such a platform - a Grand Touring Coupe that was comfortable on both the road and the track.

Ever the competitor, Champ conceived the Elite with competition in mind and set his sights on class victories at Le Mans and the Monte Carlo Rally, infusing it with technology developed in the company's single-seater racing program. Equally as innovative as the competition cars, the Elite received a fiberglass monocoque body tube, the World's first, with an independent suspension setup comprised of double wishbones and an ingenious 'Chapman Strut' at the rear. Steering was by a rack-and-pinion system and braking was handled by four-wheel disc brakes with the rears mounted inboards. Power was from a lightweight four-cylinder Coventry-Climax FWE unit with single-overhead camshafts and a displacement of 1,216cc offering 75 horsepower. The gearbox was an MGA unit with an alloy casing and modified bell-housing, sourced from BMC.

The Lotus Elite proved successful at the showroom and the track, with its first international class win at the Nürburgring 1,000km race in 1959. It would achieve victories in class at Le Mans on six occasions, twice winning the prestigious Index of Thermal Efficiency competition, with best finishes of 8th overall (twice). They gained notoriety at the national level on both sides of the Atlantic.

Production of the Lotus Elite Type 14 lasted from 1957 through 1963. The first car introduced to the public at the 1957 London Motor Car Show, Earls Cout was chassis number 1008.

The Elite SE version was introduced in 1960, equipped with twin SU carburetors and fabricated exhaust manifold. Its eighty-five horsepower was handled by a ZF gearbox and exterior design features included Lucas PL700 headlamps and a silver-colored roof.

Lotus Elite Super 100 and Super 105 cars were also built, equipped with Weber carburetors, and intended for competition use.

With eyes firmly established on an overall victory at LeMans, a single Elite was built, known as the Elite LX (chassis number 1255), with a 1,964cc FPF engine, larger wheels, and proper modifications to most of its components to cope with the increased horsepower and the rigors of a twenty-four-hour motorsport competition. With the two-liter engine installed, the car had a top speed of approximately 174 mph. Unfortunately, the car was not able to prove its potential as the lead driver, Innes Ireland, withdrew the night before the race. High-speed competition is no stranger to tragedy, and the Lotus Team had suffered their share during the season. At the 1960 Belgian Grand Prix, a Formula 1 Lotus-Climax 18 single-seater had been involved in a life-threatening crash during practice when the car's steering failed, pitching him way off the circuit at La Carriere corner. The driver ended up deep in the forest, badly injured and in fact overlooked as rescuers attended to Stirling Moss, injured when his 18 had crashed on the opposite side of the long circuit.

The following day, during the Belgian Grand Prix, long-time loyal Team lotus driver Alan Stacey was struck in the face by a bird, causing him to lose control of his Type 18 and died in the ensuing crash near Malmedy. Alan Stacey had been entered to co-drive the new LX at Le Mans, sharing the wheel with Innes Ireland. Stacey had been a motor racing mentor to a fellow Essex-based enthusiast, Sir John Whitmore. For LeMans, Whitmore was a reserve driver with the Aston Martin team, but following Stacey's untimely death, was released by Aston to share the Lotus LX with Innes Ireland.

A cloud hung over the Lotus Le Mans team and its enthusiasm and confidence were in question. Later, while Jonathan Sieff was practicing in his own 1216cc Lotus Elite, the car left the road at very high speed on the Mulsanne Straight and sliced in two against a trackside electricity pylon. Sieff was badly injured and his life lay in jeopardy in an intensive-care hospital bed, leading Innes Ireland to decide he wanted no part of Le Mans that year. Without a co-driver, the Lotus LX entry at Le Mans was canceled and the car that Colin Chapman really considered a true challenger for major success there would not start the Grand Prix d'Endurance.

By Daniel Vaughan | Feb 2021