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The Essence of Sports Car Purity.(Escape Roads)(history of Lotus Cars Ltd.'s Elan)
Byline: MIKE COVELLO
In a discussion of pure sports cars, the Lotus Elan has to sit close to the top of anyone's list. The Elan offers its owners the bliss of superb handling and the nightmare of so-so reliability. Reason has little or nothing to do with enjoying an Elan.
Lotus founder Colin Chapman lived for racing. He viewed production cars as a troublesome but necessary way to fund his racing budget. While the Lotus Seven survives to this day, as either a kit or a turnkey car from several manufacturers, the 1958 Elite was the first production Lotus. This Coventry Climax-powered tiny coupe helped to establish Lotus' reputation for producing fast, excellent-handling, but fragile cars.
Chapman realized his next product had to be designed with mass production, not racing, at the forefront. Rumor has it he was in the men's room when Ford PR man Walter Hayes first mentioned the company's new family of ohv engines ranging from 997 cc to 1498 cc. A double-overhead-camshaft cylinder head could boost power to the 100-hp level Chapman sought for his new roadster, the Elan.
The Elite's fiberglass monocoque chassis was innovative, but an open car required a stiffer arrangement. Lotus engineer Ron Hickman had developed a steel backbone chassis for evaluating suspension components. This assembly weighed only 75 pounds, yet was rigid enough to allow the Elan's fiberglass panels to be hung as unstressed elements. The final touch was the suspension tuning, which Road & Track described in its initial test: "Chap-man's race car suspension philosophy-soft springing, good damping and precise geometry-prevails to combine a remarkable ride with equally remarkable roadholding.''
Mahwah, New Jersey, resident Gerry Curtin was so thrilled by the Elan's debut in October 1962 at Earl's Court in London that he put down a deposit for the car. Curtin had to wait nearly a year to pick up chassis No. 260229 in England, the first left-hand-drive example of the Elan. The car's headlights had already been aligned for U.S. driving, but the glare did not bother ...
- The Sun Begins To Set.(Escape Roads)
- Magazine article from: AutoWeek March 14, 2005 700+ words
...switch to V8 power, the Bentley S-Type became the S2 (see Escape Roads, Jan. 26, 2004). For the first time the Conti-nental...turn it down. True, the S2 drophead has neither the sporting elan of the original Mulliner fastback nor the conservative elegance...
- Market.(Escape Roads)
- Magazine article from: AutoWeek December 17, 2007 700+ words
Byline: KEITH MARTIN 1970 Lotus Elan 2+2 coupe Worldwide Group Sports and...header fitted. Sold at $20,900 The Elan roadster was introduced in 1962, with...example of the least desirable version of the Elan with its share of needs, this was well...
- A Different Breed of Cat.(Escape Roads)
- Magazine article from: AutoWeek October 2, 2006 700+ words
...the Depression in 1935. But in between the hairy Bearcat (Escape Roads, March 23, 1998) and the suitably climactic DV-32...1913, where he contributed to the innovative Marmon 34 (Escape Roads, Sept. 18), while at the same time collaborating with...
- A Pinnacle of Sleeve-Valve Power.(Escape Roads)
- Magazine article from: AutoWeek March 13, 2006 700+ words
...at least 350 were assembled from mid-1912 through 1915. Escape Roads has told Frank Ballou Stearns' story before (Feb. 27...six and eventually a sleeve-valve straight-eight (see Escape Roads, Nov. 3, 2003) before succumbing to fading sales in late...
- Treasure Found.(Escape Roads)
- Magazine article from: AutoWeek November 7, 2005 700+ words
Byline: ERIC TEGLER Every once in a while we're reminded why Escape Roads is such an apropos part of AutoWeek. Sure, the cars are interesting, but far more important are the associations they evoke...
- McNamara's 'Bird.(Escape Roads)(Product/Service Evaluation)
- Magazine article from: AutoWeek Katz, John F. November 29, 2004 700+ words
...unsettling bobbing and floating we recall from the triple-carb '62 Sports Roadster we drove for the Jan. 25, 1999, Escape Roads feature. While that car seemed to pack way too much power for its inadequate chassis, the '58 is an entirely harmonious...
- A Silver Ghost Returns from the Dead.(Escape Roads)
- Magazine article from: AutoWeek July 12, 2004 700+ words
...only automobile in our experience that approaches the Rolls' refinement is the U.S.-built Locomobile Model 48 (see Escape Roads, Dec. 16, 1996 and May 17, 2004)-and even then, the Loco is more eager and aggressive in character; the Rolls...
- This sub shines; 1917 Golden submarine replica.(Escape Roads)
- Magazine article from: AutoWeek August 13, 2007 700+ words
...Golden Submarine while he was having Illinois car builder Charles Glick make a 1935 Ford-Miller for the 2004 Great Race (Escape Roads, March 28, 2005). "I loved Harry Miller's forward-thinking concepts and became fascinated with the Golden Submarine...