Light, Fast and Far Ahead of Its Time.(Escape Roads)(Lotus Eleven)(Product/Service Evaluation)

Byline: BILL McGUIRE

First, it's properly known as a Lotus Eleven, not XI or Mark XI.

For this Lotus, Colin Chapman dispensed with the sniffy Roman numerals used on his previous creations and selected a more modern designation to match the new car's radical, striking shape. But then Chapman was rapidly discarding with a number of hidebound British sports car traditions around this time, along with the dated, drag-inducing coachwork.

Some 270 Elevens, in two series and in a host of variations, were produced from 1956 to 1958. The most advanced small-bore sports racers of their time, they won everywhere, and put Lotus on the map all over the racing world.

As with any Lotus, the Eleven is worth a careful examination. And as with any of Chapman's creations, most crucial is what isn't there. There is not one extra component, not one ounce of unnecessary weight. The Eleven's dry weight was advertised at 854 pounds.

Chapman's engineering help for the project-Peter Ross, Mike Costin, Frank Costin and Gilbert MacIntosh-all came from De Havilland Aircraft. Within the limits of Lotus' meager resources, they adopted aircraft design practices wherever possible, as in the use of running weight and center-of-gravity estimates. The Eleven's delicate space frame, constructed from one-inch and seven-eighths-inch steel tubing, was based on a design by MacIntosh for two Mark IX lightweight specials; to perform his torsional load studies, he constructed a one-fifth-scale balsa model.

As Lotus then lacked anything resembling production facilities, the frames were manufactured by Progress Chassis Co., while the feathery aluminum body shells, designed by Frank Costin for minimal drag, were fabricated by Williams and Pritchard in three simple sections-nose, center and tail, for quick access and ease of repair.