Significant mechanical restoration with $16,000 in billing. Needs paint and finishing. Rare model of the “James Bond” era. Very few survived.
Three door coupe body type. RWD. Manual 5-speed gearbox.
The Lotus Elite name has been used for two production vehicles and one concept vehicle developed and manufactured by British automobile manufacturer Lotus Cars. The first generation Elite Type 14 was produced from 1957 to 1963 and the second generation model from 1974 to 1982. The Elite name was also applied to a concept vehicle unveiled in 2010.
From 1974 to 1982, Lotus produced the considerably larger four-seat Type 75 and later Type 83 Elite. With this design Lotus sought to position itself upmarket and move away from its kit-car past. The Elite was announced in May 1974. It replaced the ageing Lotus Elan Plus 2. The Elite has a shooting brake body style, with a glass rear hatch opening into the luggage compartment. The Elite’s fiberglass bodyshell was mounted on a steel backbone chassis evolved from the Elan and Europa. It had 4-wheel independent suspension using coil springs. The Elite was the first Lotus automobile to use the aluminum-block 4-valve, DOHC, four-cylinder Type 907 engine that displaced 1,973 cc. The Elite was fitted with a 4 or 5-speed manual transmission depending on the customer specifications. Beginning in January 1976, an automatic transmission was optional.
The Elite had a claimed drag co-efficient of 0.30 and at the time of launch, it was the world’s most expensive four-cylinder car. The Elite’s striking shape was designed by Oliver Winterbottom. He is quoted as saying that the basic chassis and suspension layout were designed by Colin Chapman, making the Elite and its sister design the Eclat the last Lotus road cars to have significant design input from Chapman himself.
