1962 Lotus Elite S2 (Type 14)

Making its debut in 1957, the Type 14 Elite was the first production sports car that Colin Chapman designed for Lotus Cars. Lotus' design philosophy ran contrary to the prevailing norm, making their cars lighter, more aerodynamic and therefore more nimble, rather than increasing horsepower and weight enabling Lotus cars to out handle much more powerful vehicles on track. It was very light, weighing just 630kg and utilised a 'monocoque' construction which meant there was no separate chassis and the body being load-bearing and, whilst this was becoming accepted practice, the Elite was the first time it had been attempted in fibreglass. There were only two strips of steel in the car — a strip for the door hinges to attach to and a very small steel frame to which the engine and suspension were attached and, when combined with independent sporty suspension, a ZF gearbox, disc brakes, the Coventry Climax all-aluminium engine and a very low drag coefficient of just 0.29, it made for a great drivers' car. The first 280 were built by Maximar prior to production transferring to Bristol Aircraft who built a further 750, however the Elite was very expensive to produce, especially the GRP monocoque which was extremely labour-intensive, and it's understood that they lost around £100 on every car with its successor, the Elan, returning to more conventional construction.

Offered here is an Elite SE, the higher performance variant (85bhp) fitted with twin SU carburettors, a fabricated exhaust system, a ZF Gearbox and Lucas PL700 headlamps. The change of colour to red and silver in 1990 has created a very pleasing combination that suits the lines of this pretty coupé, all enhanced by the addition of chrome wire wheels in 2008. The S2 cockpit is slightly less spartan than the early cars and, in this case, it's furnished in black leather with blue carpets and fitted with Willans harnesses. The history file shows that #1912 benefitted from a reconditioned steering rack in 2002 together with front and rear wishbones. More recently, the differential was overhauled with new bearings and seals, together with a dynamo rebuild and new rear brake pads have been fitted. The history file contains a number of old invoices and some old MOTs.

Our vendor is a well known historic racer, a proven winner in big V8s, touring cars, production saloons, sports cars and E-Types with a bulging trophy cabinet but, whenever possible, he will take this little Elite out just to remind himself how pure the driving experience can be. Neat, nimble, quick and responsive, steering that doesn't need any input, just think left or right, and a 'hot knife through butter' ZF gearbox. Who needs 500bhp? This is pure automotive therapy.

By the time Elite production ceased in September 1963, 1,030 examples had been built and Lotus had developed from a company unheard of outside of UK club racing to one of the most famous racing teams in the world. They were about to be crowned F1 World Champions for the first time with Jim Clark, and were seen as established world players in road car manufacture with a mature market presence in the USA and elsewhere. The Elite played a big part in this remarkable feat of automotive industrial growth. It was Lotus' first 'grown-up', credible road car and laid down the foundations of the Lotus business that still exists today.