MODEL HISTORY

When it was launched in 1962, the Elan was crucial for Lotus. The outgoing Elite had been a critical success but a financial failure, and it could ill-afford to repeat that experience.

The lightweight ethos championed by founder Colin Chapman would be retained, but whereas the Elite used a glassfibre monocoque, the Elan featured a steel backbone chassis. Onto this was mounted a GRP body, while beneath the bonnet there was a Ford-based Twin Cam engine that was originally 1498cc, but which would be enlarged to 1558cc during 1963.

There was independent suspension all round, disc brakes, and rack-and-pinion steering, and when Autocar tested an early Elan it commented on the car's 'almost uncanny cornering power'.

The Elan remained in production until 1973, developments along the way including the 115bhp SE model, the 126bhp Sprint, the addition of a fixed-head coupe, and a Plus 2 model that featured a larger body and rear seats.

During the model's production run, Lotus enjoyed huge success in Formula 1, and it was one of its former works drivers - Mike Spence - who was instrumental in the creation of the Elan BRM. In 1967, Spence had joined BRM, which already had close links with Lotus thanks to building competition-spec engines for its cars.

Spence and BRM engineer Tony Rudd came up with a plan to buy Elans in kit form, with the body in primer. An upgraded engine would be fitted in place of the standard unit, which offered 115bhp in Series 3 SE form. With modifications including a gas-flowed cylinder head, bigger inlet valves, an increased compression ratio, different camshafts, revised Weber carburettors and a four-branch exhaust manifold, the BRM engine produced 130bhp, with the option of 140bhp if even hotter cams were specified.

These special Elans were then finished in BRM's dark green livery with orange bumpers and sold through Spence's Lotus dealerships. Sadly, the project ended when he was killed during practice for the 1968 Indianapolis 500, but the Elan BRM had received rave reviews. When Paddy McNally tested one for Autosport, he recorded 0-60mph in 6.8 seconds and said that 'the effect of 130bhp changes the whole nature of the car … when the extra horsepower is added, so is a great deal of excitement'.

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