2000 Lotus Elise S1 160

Highlights

• Sports 160 edition adds rarity and an even sharper Elise experience
• One of the first 50
• Same owner for the last 16 years
• Comprehensive service history and loads of big-ticket invoices from the last couple of years
• Lovely spec with anthracite and red hood
• Superb condition, 57,000 miles and a new MOT

Overview

The Series 1 Lotus Elise is the best sports car of the last 25 years. That’s just a statement of fact. Proof? Well, the fact that you voted it as such last year in our PH25 series. You chose wisely, too. What made it so amazing? Well, its Dino-aping design by Julian Thomson looked the biz; with twist retro it suited the mood of the day but most importantly it looked sexy. Albeit in a very small package. And that was the Series 1’s main selling point. It was small. And light. It really did hark back to the Chapman days of ‘simplify, then add lightness’. Lotus's chief engineer, Richard Rackham, developed the Elise around a lightweight, extruded and bonded aluminium chassis with a fibreglass body on top. It kept the car’s overall weight down to just 725kg. It all added up to a car that was blissfully engaging to drive. It really was a seminal car, and one that surely can only become more desirable the more the years roll on. This one is one of the more sought-after examples, too. It’s a Series 1 Elise Sport 160. The original Elsie came with 120hp and that was still enough for good power-to-weight, but the chassis was so good it could easily cope with more. There had been other iterations with hiked-up power from the K-Series motor, including the 111S, but in 2000 the Sport 160 came along. Modifications were many and varied, but included different inlet and exhaust ports, perkier camshafts, a 45mm-diameter 4-into-1 exhaust manifold. On top of that it has Koni shocks, shorter springs to reduce the ride height, a stiffer front anti-roll bar, and cross-drilled and vented brake discs. Power was, obviously, 160hp, right? Well, sort of. The first 50 Sport 160s underwent the UK Single Vehicle Approval test. Those ones made the full 160hp from the factory, hence the car’s name, which this is one of. The following examples met Whole Vehicle Type Approval, and had to be strangled to meet noise regs. That left them with 150hp at 7,000rpm – but by removing the secondary airbox, fitting a sports exhaust and a Motorsport cat, you could get back that missing 10hp. Even by today’s standards it’s jolly quick – 0-62mph was claimed to be 5.1 seconds. And how good does this example look? Those five-spoke wheels with the black and red roof combo look…what’s the word? Oh yes: divine.

Documents

• 57,652 miles showing when photographed
• x2 sets of keys, x2 factory-fitted Cobra alarm remote fobs, x1 immobiliser key
• V5 registration document included
• Registered 01.07.2000 – declared new at first registration
• The vendor has owned and cherished this Elise for the last 16 years
• MOT’d for 12 months
• Complete with the original wallet containing handbook, stamped service book, and certificate of conformity.
• Recent invoices listing extensive new parts gone onto the car, including brake parts, a new stronger engine block, Trophy 160 throttle body, cylinder liners, cambelt and tensioner, engine and gearbox mounts, oil pump assembly – all invoiced in 2022
• Service stamps for the following: 31.08.00 at 1,250 miles; 09.08.01 at 7,122 miles; 18.07.04 at 12,620 miles; 11.04.07 at 18,465 miles; 28.01.08 at 24,587 miles; 21.05.08 at 30,462 miles; 26.02.09 at 52,601 miles; 09.02.10 at 48,474 miles; 29.01.11 at 53,713 miles; 10.03.22 at 57,202 miles

Interior

• Typically pared-back and delightful Elise interior. It contains only what you need to drive on the road and, well, very little else – bar a stereo
• Elise aluminium polished chrome gear lever surround, door handles and matt-finished ali pedals
• Elise carpet mats
• Lightweight shell Sport 160 seats trimmed in red and black Alcantara
• Recently fitted 280mm Momo leather-trimmed steering wheel – it looks superb
• Lotus black on white Stack instruments
• Interior is in good condition. There are just some light scuffs and scratches here and there (see pictures) that you’d expect to see on a car of this age, and the seat fabric has stretched in places. But there are no tears in the fabric or cracks in the plastics from what we can see
• Rear luggage area in good condition – just wear consummate with the age of the car

Exterior

• How good does this Elise look in anthracite with a red hood and those lightweight 16-inch five-spoke alloys? We reckon very
• Sport 160 decals and rear spoiler
• For a 24-year-old car it’s in excellent condition, as you can see from the pictures
• The owner says that he always garages the car and keeps it covered when not using it
• The alloys have been refurbished
• Any marks in the paint appear to be light and few and far between – small stone chips on the front clam and a small scratch under the nearside headlight, for example
• The underside looks clean with no worrying corrosion showing
• No serious scuffs on the underside, either

Mechanical

• Sport 160s have an uprated 1.8-litre DOHC K-series inline-four with VVC. As we know, the engine’s mid-mounted and driving the rear wheel via a five-speed manual gearbox
• Fresh from the factory the WVTA Elise Sport 160s put out 150hp. You needed a sports exhaust and the second airbox removed to release the full 160hp. This car has a new stainless steel exhaust and K&N airbox fitted along with red silicone induction pipes
• Original air filter is included, as is the original engine block – a new stronger block is fitted
• As per the factory spec, this Sport 160 has vented and cross-drilled discs, with AP Racing front calipers and Brembo rear calipers. However, the current owner has fitted Green Stuff pads and reports the car stops well
• Check out the invoices – they detail loads of money spent on many new parts since 2022
• No mechanical issues reported other than the passenger side window is slightly sticky sometimes
• Noco hard-wired battery maintainer fitted
• We’re told there’s good tread left on all the tyres

Summary

Anyone who has even the faintest interest in cars knows that a Series 1 Lotus Elise is a special car, but the Sport 160 editions add extra exclusivity. They also sharpen up the already brilliant driving experience thanks to the factory upgrades to the engine and suspension. Judging by the parts invoices included with this car, its current owner has lavished some serious love and more than a little money on maintaining and improving this cracking example. And that shows in the pictures. Looking through them it’s easy to spot this one’s in great nick for its year, and what the trade would call an honest car – that is, not one that’s been tarted up for sale. It’s a proper car for proper car enthusiasts. Nuff said, so get bidding if you don’t want to miss out. To arrange a viewing, please request this in the Q&A section. You can click through to the seller's profile and use the 'Email Me' function to arrange a viewing privately. This seller is located in Bridgend, South Wales.