Tuesday 4th August 2015

Lotus Elise S1: Spotted

How better to mark the Elise's imminent 20th birthday than with a gorgeous early S1?

---

Where would Lotus be without the Elise? Doesn't really bear worth thinking about. The pretty little roadster exceeded all sales expectations, spawned many other models and remains on sale in Series 3 form today. It was the huge success that Lotus desperately needed.

Kind of got it right first time round, didn't they?

In September 1995 the Elise brought together so much to create an incredibly desirable sports car - that aluminium construction, a hugely tempting £19K price, great performance and those looks meant the deposits flooded in.

We all know the car far exceeded expectations. That initial impact inevitably waned to the point where excellence is expected from an Elise-based product but there's little surprise anymore. Or you could argue it's just taken the rest this long to catch up: don't forget the Alfa 4C's carbon tub is only a 3kg lighter than an Elise's.

Whatever the case, and whatever the Elise's future, the 20th anniversary car doesn't seem like the best tribute. It's a very special occasion that the car doesn't quite fit. Here is what a 20th anniversary car should have been more like.

The first Elises reached customers in August 1996 so this car is very early in the production run. It's marked out to by the aluminium brakes and bootlid that were done away with in later models. Surely an anniversary car pared back and as close in spirit to the 723kg original would have been more fitting.

Out of storage, freshly serviced, ready to go!

But enough of that, to this Elise. And what a lovely Elise it is. As well as being a very early car, it's a very lightly used one, with 15,000 miles. Whether that's good or bad for you depends on perspective. But after 10 years in storage it's been recently (and very comprehensively) serviced, ready to use for whatever is remaining of the summer. The Azure Blue paint is immaculate, what there is of an interior looks incredible and the engine bay appears factory fresh.

It's not even too expensive. Sure, £18K looks a lot given where Elises once were but a lot of nice, early Elises are around £15K. This car of course has the added kudos of the aluminium parts. Perhaps something like this would be more suitable for regular use and a track day or two but the appeal of the blue Elise is huge. Then of course the only way to really mark the occasion is with a road trip, right?

---

LOTUS ELISE S1
Engine: 1,796cc 16-valve inline-four
Transmission: 5-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 120@5,500rpm 
Torque (lb ft): 122@3,000rpm
MPG: N/A
CO2: N/A
First registered: 1996
Recorded mileage: 14,900
Price new: £18,950
Yours for: £17,775

View the original advert here.

[GranCab]

Beautiful and fairly unique.

[P4ROT]

Saw this one the other day and the want was strong:

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/l...

[Axionknight]

Gimme gimme gimme!

I doubt it'd lose any of its value either, that'd make the man maths much easier!

[Vee12V]

Don't forget the alu uprights of the early cars as well. All combined massive difference in unsprung weight.

[kambites]

Always seems a shame when such a driver-focused car doesn't get driven.

[Blackbird425]

Needs more grunt. All out of puff at 60mph. Lovely thing though

[kambites]

A bit pedantic but the power figure is wrong, the S1 is 118bhp not 120.

[court]

10 years on and I still miss my daily driver S1... If only I had garage space back then

[LewisR]

I had an S2 for 2 1/2 years. I hated it after 9 months, when the novelty wore off but kept it for some time longer to see if I'd "get it".

I took it to Germany a few times, where it was out-gunned by practically everything. Diesel Passat estates would sail by. It never wanted to go in a straight line and we took to wearing ear plugs to stop our ears from ringing after a long, high(ish) speed journey.

I don't miss mine one bit.

[Baryonyx]

I love the S1, it's still such a neat design. I thought they lost that with the second Elise when they gave it those goofy headlights slathered up the front of the car.

[Vee12V]

LewisR said:

I took it to Germany a few times, where it was out-gunned by practically everything. Diesel Passat estates would sail by. It never wanted to go in a straight line and we took to wearing ear plugs to stop our ears from ringing after a long, high(ish) speed journey.

That's completely missing the point though.

[Tickle]

Love mine, fantastic car.

[andreas542]

Vee12V said:

That's completely missing the point though.

Exactly. "Oh hey guys I brought my backpack along to help you move all these bags of concrete. Wait, you guys all brought wheelbarrows?"

[Tickle]

LewisR said:

I had an S2 for 2 1/2 years. I hated it after 9 months, when the novelty wore off but kept it for some time longer to see if I'd "get it".

I took it to Germany a few times, where it was out-gunned by practically everything. Diesel Passat estates would sail by. It never wanted to go in a straight line and we took to wearing ear plugs to stop our ears from ringing after a long, high(ish) speed journey.

I don't miss mine one bit.

Those diesel estates must of had some seriously sticky tyres and uprated brakes to out gun an Elise... you did use your car on a road with bends?

[Icehanger]

Tickle said:

Those diesel estates must of had some seriously sticky tyres and uprated brakes to out gun an Elise... you did use your car on a road with bends?

I can see this thread going the same way as every GT86/BRZ one

The world isn't a straight line!!!!

[Tickle]

Icehanger said:

I can see this thread going the same way as every GT86/BRZ one

The world isn't a straight line!!!!

But one must be mad to purposely drive to a nice stretch of empty winding road to enjoy a chassis and engine working in perfect balance.

[LewisR]

Tickle said:

LewisR said:

I had an S2 for 2 1/2 years. I hated it after 9 months, when the novelty wore off but kept it for some time longer to see if I'd "get it".

I took it to Germany a few times, where it was out-gunned by practically everything. Diesel Passat estates would sail by. It never wanted to go in a straight line and we took to wearing ear plugs to stop our ears from ringing after a long, high(ish) speed journey.

I don't miss mine one bit.

Those diesel estates must of had some seriously sticky tyres and uprated brakes to out gun an Elise... you did use your car on a road with bends?

I just wanted to add a counter-point.

I really don't rate the cars at all; they don't provide what I want in a car.

[daytona111r]

Vee12V said:

LewisR said:

I took it to Germany a few times, where it was out-gunned by practically everything. Diesel Passat estates would sail by. It never wanted to go in a straight line and we took to wearing ear plugs to stop our ears from ringing after a long, high(ish) speed journey.

That's completely missing the point though.

I adore my s2, had it 9 years (9 years!!) as a daily (and only) driver and will never sell it. I even love driving it on motorways and in town.

However I can understand someone not seeing the point of it, it certainly isn't for everyone, but I think that's a big part of it too.

[Tickle]

LewisR said:

I just wanted to add a counter-point.

I really don't rate the cars at all; they don't provide what I want in a car.

To be honest, the very few who have driven my S1 or old S2 weren't particularly impressed.

[4oClock]

I've gotta wear ear plugs on motorways in my S2 as well, but that's not what the car was designed/built/made for.

definitely not a car for everyone, I agree, but 2 1/2 years into owning mine, and I love it still... too much!!