19 years after stevebroad broke his Lotus Elan at the 1985 Street Racer Championships, he decided to rebuild it. Not only get it back to the 168hp he was running back then but surpass that and build the fastest road legal Elan in the world.
First things were to check whether any more power could be extracted from the Lotus engine, but when he realised that spending a lot of money wouldn't get much power a Ford Sierra Cosworth unit was sourced. Running 400hp! Chatting to his engine builder they concluded on 520hp as peak power. The body had to be reinforced to handle the 400% power increase and, in keeping with the Lotus ethos, no component was safe from weight saving measures - the target weight was sub-600kg.
If the engine numbers don't show how serious this PHer is about the build, take a look at his steering wheel design. After an F1 style wheel, Steve decided on the controls he wanted along with the digital dash and shift paddles including line lock, nitrous, parachute release, traction control and indicators.
Some compromise was in order though as Steve initially wanted a roll over bar instead of a full cage, but realised in testing that the already reinforced chassis couldn't handle the power. So a full cage was fabricated and now the weight is between 650 and 700kg. The full list of engine and car modifications can be found in the thread as it is far too long to list here.
11 years on and the project is getting ever closer to completion. This year will hopefully see the car started and then ready for some serious track time in 2018.
Congratulations stevebroad, your bonkers Lotus Elan is our Reader's Car of the Week. Read the full build here.