One-of-one Lotus Elise SC Type 72 for sale
£80k will just about buy an Emira - or perhaps the best Elise around...
So the Emira 420 Sport is here, a timely reminder that there’s really no company quite like Lotus when it comes to making a mid-engined, four-cylinder sports car. Of course it's imperfect and most certainly expensive, but in these straitened times for the class it’s nice to see one more brilliant flyweight two-seater. Even if it is another Lotus special edition, something the brand has become as famous for as deft rear-drive handling.
But even in the Hethel hall of fame, there are desirable limited editions - and then there are unique creations. While on first inspection this might appear like just another S2 Elise, it is in fact a one-of-one build that might just be the Elise at its absolute best. It’s an SC for one thing, always a desirable variant thanks to its combination of supercharged torque and feral appetite for revs; the later, less revvy Toyota lumps never lingered quite so fondly in the memory.
In addition to that, it’s a 2010 car, the last year of Elise S2 production. And therefore probably the best of the breed (the ‘b’ word will come up quite a bit) once there had been some practice getting them together. The ad reckons that just 45 SCs like this were built in that year, and seven of those in Starlight Black. Makes you wonder how Lotus has made it this far with such small numbers (when isn’t that the case?), yet here we are. Maybe a discussion for another day.
Because alongside a feature we’ll get to, it’s the spec that makes this Elise special. While the Type 72 treatment - black and gold, basically, here with some actual Team Lotus input - was rolled out for the standard Elise S, there was only ever one supercharged example, and this is it. Its unique status has been marked with a Type 72 luggage set and a Certificate of Provenance. The original owner, who bought it from the selling dealer 16 years ago and is now selling it with them, was committed to making it that bit more special, too, with a light, stereo and dash upgrade.
Those bits would have been nice enough on their own given the bespoke nature alongside, but they went further still with a ‘meticulous restoration to return it to factory presentation’ earlier in 2026. While there aren’t any more details in the advert, the images rather speak for themselves; inside and out, this would appear to be nothing less than a like-new, one-of-one, supercharged Lotus Elise. You don’t need us to tell you how wildly appealing that is.
It seems appropriate, then, that the asking price is new Lotus money. Yes, this is an £80k S2, making it more than twice the price of any other Elise of the era. But you only need to look at what Analogue Automotive is doing to see how expensive Elise restoration can get; factor in the one-off nature as well and it’s easy to see how the asking price has been arrived at. It’s probably not the Lotus to take a punt on in the hopes of making a quick buck, but for those who want to experience the joy of an Elise - a true sports car icon for the ages - at its very best, then there can’t be any better. And there only needs to be one buyer…
ie. “But you’d just buy a 911, wouldn’t you”…
Enjoyed a few passenger laps piloted by someone who knew how it to drive it was very impressive package
Equally as a one of so many lotus special editions they probably outnumbers the "normal cars," which makes the premium difficult to justify in my mind.
https://www.carandclassic.com/l/C1772658
It's no doubt a fine machine but it's way over egged.
https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/17657387
Yes, you get 220 Bhp vs 189 , but you have to work the gears for those 189 horses and that makes it much, much more FUN on our heavily speed controlled roads.
It is also important to note that there were a few, admittedly very few, 2010 N/A Elises with the high revving 2ZZ engines AND the S3 bodywork.
I test drove a N/A and a S/C back to back at Bell&Colvill before buying their Chrome Orange 2010 N/A S3 simply because I felt that it would be the more ENGAGING variant for road use.
I have not missed the missing 31 Bhp.
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