Photo 1 of 2
Colin Chapman, the founder of Lotus and legendary Formula 1 driver, said the secret to speed was to “simplify, then add lightness”. Chapman died in 1982 and not all subsequent Lotus cars have adhered to his philosophy. But the Elise is the very embodiment of the quote. Sure, Colin would have deleted the radio, air conditioning and floor mats, but the series 2 Elise is a slip of a thing coming in at 850kg. And boy, is it fun. Read on...
The Elise was launched in 1996 and was in production until 2022. It put Lotus back with the big guns of performance motoring and is still regarded as one of the truly great driver focused cars.
Powering the Elise isn’t some exotic high-powered race engine but a 1.8L engine from a Rover. It is mid-mounted and in this car produces just 120hp. But Lotus chose the Rover K-series engine for its lightness, of course. This gave the Elise an impressive power to weight ratio meaning a 0-100kph time of around 5.5 seconds. Handling is incredible and on the right piece of road not much is keeping pace with it.
This car is a 2003 S2 that was sold new in NZ. It has air conditioning and a radio and that’s about it for comfort. You need to be flexible to get in and out and there’s not much sound deadening because that adds weight. It’s raw, fast, exciting and probably hell on a long drive. It’s brilliant.
It’s being auctioned on the 12th February at Turners Whangarei with an estimate of $34,000 - $36,000. Have the weight of the world lifted from your shoulders, buy an Elise. More details here.
Leave a Comment
Please login to comment