Lotus Elite Series 1, 1959
Lotus Elite
Lotus Elite•
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Chassis No.: 1129
Engine No.: 7620
Registration: MSU 900
The first Elite or Lotus Type 14 was an ultra-light two-seater coupé, produced from 1958 to 1963 and making its debut at the 1957 London Motor Car Show. It was chassis #1008 and, having spent a year in development, aided by "carefully selected racing customers", it went on sale. The Elite's most distinctive feature was its highly innovative fiberglass monocoque construction; the Elite also used this glass-reinforced plastic material for the entire load-bearing structure of the car though the front of the monocoque incorporated a steel sub-frame supporting the engine and front suspension.
The resultant body was both lighter and stiffer and provided better driver protection in the event of a crash. It had independent suspension all round with transverse wishbones at the front and Chapman struts at the rear whilst advanced aerodynamics also made a contribution giving the car a very low drag coefficient. When production ended in 1963, just 1,030 of these had been built.
This beautiful example is presented in dark metallic grey with silver roof and has a black interior. This Lotus was imported to the UK in 1989, when the celebrated Motor sport specialist Simon Hadfield looked over the car and rebuilt the suspension and Stuart Rolt performed a rebuild to the engine and gearbox. The car was then subsequently sold in 2004 to a Ferrari specialist in the Cotswolds who then stored it for 20 years and then it was sold to the present vendor. Whilst in his ownership, much work has been carried out on it to bring it up to the fantastic condition you see it in today.
This work consisted of new brakes, calipers, wiring refurbished, new factory heater, new hoses, heater valve, the rear suspension was rebuilt once more, new stainless-steel bumpers (front and rear ) were fitted, new front grill and it was resprayed in 2025. A full seals kit was installed at a cost of circa £900 and the dashboard was rebuilt. The total cost of these works was in the region of £10,000. The result is one of the prettiest Lotus models to come from the Colin Chapham factory and oozes appeal like no other! Consigned by James Good
