Supercars.net

The revolutionary aspect behind the Lotus Elite is its fibreglass monocoque. The body is made up of 5 large pieces which sandwich together, forming a complete car. The near-absence of metal within the body provides for a extremely light-weight, nible car. The monocoque material comes at a tradeoff as the glassfibre likes to flex. Any attempts to stop such movement usually result in cracking of the shell.

Lotus adapted much of its grand prix racing techology into the Elite. Beyond the weight, the Elite offered four-wheel independ suspension, discs all around (including inboard rear brakes) and a very low areodynamic drag. At 0.29Cd, the Elite even outperforms the 2002 Acura NSX which brags a Cd of .30 .

Compared to the other sports cars of the era, the Elite was ahead of its time. A heavy inclusion of race-inspired technology made both Lotus and owners of the car soon realize the costs involved. Maintenance was expensive and Lotus made every car at a loss. Despiite this fact, over 1000 examples were made which represent the pinacle of automotive engineering for the period.