{"id":835143,"date":"2024-04-02T17:31:11","date_gmt":"2024-04-02T17:31:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/?page_id=835143"},"modified":"2024-04-02T21:48:05","modified_gmt":"2024-04-02T21:48:05","slug":"lotus-elan","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/all-brands\/lotus\/lotus-elan\/","title":{"rendered":"Lotus Elan"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\">Lotus Elan<\/h1>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">Lightweight Legend<\/h2>\n<p><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px\">The Lotus Elan was launched in October 1962 at the British Motorshow, just as the Sixties started swinging. Jaguar had launched the E-Type the previous year, and AC had the Cobra and Ferrari the GTO. Big, expensive, powerful muscles cars. The Lotus Elan was very different, and typically Lotus \u2013 ultra modern, lightweight, rapid and huge fun. The Lotus M100 series Elan was launched in August 1989, reviving the Elan nameplate after 14 years. A two-seater convertible sports car with front-wheel drive, designed in-house by Lotus, it featured an engine and manual transmission supplied by Isuzu, and was built with the resources of General Motors.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"#block-wrap-46469\" rel=\"\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px\">Features &amp; Stories<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-size: 18px\">&nbsp;\/ <\/span><a href=\"#block-wrap-78905\" rel=\"\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px\">History &amp; Development<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-size: 18px\">&nbsp;\/&nbsp;<\/span><a href=\"#block-wrap-67084\" rel=\"\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px\">Variant List<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-size: 18px\">&nbsp;\/ <\/span><a href=\"#block-wrap-39352\" rel=\"\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px\">Models In-Depth<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-size: 18px\">&nbsp;\/&nbsp;<\/span><a href=\"#block-wrap-78505\" rel=\"\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px\">Recent News<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/1962-Lotus-Elan-001-1200.jpg\"><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">The Ultimate Guide To The Lotus Elan: Every Variant, Specs, Reviews, Performance &amp; More<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px\"><span style=\"font-family: DM Sans, sans-serif\">In October 1962, the Lotus Elan sports car, also known as the Type 26, was launched at the Earls Court Motor Show in London as the Elan 1500. Colin Chapman visualised the Elan as being a replacement for the Lotus Seven and the Elite, built as a glass fibre monocoque construction. By the time it reached the prototype stage, it was agreed that it would incorporate a steel backbone chassis construction, which meant that the Elan would be not only light and rigid, but also much easier to manufacture than its predecessor. The innovative folded-steel backbone chassis stiffened the shell while adding a minimum of extra weight. With light and tactile steering as well as soft, long-travel suspension the combination was that the Elan one of the best-handling cars ever, with a compliant ride too. It had all-disc brakes, rack-and-pinion steering, and all-coil independent suspension with rear MacPherson struts. For the engine, it used a new dual-overhead camshaft conversion of its new oversquare small \u2018four\u2019 and this Lotus 1558cc engine, developing 105 hp at 5,700 rpm. The Elan evolved over a dozen years, gaining a bit more power, a companion coupe, and nicer appointments, even siring a stretched \u201c+2\u201d coupe series. The final (of the original) version, the 1971-74 Sprint, was arguably the best, thanks to its 126-hp \u201cBig Valve\u201d engine. As Elan models (Series) advanced, it was hard to tell what components a specific Elan would come with. Sometimes old stock was used up in new models, and sometimes new stock was used to finish out an old model run. And sometimes major component change would occur in the middle of a series.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;One of the most agile and responsive cars of its era. The Elan epitomizes Colin Chapman&#8217;s &#8216;add lightness&#8217; philosophy.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><small>&lt;p&gt;Autocar&lt;\/p&gt;<\/small><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">Lotus Elan Variants<\/h2>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">Lotus Elan Models<\/h2>\n<p>&#8220;A masterclass in lightweight sports car design. The Elan handles like a dream and offers an impossibly fun driving experience.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><small>&lt;p&gt;Classic &amp; Sports Car Magazine&lt;\/p&gt;<\/small><br \/>\n<div class=\"wpdt-c\">\n    <div class=\"alert alert-danger m-10\" role=\"alert\">\n        <span class=\"wdt-alert-title f-600\">Error<br><\/span>\n        <span class=\"wdt-alert-subtitle\">You are trying to load a table of an unknown type. Probably you did not activate the addon which is required to use this table type.<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lotus Elan Lightweight Legend The Lotus Elan was launched in October 1962 at the British Motorshow, just as the Sixties started swinging. Jaguar had launched the E-Type the previous year, and AC had the Cobra and Ferrari the GTO. Big, expensive, powerful muscles cars. The Lotus Elan was very different, and typically Lotus \u2013 ultra modern, lightweight, rapid and huge fun. The Lotus M100 series Elan was launched in August 1989, reviving the Elan nameplate after 14 years. A two-seater [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":835144,"parent":354338,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-835143","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Lotus Elan - The Ultimate Guide<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The name&#039;s Elan, and lightweight fun its game. Dive into the legacy of this iconic Lotus, a legend with agile handling, timeless design, and a thrilling spirit.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/all-brands\/lotus\/lotus-elan\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lotus Elan - The Ultimate Guide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The name&#039;s Elan, and lightweight fun its game. Dive into the legacy of this iconic Lotus, a legend with agile handling, timeless design, and a thrilling spirit.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/all-brands\/lotus\/lotus-elan\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Supercars.net\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Supercars.net\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-04-02T21:48:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/1962-Lotus-Elan-001-1200.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@supercars_net\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/all-brands\\\/lotus\\\/lotus-elan\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/all-brands\\\/lotus\\\/lotus-elan\\\/\",\"name\":\"Lotus Elan - The Ultimate Guide\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/all-brands\\\/lotus\\\/lotus-elan\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/all-brands\\\/lotus\\\/lotus-elan\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/04\\\/1962-Lotus-Elan-001-1200.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-04-02T17:31:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-04-02T21:48:05+00:00\",\"description\":\"The name's Elan, and lightweight fun its game. 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