Lotus Elise Haynes Enthusiast Guide

By: Alastair Clements .

Description

Few cars of the past 20 years have been taken into the hearts of enthusiasts quite like the Lotus Elise. Innovative in its extruded and bonded aluminium construction, thrilling to drive, yet surprisingly affordable and usable, the Elise has become a legend in its own lifetime for its mixture of track-day ability and accessible sports car fun on the road.

Conceived as a plaything, the ground-breaking Lotus captured buyers' imaginations and forced the hand of its maker into turning the Elise into a full production model, one that went on to spawn the extreme, track-focused 340R, Exige and 2-Eleven, as well as the more comfort-orientated 1115 and Europa plus the badge-engineered Opel Speedster, Vauxhall VX220 and electric Tesla Roadster.

This Haynes Enthusiast Guide tells the complete story of the Elise, from the first concept sketched to production, through gentle evolution into Sport 135 and 111S to the revolution of the S2, the arrival of Toyota power, the sales surge into America and more, right up to the launch of its big brother, the Evora. With extensive input from its creators, plus owners, racers and the specialists who repair and improve them, this is the essential guide to the most important sports car of the modern era.

About The Author

Having trained as an architect, author Alastair Clements was lucky enough to turn his passion for cars into a career when he joined Classic & Sports Car magazine in 1998. He later worked as a senior road tester for sister title Autocar and editor of www.autocarco.uk before returning to Classic & Sports Car as deputy editor. His first book for Haynes was Elise: Rebirth of the True Lotus, published in 2003, which has been thoroughly revised and extended to create this Haynes Enthusiast Guide on the Lotus Elise.