Colin Chapman (1928–82) was a brilliant, charming, innovative designer, engineer and entrepreneur who arrived in frontline racing. His path to the formation of the Lotus company, and to racing car construction, was through studying engineering at University College, London, while also selling used cars beside his father’s pub in Hornsey. A spell in the Royal Air Force gave him a real understanding of lightweight structures that complemented his natural left-field thinking. He deployed this whether he was designing to eliminate structure weight, blagging deliveries from suppliers on credit, or skating his way through the construction rules in Formula One.
Chapman was among the first to understand the new design rules for car performance. The car chassis and body needed to be light and rigid, preferably integrated as a structural monocoque shell, while the suspension could be softer and tuned for the correct compliance to road or track. This was pretty much the reverse of the traditional architecture used by rivals such as Ferrari and Maserati. As a result, a Lotus was often quicker despite its engine being usually less powerful.
The Elite, introduced in 1957, was Chapman’s first road car made for general sale. Glass fibre had made small production runs affordable and the Elite was the first glass-fibre monocoque, with a remarkably successful body sketched by Lotus associate Peter Kirwan-Taylor. Frank Costin, aerodynamicist at de Havilland, honed the aerodynamics. Other features included racing car features such as all-independent suspension and all-round disc brakes. It also used the terrific ex-fire pump Coventry Climax engine, previously used by Chapman for track cars.
Dynamically the Elite was almost perfect, given its date. Cornering was awesome, performance was great for the engine size, and fuel economy was terrific, thanks to the low drag body. However, as a road car it demanded lots of maintenance and forgiveness. The name itself, wags and disenchanted owners used to say, told you what to expect – Lotus stood for ‘Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious’.
Fast, fragile, flawed … The Lotus Elite derived terrific performance from a 1200cc Coventry Climax engine thanks to its light weight and slippery shape.