Lotus has built the latest Elise, Exige and Evora. This in a sense closes the book for the old Lotus, as the future will bring larger and moreover electric models. It is therefore with a certain melancholy that we would like to bring this first generation Elise to your attention.
As 2021 slowly comes to an end, the curtain falls for one of the biggest names in British motoring history: the Lotus Elise. Together with brothers Exige and Evora, the successful two-seater says goodbye after 25 wonderful years. Fortunately, that does not end the whole story of the Elise, because of course there are still many used copies among us. However, the range in the Netherlands is not profuse and certainly the first generation is fairly rare. Nevertheless, we have found a beautiful specimen that is obediently waiting for the next owner to provide a wide smile.
This Elise is from 1998, so from the second full year of sale. So it is not the oldest, but it is really a primal Elise. It still has the 120 hp version of the 1.8 four-cylinder from Rover as its beating heart and weighs only 730 kilos. Thanks to its low weight, the relatively modest power ensures very sporty performance: in just 5.9 seconds you are at 100 km/h from standstill and you can continue up to 202 km/h. Of course, switching is not done with paddle shifters, but just with solid pokers with the five-speed gearbox. Driving through and through.
Lotus Elise
Of course, for that low weight you have to throw a few luxury wishes overboard. Once you’ve squeezed into your bucket seat, you’ll only have the most essentials for driving in view. This Elise still has a radio-CD player, which is quite a lot. Furthermore, you can adjust the temperature of the stove with two sliders, you can swing to open the windows and the instruments do not give you much more information than the rpm and speed. To the left of the steering wheel are a few buttons for the lighting that have been picked from an old Peugeot. If all goes well, you will not often look at the Spartan dashboard, because with an Elise you are mainly staring at the apex of the next bend. An Elise has only one goal: to shoot razor sharp from bend to bend.
According to the provider, this copy has, among other things, a new Nitron coilover whose hardness can be adjusted. The clutch cable has also been adjusted to provide a little more feeling. Handy if you want to go through the gears as smoothly and accurately as possible. That’s not all that’s encrypted on the Elise, though, as it’s an original UK-delivered one, converted to a left-hand drive. It has also been given a new coat of paint and just under 5,000 km ago another engine was installed. No doubt it will be well documented, but that is something to keep in mind. In any case, it seems that this Elise is ready to shower its next owner with driving pleasure, although the supplier wants to see about €25,000 on the table first.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl