Lotus Elan (1992) – Into the Wild

In the second half of the 1980s, Lotus was able to work on an affordable roadster with a large bag of money from its new parent company General Motors. Such a model could use it to boost the sales and financial figures. It became Lotus’ most expensive project to date, resulting in the 1989 modern reincarnation of the Elan. Unlike its 1962 namesake, the new Elan was only available as a roadster, but there was another big difference: it had front-wheel drive. That was not only new for the Elan, but for the brand.

Although that was probably a bit of a challenge for the fans of Lotus (and of sporty roadsters in general), the Elan held on to a different tradition. It was again a car that had to be fast thanks to a low weight. Not so much because of a lot of power. The fiberglass body (but also the lack of a cardan shaft) helped to keep the weight just under 1,000 kilos. In the turbo version, the weight went just over a ton. That, in combination with the 164 hp Lotus modified 1.6 four-cylinder from Isuzu, was good for sporty performance. The Lotus Elan Turbo accelerated from 0 to 100 km/h in about 6.5 seconds and had a top speed of 220 km/h.

Although the Elan was cleverly put together and looked quite special, it didn’t really turn out to be a success story for Lotus. The competition was tough; after all, the Japanese simultaneously released the more affordable Mazda MX-5, which sold like crazy. The production counter of the Elan remained at 3,855 and in 1995 it was over. A Lotus has always been a rarity, such an Elan is – certainly for its age – certainly. A nice spot from colleague Joost Boers. He stumbled upon this freshly imported specimen, which is celebrating its thirtieth birthday next month. It is the Elan with the 1.6 with turbo on board, as is usually the case. The 132 hp turboless 1.6 was less popular.

Kia Elan

Incidentally, after the deletion of the Elan, Lotus still managed to earn money from it in a special way. It sold the production license to Kia, which released it in 1996 in its home market as Kia Elan. Even for the already ailing South Korean brand, the Elan turned out not to be a chicken with the golden eggs. Less than 1,000 copies were sold. Some Kia’s Elan eventually ended up in Europe via import and if you come across one like this, you really have something special for you. You recognize the Kia Elan except for the logo, especially the other taillights. The Lotus Elan had rear lights from the Renault Alpine GTA, Kia screwed in copies with round light units. Almost ten years ago we already extensively discussed the Kia Elan.