1998 Lotus Elise

VEHICLE DESCRIPTION

The Elise stands alongside the legendary Elan as a high-water mark in the history of Lotus road cars, and the early Series 1 is renowned as being the purest of all.

This particular Elise was sold new via Peter Smith Sports Cars in October 1998 to an owner in Burton upon Trent. Its impressive specification included factory options such as metallic paint, a leather interior rather than the standard cloth, driving lamps, an alarm system, a radio fitting kit and a body-coloured hardtop.

The original service book is still part of the Elise’s history file and shows that it received its Pre-Delivery Inspection on 30 October 1998. It returned to Peter Smith Sports Cars for its first service in December 1998, then again in October 1999 for its second, by which time it had covered 7832 miles. 

By 2000, the Elise had been sold to a new owner who was also based in the Midlands. That same year, an Alpine stereo was fitted, complete with remote control – which gets around the fact that reaching the headunit can be a bit of stretch from the driver’s seat. 

Its early owners clearly revelled in driving the Lotus, with its service records and old MoT certificates showing that it had covered a whisker under 20,000 miles by the time it returned once again to supplying dealer Peter Smith for a service in December 2003. 

The Elise was then sold to a Mr Norman, who was based in Morayshire in north-east Scotland. A collection of invoices shows that it was serviced by a garage in Inverness during this time, as well as by the Murray Motor Company in Edinburgh. 

Its next owner was also based in northern Scotland, and had the car serviced at Moray First Motors in Inverness. It was used only sparingly during the 2010s, and by the time it passed to its current owner in May 2022 via renowned marque specialist Paul Matty, the Lotus had still covered only 28,863 miles. 

The Series 1 Elise is rightly coveted as one of the best driver’s cars of its time, and this well-specified, low-mileage example is being offered for sale with an extensive service history, plus a full set of books, manuals and brochures. 

MODEL HISTORY  

Even during a halcyon period for two-seater sports cars, the Lotus Elise stood out. Launched at the 1995 Frankfurt Motor Show, it represented a thoroughly modern take on marque founder Colin Chapman’s famous ‘simplify and add lightness’ ethos.

Styled by Julian Thomson and engineered by Richard Rackham, the Elise was based around a groundbreaking bonded aluminium tub that weighed only 68kg, but which was incredibly rigid. 

Only the roll bar, rear subframe and suspension mounts were made from steel, and Autocarmagazine said that the Elise – named after the granddaughter of then-Lotus chairman Romano Artioli – was ‘the most technologically daring Lotus road car since the original Elite.’

Its Rover K-Series engine was taken from the MGF, and while the all-aluminium, twin-overhead-camshaft, 16-valve ‘four’ produced a modest 118bhp, the whole car weighed only 723kg when Autocar tested it. That power output was therefore enough to propel the Elise from 0-60mph in only six seconds – but it was its handling and roadholding that really made the spartan little Lotus stand out. 

The brochure said that it was ‘a car which combines beautiful simplicity, high technology, high performance and high drama’, while Performance Car magazine summed it up very simply: ‘It completely redefines what you expect from a sports car.’

Numerous special editions were added to the range, from the Sport 135 and 50th Anniversary to the Formula 1-inspired 49 and 79. The most extreme version was the track-focused, open-wheel 340R, which was produced in 2000 – the year before the original Elise was replaced by the Series 2 model.