COMPILED BY MICHAEL WARE
Following on from last monthʼs feature on the M100 Lotus Elan family, a fascinating piece of marque history has resurfaced. In 1986, General Motors took over Lotus Cars and the management team was looking for a new car to fit in at the bottom of the firmʼs range below the larger and more expensive Esprit and Excel.
The company commissioned three designers to compete for the new model: GMʼs in-house team, plus Giorgetto Giugiaro and Peter Stevens. Peter had Lotus build him an accurate full-size clay model of his proposal, painted silver and with an interior by Simon Cox. It was beautifully detailed, with fully working lights, turning front wheels and real instruments, and it looked ready to drive. At the final presentation, the Stevens design won hands down.
The car was engineered to take a front-mounted, 1.6-litre four-cylinder engine, with a five-speed transmission and front-wheel drive – that last detail being looked upon with suspicion by some Lotus fanciers. It was named Elan, the first time the moniker had been applied to a Lotus since 1975.
The clay modelʼs current owner, Mark, picks up the story: “It was used to develop the prototypes and the production cars, then it was retained by Lotus for the next 12 years. When the Lotus Museum was sold off at a Coys auction in 1998, it was bought by a classic car dealer who hadnʼt realised it was not a real car and didnʼt have an engine, so he put it away in a barn.
“In 2008 it was sold to another owner, who put it in another barn, then the following keeper did the same for a further 15 years until I spotted it for sale and realised its significance in the Elan M100 story. The car hadnʼt seen the light of day for years, and I donʼt think it had been washed since 1998. Itʼs a true survivor, especially because itʼs made of clay.”
Having been hidden away from public view all of its life, the now 37-year-old model will be carefully preserved. Mark plans to show the mock-up so that it can seen and appreciated by enthusiasts.
A LONG-LOVED PEERLESS
