The First Lotus Elite Design

I last wrote about Lotus five years ago in this post dealing with the Lotus Elan. But to me and many others, the classic Lotus was the original Lotus Elite produced 1957-1963.

Its design has been credited to Peter Kirwan-Taylor (1930-2014) (reference here), but some attribute major input to Ron Hickman (who also contributed to the Elan). The Revs Institute in Naples, Florida has a second-series 1962 Lotus in its collection and its Web page gives credit largely to Kirwan-Taylor while acknowledging contributions by Hickman.

Regardless of its styling pedigree, the original Elite was an outstanding design, as can be seen in the images below.

Gallery

A 1959 Lotus Elite, Coys Auction photo.

Many Elites were painted cream color as in the first image.  Buy here is a 1963 Lotus in not-quite British Racing Green: Hyman auctions photo.

This and the following images of a 1962 Lotus Elite are Bonhams auction photos.  The design is simple, logical, and essentially ornamentation-free.  By "logical," note the aft cut line of the door as it extends from the door sill up into the greenhouse in one straight line.  The back window is large and curved, so there is no real need for quarter windows in the greenhouse.  The car's rear is chopped, with some radius work to soften the transition.

In profile, the Elite has a classically long hood line, the driver's head being well aft of the car's center.  The slope of the windshield is greater than seen on contemporary American cars.  A subtle point has to do with the wheel openings.  The forward opening is nearly round, but slightly flattened at the top -- this having to do with the shape of the fender relative to the fenderline profile.  The rear opening is essentially squared-off.  Were it shaped like the front opening, a visually "busy" zone would have been created due to the proximity with the windows and aft quarter pillar.  Another subtlety is the slight rise in the fenderline above the rear axle that gives that line a whiff of variety.

Frontal view showing the curved, one-piece windshield.  The grille opening is just that: an opening.  Bumpers are flimsy and not well mated to the grille, perhaps the design's weakest point, albeit a trivial one.

Rear quarter view.  Nothing to criticize here.

1960s Lotus Elan: Hard to Improve

That's Diana Rigg in the role of Emma Peel and her Lotus Elan in the British TV series "The Avengers."  I find it difficult indeed to image how Diana Rigg could be improved.  Same goes for the Lotus.

The Lotus Elan was produced 1962-1973, and to my way of thinking, the best-looking ones were the early two-person versions.  This is not to say that it would be impossible to design a more attractive sports car with the same dimensions as the Lotus using a different styling theme.  My point is that there is essentially nothing I can think of that could significantly improve the existing theme of the car.

Gallery

Photo from Historical Auctions of a 1970 Elan Sprint.

Sales photo of a 1966 Lotus Elan.

Sales photo profile view.  This seems to be a later version because it has the hump on the hood and a squared-off, flared rear wheel opening.  These are not style improvements, thus helping to demonstrate the point I made above.

Sales photo of 1965 Lotus Elan showing that the rear is as simple as the front.  Small cars often work best when ornamentation is minimized.