1962 Lotus Elite S1 Coupé

• Fitted with a Twin-Cam engine
• An older rebuild by an aircraft engineer
• Last used circa 2012
• Offered for restoration

With the Elite, Colin Chapman demonstrated that his skills as a racing car designer and constructor could just as easily be applied to production road cars. The Elite was, nevertheless, conceived with competition in mind (Chapman was set on class wins at Le Mans and the Monte Carlo Rally) and incorporated technology developed in Lotus's single seaters. As innovative as Chapman's outright competition cars, the Elite featured a glassfibre monocoque body tub (the world's first), independent suspension all round and four-wheel disc brakes, the rears inboard. Its engine was the four-cylinder Coventry-Climax FWE, a single-overhead-cam unit of 1,216cc producing 75bhp. The work of Peter Kirwan-Taylor and aerodynamicist Frank Costin, the elegant body possessed an admirably low coefficient of drag (0.29) but made few concessions to comfort or noise suppression, not that that would have bothered the Elite's customers, for whom its 112mph top speed and superlative handling were of far greater importance.

This Lotus Elite was delivered new finished in red with black interior to a Mr M H Barker of East Horsley, Surrey in March 1962. It was later rebuilt by Tony Sommerard and believed now fitted with a 1,558cc Lotus Twin-Cam engine, as found in the successor Elan model. The car is now white with a blue interior, while the engine is fitted with Weber carburettors and Mobelec ignition. According to the vendor, the car was resprayed in white as the car was difficult for other road users to see, when it was previously painted black. Last used circa 2012, the Elite is offered in need of full restoration and is sold strictly as viewed (sadly, the owner lacks capacity and has been unable to provide any further information).

Accompanying documentation includes period correspondence from Chequered Flag Cars Ltd and Coventry Climax Engines Ltd; older maintenance invoices from D.M.C. (Cranleigh) Limited and Jack Brabham Conversions Limited; a used car purchase invoice from in Chequered Flag Cars Ltd dated 1965; original Lotus Components purchase invoice for the car dated 06/03/1962; a period purchase invoice for a Coventry Climax FWE 1,216cc engine from Racing Engines Limited; and a Lotus Elite workshop manual.