The Elan was technologically advanced with a DOHC 1,558 cc engine, four-wheel disc brakes, rack and pinion steering, and 4-wheel independent suspension.

It revived a company stretched thin by the more exotic, expensive to build, and rather unreliable Lotus Elite, which used a fibreglass monocoque body/chassis and all aluminium Coventry Climax engine.

[8] The basic structure of the Lotus Elan comprised a fabricated mild steel backbone chassis, similar to a double ended tuning fork, and a fibreglass body.

This design resulted in light weight, high rigidity (by contemporary standards), and easy driver/passenger access through wide door openings with low sills.

These "rubber doughnut" couplings were widely used at the time for road vehicles (e.g. Hillman Imp, Triumph GT6) and racing (e.g. Ford GT40, Lotus 21), prior to the availability of constant velocity (CV) joints.

In the case of the Elan, which had exceptionally supple rear suspension that allowed significant vertical wheel travel, the deformation of the Rotoflexes in operation resulted in some "wind up" of the couplings.

A notable feature of the drive train design was its use of standard, mass-produced components in combination with a minimal number of specialized aluminium castings to create a power unit and transmission suitable for a high performance sports car: These three items were unique to the Elan (although the engine was subsequently used widely in other vehicles).

Prior to the release of the Sprint the following outputs were reported in the Workshop Manual:[9] Lotus marketing material from the S3 period quoted the SE variant at 115 bhp (86 kW), noting high lift cams, carburetor re-jetting and a four branch exhaust.

Its diminutive size (while offering room for drivers over 6 ft (1.83 m) tall and practical luggage carrying capacity) provided the foundation for its low weight.

[15]Although performance results achieved by testers are affected by many variables (e.g. differential ratio, weather/road conditions, gross vehicle weight, DHC vs. FHC, etc.)

Most people tend to come back from their first ride a little bit glassy-eyed...[19]Road and Track: The light and tactile steering, combined with supple suspension and a weird, physics-defying sense of zero weight transfer in corners, provides a sensation akin to flying just over the ground.

[20]Motor Sport: The tremendously responsive steering and handling requires similar qualities from the driver and the speeds achieved round corners and on the straight are deceptively fast.

To master the car and explore its tremendous handling potential along that delightfully twisty piece of road one knows so well is close on perfection for the sporting motorist.

"[26] This generation of the two-seater Elan was famously driven by Diana Rigg in the character of Emma Peel in the 1960s British television series The Avengers.

[39] Motor Sport: Mechanically, the 26R differed by featuring racing lightweight competition-spec wishbones, sliding spline driveshafts in place of rubber joints, bigger anti-roll bars and a degree of reinforcement around the suspension pick-up points.

Pedals were repositioned to aid heel-and-toeing, dual circuit brakes with twin master cylinders and light alloy calipers coming as standard.

Motor Sport magazine reported the design goal as: it was decided to increase the interior dimensions considerably to meet the car's maxim that it "must be capable of transporting two adults and two children 1,000 miles in comfort with their luggage".

[51] In 1971 Colin Chapman bought Moonraker Marine / JCL and in 1974 Brian Davey working with the Naval Architect Don Shead on a new boat design was asked to help redesign the replacement for the Europa.

A two-seater convertible sports car with front-wheel drive, designed in-house by Lotus, it featured an engine and manual transmission supplied by Isuzu,[54] and was built with the development and testing resources of General Motors.

Its design, featuring a fibreglass composite body over a rigid steel backbone chassis, was true to Lotus founder Colin Chapman's original philosophy of achieving performance through low weight, and the name "Elan" connected the car with its 1960s ancestor.

In 1986 the purchase of Lotus by General Motors provided the financial backing to develop a new, small, affordable car in the same spirit as the original Elan (last built in December 1972).

A development prototype, the M90 (later renamed the X100) had been built a few years earlier, using a fibreglass body designed by Oliver Winterbottom and a Toyota-supplied 1.6-litre engine and transmission.

Finally each new car was test-driven for around 30 miles (48 km) at Lotus' Hethel factory to check for any manufacturing defects before being shipped to dealers.

However, the Elan's rigid chassis minimised roll through the corners and has led to many critics describing it as 'the finest front wheel drive [car] bar none'.

[58] Unlike the naturally aspirated version, the turbocharged SE received power steering as standard, as well as tyres with a higher ZR speed rating.

Initial sales were disappointing, due to the debut of the more affordable "nostalgic" Mazda MX-5 which was arguably similar in concept to the 1960s Elan, in contrast to the M100's deliberately futuristic cant.

A mere 559 of them were sold in the US, featuring a 'stage 2 body' which had a different rear boot spoiler arrangement together with a lengthened nose to accommodate a USA-compliant crash structure and airbag, and 16-inch wheels (optional in most markets, standard in the U.S.) instead of 15-inch as on the UK model.

Two years after the end of the original production run, a limited edition of 800 Series 2 (S2) M100 Elans was released during the Romano Artioli era (produced June 1994–September 1995) when it was discovered that enough surplus engines were available to make this possible.

According to Autocar magazine, the S2 addressed some of the concerns over handling, but power was reduced to 155 bhp (116 kW; 157 PS) and the 0–60 mph acceleration time increased to 7.5 seconds, due to the legislative requirement to fit a catalytic converter in all markets.

[63] The car was to have featured a 4.0-litre V6 engine with around 350 horsepower, a 0-60 time of 4.5 seconds, a top speed of 165 mph, and was to have weighed roughly 1,295 kg (2,855 lb).