Lotus Elan masterpiece not the most reliable - Stuff.co.nz
It was the guiding principle of Lotus founder Colin Chapman and, arguably, found its most satisfying expression among his road cars in the 1962 Elan. The tiny roadster had clean, elegant lines, clever construction (fibreglass body, steel backbone chassis, wishbone suspension), plus design innovations such as pop-up headlights and body-moulded bumpers. The Elan weighed under 700kg, allowing its Ford Cortina-based 1. 6-litre DOHC four to push it along very rapidly indeed. it is surprisingly how slow fast cars used to be). Car and Driver said "It comes closer than anything else on the market to providing a Formula car for ordinary street use. Yep, after driving the Elan, almost anything else felt like a double decker bus – with all the passengers on the top deck. The Elan was another triumph in a golden age of the British car (think E-Type Jag, Mini, Aston Martin DB4 and more). The little Lotus quickly gained a reputation as fiendishly unreliable, badly built and filled with drafts and leaks. A Lotus Elan soft-top. Chapman himself further muddied Lotus's reputation by abusing customers who complained. Source: www.stuff.co.nz
