Celebrating 20 Years of the Lotus Elise
In September 1995 at the Frankfurt and London Motor Shows, Lotus unveiled a two-door, back-to-basics sports car that would return Lotus to its roots. The Lotus Elise was named after then Lotus Managing Director Romano Artioli's grand-daughter. The Elise, reinvigorated the Lotus brand, inspired existing Lotus enthusiasts, and introduced a new generation to the thrills of Lotus ownership.
The London Motor Show Press release stated:
“The Lotus Elise is the first of a new breed of supercar - small, high-tech, and elegantly simple, yet with satisfying performance for the young-at-heart enthusiast. Light weight, efficiency, and driver satisfaction have been the hallmarks of classic Lotus sports and competition cars since 1948 when Colin Chapman built his first design. Today, Elise puts these elements into sharp focus, delivering exciting performance with a high power-to-weight ratio by achieving low weight rather than high power. Such low weight (only 675 kg) benefits braking, handling and steering response, and also cuts down fuel consumption.”
“The Lotus Elise is the first of a new breed of supercar - small, high-tech, and elegantly simple, yet with satisfying performance for the young-at-heart enthusiast. Light weight, efficiency, and driver satisfaction have been the hallmarks of classic Lotus sports and competition cars since 1948 when Colin Chapman built his first design. Today, Elise puts these elements into sharp focus, delivering exciting performance with a high power-to-weight ratio by achieving low weight rather than high power. Such low weight (only 675 kg) benefits braking, handling and steering response, and also cuts down fuel consumption.”