But the mid-engine placement made it difficult to come up with an attractive shape within a short body length. In profile - to my young eyes, anyway - it looked a bit truck-like and a trifle clumsy. The low-set front end was very attractive, but the rear quarter panels were high and slab-sided with a top edge that rose well above the “trunk” line, making them look almost like vertical fins. Styling was a mix indeed it almost seemed like two entirely different vehicles had somehow been joined together. Steering was rack and pinion, while brakes were front disc and rear drum. The transaxle was a four-speed unit also taken from the Renault 16, but turned around and placed in the middle of the Europa’s chassis. Acceleration was 0-60 mph in under 10 seconds and a top speed north of 100 mph - all this from 89.7 cubic inches! so performance was extraordinary for such a small engine.

While that may not sound like much today, things were different back then and besides, the car only weighed a mere 1350 lbs. With an alloy block and head, it was a low-weight and inexpensive engine and produced a healthy 78 hp with its two-barrel carburetor. Dubbed the Lotus Europa, it was a small and very low two-passenger coupe with a four-cylinder 1470cc engine taken from the Renault 16. What the market really needed, he believed, was a low-priced mid-engine sports car. Always in search of the car with perfect handling, he felt that a mid-engine design might be the best approach. Its combination of exclusivity and performance - one magazine clocked it 0-60 mph in 8 seconds with a top speed of nearing 120 mph - coupled with its great looks, made it the choice of many automotive connoisseurs.Ĭhapman, though, was never one to rest on his laurels. The Elan was a relatively big hit for Lotus despite a price tag of nearly $4200.

The similarity in appearance is unmistakable Mazda really should have to pay a royalty to Lotus for borrowing its styling. In 1962 came the Lotus Elan roadster, which is the car that Mazda later took as its influence for the first-generation Miata sports car. The Elite introduced a novel fiberglass uni-body construction in which the body was bonded to the chassis for light weight with excellent rigidity. In 1957, Lotus unveiled the prototype of its first production road car, the Elite coupe, with production starting in 1958. Chapman initially built cars for his racing team, but eventually began producing competition cars for sale to others. They performed well because Chapman focused on lightweight construction in order to make best use of the available power of the low-cost engines. Prior to forming his company, Chapman had built several competition cars that were based on Austin and Ford components. was founded in 1952 by British engineer Colin Chapman.

Lotus twin cam engine weight