Photo: Oldtimerfarm
Lotus Cars, the British manufacturer that won seven constructors’ championships in Formula 1, is the stuff automotive legends are made of. The artisan of the Hethel-based automaker is Colin Chapman, one of the most influential men in the industry and in motorsport. After his death in 1982, Lotus Cars went on a downward spiral fueled by financial troubles.
Before Malaysia-based Proton bought the company in 1996, Lotus Cars presented a handful of concepts to the world, including the design study we’ll talk about today. Introducing the 1986 Lotus Elan design proposal by Italdesign Giugiaro. Essentially an evolution of the 1984 M90/X100 and 1984 Etna concepts, the silver-painted machine featured here doesn’t have an engine, transmission, nada. It’s just a work of art on four wheels.
Offered for sale by Oldtimerfarm for €6,500, the concept car has lent some of its styling cues to the M100 Elan, the front-wheel-drive, front-engined sports car penned by Peter Stevens, the same man who was responsible for the design of the 1993 McLaren F1 hypercar.
As fate would have it, the M100 Elan would arrive on the market in 1989 as a good car at the wrong time and in the wrong place, chiefly because an economic recession swept the U.K. and U.S. back then. The final nail in the coffin of the Elan was the advent of the Mazda MX-5 Miata, a two-seater roadster with RWD and an old-fashioned appeal. The futuristic and front-wheel-drive M100 Elan didn’t stand a chance.
These said, the drivetrain-less concept is more of a reminder rather than a work of art. A reminder that Lotus could’ve made the M100 Elan the best two-seater sports car in the world, yet it failed. €6,500 is a small price to pay for the opportunity, albeit the design study is full of cracks and scratches. Mind you, it’s sensibly less than the £35 million that were used for the development of the M100 Elan.
Offered for sale by Oldtimerfarm for €6,500, the concept car has lent some of its styling cues to the M100 Elan, the front-wheel-drive, front-engined sports car penned by Peter Stevens, the same man who was responsible for the design of the 1993 McLaren F1 hypercar.
As fate would have it, the M100 Elan would arrive on the market in 1989 as a good car at the wrong time and in the wrong place, chiefly because an economic recession swept the U.K. and U.S. back then. The final nail in the coffin of the Elan was the advent of the Mazda MX-5 Miata, a two-seater roadster with RWD and an old-fashioned appeal. The futuristic and front-wheel-drive M100 Elan didn’t stand a chance.
These said, the drivetrain-less concept is more of a reminder rather than a work of art. A reminder that Lotus could’ve made the M100 Elan the best two-seater sports car in the world, yet it failed. €6,500 is a small price to pay for the opportunity, albeit the design study is full of cracks and scratches. Mind you, it’s sensibly less than the £35 million that were used for the development of the M100 Elan.
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