“It is not cheap, but to anyone contemplating buying a cheaper two-seater sports car, I would sell the television set, the washing machine, give up smoking, even give up drinking, but scrimp and save and buy an Elan and you won't be disappointed.” Denis Jenkinson Unfortunately these days, selling your television set and washing machine won’t make much of a dent in the cost of a half decent Elan but at least modern taxes on smoking and drinking will help perhaps even more than they did back in the ‘forty-a-day’ days.

The point Jenks was making is just as valid now as it was then however.

Maturing from race car maker to fully fledged Road Car Manufacturer was never going to be easy for Lotus and while the firecracker 7 was a staple of the enthusiast market, making a decent return on such a relatively low priced machine was always going to be hard and it became more a way of keeping the race car mechanics busy (and paid) in the off-season.

With the gorgeous Mark 14 Elite, Lotus, to a d...