• In the ownership of the vendor, a serial Lotus owner, since 2010 • Much improved during the vendor’s ownership • Just 64,000 recorded miles, and one former keeper shown on HPI • Evidently subject to a previous restoration “The uncanny cornering powers of this remarkable machine equal and probably exceed those of any production car we have driven before: similarly the handling and brakes are certainly not bettered.”—Motor magazine, September, 1967.

The Elan name was first applied to Lotus’s oh-so-neat, Ron Hickman-penned two-seater Roadster of 1962.

It comprised a steel backbone chassis clothed in a lightweight fibreglass body, and powered by a 1,558cc Cosworth DOHC version of Ford’s proven Kent engine.

With independent suspension and disc brakes all-round, the Elan was notably light and nimble.

However, it was also tight on space, and in June, 1967, the company launched the Elan +2 for those in need of more accommodation.

Based on a lengthened and widened version of the original...