160+ bhp, 1,558 cc DOHC four-cylinder engine with dual 40DCOE Weber carburettors, four-speed manual gearbox, independent front and rear suspension with sway bars, wishbones and adjustable coil-spring dampers and Chapman struts, and four-wheel hydraulic disc brakes.

Wheelbase: 2,133 mm Lotus hit the big time in 1962 with the introduction of the Model 26 Elan; it was a tiny, lightweight road car that brought all of designer Colin Chapman’s racing lessons to the street, at last.

The fibreglass, monocoque Elite Coupé of 1958 had been a successful race car, but it was harsh and uncompromising on the street.

Car & Driver described the cockpit as being “as noisy as the boiler room of a tramp steamer”.

By comparison, the Elan Roadster was small and solid.

It was only 12-feet long and weighed only 1,485 pounds.

The steel backbone frame was bonded to the fibreglass body, the suspension was soft and compliant, and it had disc brakes all round.

The 1,558-cubic centimetre Ford twin-cam engin...