The Type 14 Lotus Elite Is the Most Fragile Sports Car Ever Made - Here's Why People Love It
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- Опубліковано 5 гру 2020
- The Lotus Elite Type 14 is an automotive legend - famed for being wildly successful on track, owned and driven by the superstar Jim Clark. But, it also has a mythical reputation for being incredibly delicate and easy to break. However, with a potent Coventry Climax engine and a paltry kerb weight of just over 500kg, what is it really like to drive?
#Lotus #Elite #Type14
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I bought an Elite in the early '70s for £400. The Climax engine gave me problems (finger trouble by the previous owner), which I fixed at a cost greater than I'd paid for the car. Then I had trouble with the rear diff and drive shafts, so in total it was off the road a lot as I didn't have the money for the constant repairs. After about 3 years I sold it to a Swiss gent for £1,000. I occasionally google the chassis number (1380) and it appears, still in the bright orange someone had painted it in the '60s. I wish I could have kept it until I had the money to maintain it. Still I had a family instead.
But
You had the memories of buying,driving,repairing and selling one.
Good memories only a few people will have 👍
The type 14 is now the most expensive 'second hand' Lotus road car by a long way. You couldn't sell an Evora and then buy a decent one.
Power is nice and all, but lightness is king!
Only Lotus could make a 1.2 4 cylinder put out 95HP and make this noise 50 years ago
The Coventry Climax FWE engine used in this car could be bought by anyone. It was Lotus that made the light, stiff, aerodynamic and elegant body, with superb handling and ride thanks to the advanced suspension - it was the same as the Mark 12, the then-current Formula 1 and 2 race cars.
60 years ago, more like.
@@pashakdescilly7517 uses an FWB not an FWE. edit i am wrong it is FWE.
@@1183newman Some Elites have been fitted with FWB engines, or just a crankshaft. I looked on the website of a Lotus Elite specialist, they offer a short-stroke crank for the FWA and E, and the long-stroke FWB one as well. Both forged.
@@lewgoogle5530 The original scetches by Peter Kirwin-Taylor were done in 1956 and Francis Costin did many of the aerodynamic changes for better balance and to achieve the .29 Cd. Today the horsepower can be upped to around 135 if you've the knowledge. A few good motor guys could make the FWE (Feather Weight Elite) do up to 10,000 RPM and hold #1680 never placed less than 1st in all the races it entered in South Africa back in the day! Amazing feat in and of itself.
In 1961, Stirling Moss proclaimed the Elite to be "the best thing of its type in the world". Too bad it's hopelessly impractical as a road-going car. The price of lightweight brilliance, then and now. The reference to the engine's fire pump origins reminds me of a Car & Driver quote from about 25 years ago: "What do you get when you combine an Ox cart with an industrial pump engine? Well, for years the British called it a sports car." Don't get offended, my British friends; it's funny, and there is more than a kernel of truth in it. Doesn't mean those cars (Lotus, MG, Morgan, Triumph, etc) weren't great fun at affordable prices.
I loved my '57 TR3. The most fun I everr had with a car, in spite of the Lucas electrics.
One of the most beautiful cars made!
Apology for the sound but not one for the shirt 😆
A big thankyou for the owner allowing us to enjoy this epic car on the channel
And all for free 😎
My friend was under braking that time the door came off his Elan, so he had the the somewhat unique experience of watching it precede him down the road.
Door racing....now there s a sport.
These on wires almost look like a modern on over sized wheels. Mr Chapman ahead of his time as always!
Wow - that has to be the most exclusive car you have ever had on this channel. Mental rare.
I'm very grateful to the owner for letting me loose in it!
@@JayEmmOnCars You have to be. Thinking about it this channel is sucessful because of the cars you get on it. Although to be fair you are a very amusing host - kind of like a young Clarkson before he went full fascist.
@@Boric78 yea clarkson before he became the piece of shit he is today
@@Boric78 I don't think you know what that word means .
@@jsquared1013 Sure I do. Lotus can be exclusive too.
This and the Lotus 38 were what defined Lotus when I was a child playing with Matchbox cars. I doubt I could squeeze my tall fat body into an Elite but it remains the aesthetic perfection of the early 60's automobile - light and delightful.
The essence of Lotus! Daringly innovative, lightweight, compact, efficient and pure, a modestly endowed race car for the road that humbles bigger and more expensive cars. The dashboard motif still survives in the Evora. Oh and it is gorgeous. 10 years ahead of its time and ageing gracefully with none of the gawkiness that most other 50s and early 60s cars (famous Jags and Astons included) have from some angles.
My Type 54 is Lotus Fragile but when you know, you let it shine as you happily protect it. Joy within the speed limit. Joy in town, in the country, and on the highway. Joy
Love that sound of a well tuned carburetted engine 👌
'Turbo has just left the chat'
I just purchased this car from Paul, the owner during this video. Having this video really helped with the process as I was buying from abroad and couldn’t get to see the car. Can’t wait to drive it next year on our return from Canada
I love British sports cars, but simply don't have the money for such a gem and also wanted something more reliable... so I ended up with a '99 MX-5 NB and I don't regret it for a second. It's a simple, pragmatic car with great handling and quite decent sound and I have the 1.6 with a brand spanking new, but not overly exaggerated exhaust. The car is only 22 years old, but it feels so classic and old-fashioned that 120 km/h on a country road already feels insanely fast. I call it the smile machine.
The Elete super 95 has always been top of my list of dream cars. I was fortunate enough to have a friend who owned an Elete back in 1959 and it could beat anything on single carriageway roads,we had tremendous fun with it.
I love this car - I was smiling through this video
Oh wow. Cross posting of my two favourite poms in cars! Love your work CD, this from someone with a license for 20 years.
Yes, really beautiful car.
Dorset looks great too. As a former boy - the roads of Essex / Suffolk you normally inhabit are always nostalgic for me, but you can't beat the west country for great countryside.
Thanks for risking your life to bring us this jay 😂😂
Light weight can feel fragile, but when done properly fibreglass is bloody strong stuff!
Bristol build examples are well made, today a bit of kevlar layup helps.
My Bristol bodied car as tough as old nails!
Just superb...that footage driving past the Cortina....your work keeps getting even better !
Great content James! Really enjoy discovering these lost nuggets. Cheers from the states!
I had a 60s Europa, an S2, lots of engine revving, sweet steering and wonderfully light. Good times. Used to love driving around the roads of Hertfordshire and Essex.
My favorite Lotus. And what wonderful roads!
@JayEmmOnCars thanks for featuring the Elite.
It's my absolute favourite Lotus car.
Cheers!
Just one word, BRILLIANT!
I love seeing the Elite, such a beautiful car.
This are the videos that real car enthusiast want to see!
Art in 4 wheels in a time of pointless cars.
Thanks James and keep giving us pearls like this.
That sound is so beautiful.
Love your content! From latest Ferrari's to old school Lotus. You get it. Thanks
Hi Jay
What a wonderfully trip down memory Lane. In the late 60’s I did a straight swop a nearly new MGB for a Lotus Elite Super 95 fitted with stage 3 engine with twin 45 DCO’s. Bristol bodied car, build quality very good. Superb on the open road, but not good in traffic, possibly due to the race spec engine! Had an appetite for head gaskets due to over heating, but apart from that very reliable, and a fantastic driving experience once you trusted the car. Wish I could have kept that car, but cottage conversion and increased mortgage put paid to that.😥😥
First time I've ever seen one of these and it's absolutely stunning. They need to remake all these old shapes with modern tech and chassis's, would sell by the bucket load.
The car club in Bristol used to have a lovely white example turn up to the monthly meets, but most people just walked by thinking it was an Elan . . .
Yea u could make a new monocoque from carbon fibre, would be light weight and alot stronger
Tolman Engineering in Warwickshire until recently we’re making Type 14 with 1500cc Climax Engine. Superb but rather expensive!
You can't make cars this shape and this light anymore. Crash protection, emissions legislation, people wanting bullshit tech etc etc has ruined it.
I wished Lotus still made them, what a beauty.
that is absolutely stunning !!
I wasn't expecting that 'maniac' joke, but I'm not mad. Good one.
This video demonstrates more fun can be had with less power. You will be racing all day just to keep up with modern day traffic. Another 👍🏻s up for a great YT vid.
Half the weight of a Miata. Wow. And right after watching this, I followed an MG Midget. I'm afraid I'm driving on the wrong side of the pond.
Brilliant review. It makes me wish I had not sold my 1959 Series 1. But I needed the money. And I had left ny job as a mechanic at a Lotus dealership so keeping it in working shape became a real challenge. Yes, it was very fragile.
I was 17 years old when I bought my 1961 Elite. I restored it over the next 8 years. It was an extraordinary car. This video brought back many happy memories. Thank you!
What a beautifully prepared car! As an ex TVR owner - I KNOW how much knuckle skin was expended in getting those wire wheels so pristine alone! GORGEOUS!!
What a cracking little sportscar
Loved watching this my dad raced Elites from 1960 to 1964 under the team name "team Elite 62" competed in 4 le mans winning there class, I think this is one of the most stunning cars of the time.
Would that be Clive?
yes it was Clive Hunt I still have many of his medals and cups that he won while competing and also news paper cuttings and old cine film, lovely to look back on
@@garyhunt7265 do you have my book 'Chasing Elites' ?
@@michaelhipperson1554 no I dont but I do know David Buxton owns one of the cars shall have to find one of your books would be an interesting read.
The Elite was my Dads dream car, and he eventually got one! We loved it and worked on it no problem. Disc breaks inboard in 1959 …Amazing! Le Mans winner. Composites before carbon fiber.
Great little car and engine. Reminds me of the times going to plant auctions in the early 80's with my brother in law to buy fire pumps with the Climax engine. Strip off the pump (sell that to th farmer) and cradle and ship them off to some Lotus restorer on the continent. Got more money for the block with the water pump mounting. Happy days.
a friend of mine had a racing elite & an eleven. light is an understatement. i also remember a rather gorgeous red? elite that had better aero.
It has arrived! My ultimate dream car.
_The_ definitive sports car.
Astonishingly lightweight.
Pioneering engineering.
Achingly beautiful.
Le Mans winner, dominating club racing.
Perfection. Thank you so much James.
Great review as ever. Is there a wish list for cars to review? How about a Noble M12 GTO?....Has to be done...
It’s so insanely clean
I owned one...a '62 with a 4 speed ZF box...and a Ford 1600 crossflow motor...it was a blast...and it cost me a fortune...but what an experience... non-servo assisted 4 wheel discs...would go round right angle corner at 60kph.......
Had a 1958 as you described an experience!
One of the best looking sportscars of the time. I have always wished I could have had one...
That sound . . . I could forgive it almost anything to have a soundtrack like that :)
That is truly beautiful
Wow. Love it.
Thanks for not getting all beardy and elbow protectors about it :)
Beutiful car! Only wish to be able to own that!
Saw a regular Type 14 on bring a trailer and looked it up and was astounded to find out theyre 1100lbs...now i want one
What a truly beautiful thing.
Beautiful car. Great video. As you said, it’s hard to find a video of someone just enjoying it, so thanks for giving us that vicarious pleasure.
My absolute delight :)
A lotus that really becomes more and more valuable (expensive) over time, for me the best road car Lotus have ever made. Elite is very true.
I love the Top Gear reference, “Maniac”😂
Such a clean design, absolutely beautiful! The one thing I could never understand on these is why if light weight was so important why did they have dual exhaust? Colin could have made it more profitable too.
More air flow. It's a benefit as long as it adds proportionately more horsepower than weight
Marvelous!!!
95 bhp is an amazing figure for a 1.200 engine in 1961, and it sounds so good. If Rootes had had the nous to fit this to the Sunbeam Imp/Sport they would have had a worthy competitor for the NSU TT 1200.
The Imp engine was actually based on the Coventry Climax FW engine series, and Rootes paid licence fees on it. There was a 1000cc version in the Rally version. Not many made, tho' it can still be done. There was even a 16 valve head made for the Imp engine at one point.
@@pashakdescilly7517 Thanks for the info.
@@1258-Eckhart The Climax engines had wet liners pressed into the alloy block. The Imp engine had dry liners cast into the alloy block. For the 1000cc conversion, the liners are machined out, and block is machined for larger wet liners.
The most powerful FWE engines were in the Super 105, which had Webers instead of SU carburettors
That car is a beauty. Never been brave enough to own one.
In the 60's I had a Lotus Cortina and later an Elan s3 and 4. You must do a vid on the Elan. Ask Paul if you can borrow one.
Lovely old machine.
I agree IMO its much more beautiful than an E-Type
Yes, I always thought the E-Type looked wrong - the wheels too far into the body.
What a car.
Power. Less is more. The best car I ever owned was a 1984 Porsche 944 LUX. A769 MRW. Underpowered but handled brilliantly. You could chuck that thing about and have a right laugh with it without going so fast that you shat your pants when it goes wrong and end up in a field on your roof. That car taught me so much about car control.
I bought a 97 bmw x3 1.9 ltr. Everyone tells me I should have got the 3.0 ltr. mote power, goes faster. I'm 75, speed no longer a big deal for me, but I still drive the piss out of it, and it's fast enough on twisty roads to bring a big grin to my fsce.
My old man owned one (a standard Lotus Elite, not a Super 95) in his youth but he had to sell it because I came along and spoilt his fun. I'm not sure he's forgiven me to this day :)
Thank you James, but I am crying as I type this, and I don't care.
Nice job / liked it so much I’m buying one. Just hope it’s not quite as fragile as you say……
I want this car. But then again, I want every Lotus I see.
Paul is the nicest most humble man ever. His car collection is mind inspiring. I remember when he got his 458! What a car that was too. Must join Petrolhead’s welcome. Thought he might set something like that up. Some great roads your on too. Was on most of them yesterday. Great video, Oliver.
Oliver, thank you for those kind words.
This makes me miss my NA Miata. Had the hardtop that looked just like this. And thanks to the rust, almost as fragile.
Literally just parked my 1.6 eunos in the garage and I'm feeling you man. Don't jack under them sills! 😂
put a Borla exhaust system on the Miata and you have a reliable great sounding car.
You should really do a review on the lotus elan m100
Congrats on the new intro sponsor?
Lovely. Any audio mishap is more than made up for with those evocative flank shots of gleaming spinners rotating in the sun.
A classy car
When are you reviewing the Lotus Europa?
An amazing car that along with the less well known Rochdale Olympic should have changed the way car bodies were made after their introduction
But there was the Fiat Double Bubble.
That low curb weight is witchcraft.
11:25 On cross-plies? No, these cars were supplied with radial tyres (memory says Pirelli Cinturato) from new and were never fitted with cross-plies.
The Lotus Elite is a car I have lusted after since 1979. They were rather cheaper then. One in good running condition was £1200, and a superb one £2000. They are more like £100 k for a top line one now.
This car is excellence in styling. First car to come to my mind if somebody asks what's the most beautiful car. Very unknown vehicle !
What about the toyota 2000 gt?. That has my vot for prettyest ever
my dream lotus, now just waiting for the winning lottery ticket and then ...
Amazing we think that a modern 2000Kg car with 400 bhp as fast but this 500kg 100bhp is much the same power/weight, some 60 years later.
First comment at last. Keep up the good work
3rd counts for something too right!
Everybody gets one 😉😄
Thanks JayEmm. We're delighted to be able to share, through you, cars that we love and use for tours, rallies, holidays, etc. After all, that's what they were built for and that's what we're about! #petrolheadswelcome
It has a fiberglass frame. Each mile destroys the frame a tiny bit more.
there was also a super 100 and 105 as well i believe
Same as Super 95, but with twin Webers
@@pashakdescilly7517 FWE Super 100 - Five-bearing high lift camshaft, steel timing gear, ported head, 100 bhp
FWE Super 105 - 11:1 compression ratio, racing exhaust manifold, 105 bhp
@@1183newman sounds about right. I would have to consult Ortenberger to check.
Surprisingly noisy. Apparently a sounding box, despite the GRP body. No mass = no sound deadening! Les Leston's was registered DAD 10 and Graham Warner's LOV 1 (contemporaneous racers).
Amazing that this car weighs less than a BAC Mono
Another one that got away. Such a shame......,if he could have got the price down to nearer an MG / Triumph.....,and that engine, which Roots picked up as the base for Imp power. All those walls & all that mud thrown.
I wanted to see you climb in and out😂
Great little car, but I would worry about the safety of it in a crash. I think Chapman like Ferrari was more concerned with performance than safety.
I watched Mat Watsons recent video on ncap rating of older cars. Opened my eyes more than I wish it did. I just can't get those images out of my mind when I think of an older car. I hand on heart couldn't sit anyone I care about in a passenger seat even if I got over my own fears. For this reason I don't think I'd ever buy an older car
@@Frank-1978 Yes I agree you'd not want your grandkids in with you. I suppose if you had somewhere you could drive off the public roads it would be OK, like say a disused airfield or something.
@@Wallygjs anywhere there are no other cars or people or anything in the form of immovable obstacles would work great. 😁😉👍
Safety was not a priority in the design of racing cars at that time. I think the generation of RAF pilots and engineers who had served during or after WW2 were racing to reproduce that thrill of dicing with death. As the saying goes, they were a product of their time.
@@Frank-1978 I would not be worried about immovable objects as being off the public roads it would be down to my own driving and I am confident I wouldn't go fast enough to crash into an immovable object. The key thing would be avoiding the other loonies out on the public road who are unpredictable at best! :)
The engine you've never heard one sounding like this before" (or whatever), you need to go and listen to a Hillman Imp. Same engine.
Got als series one bit crummy somethises thema weel broken off beautyroneinst
You forgot the link to the book 😁
Damn it. I'll fix that later