The Elan is pure Lotus in design. A distillation of Colin Chapman’s expertise and knowledge. Gordon Murray, Jay Leno and Harry Metcalfe are all paid up members of the Elan club. When I receive the rather simple looking key to take an Elan out for a drive, I feel a certain weight of expectation…

What if the little Lotus is rubbish to drive?

Driving Experience

After the initial surprise at the size of the Elan, once inside, it looks old. Really old.

A thin rimmed steering wheel, delicate, thin A pillars and Jaeger dials all look great, but ancient. It feels like a museum piece rather than a cutting edge driving tool.

Once started up the engine sounds far more potent than its capacity suggests. A few taps on the throttle and the little engine revs instantaneously, with a crackle from the exhaust. Maybe this will be good after all?

The pedals and gearshift are small and delicate. Once on the move everything falls to hand easily – especially the gear lever, just a hand span from the wheel. A few more throttle blips and we’re off down a country lane, the Elan’s natural hunting ground. It’s size makes it simple to place and dodging pot holes soon becomes an instinctive game.

At speed the Elan is forgiving to an extent. The fabulous steering tells you exactly what’s going on, to the extent that you rely less and less on the brakes. You soon build trust with the car and its ability to carry momentum through a corner. The steering is hyper sensitive, so inputs need to be measured. Once you’ve re-calibrated, the Elan becomes a great companion on even the most challenging roads. Pitching the car into corners quicker and quicker becomes natural rather than something to be feared. It feels like a go-kart that has grown up (slightly).

The (Lack Of) Weight

The Elan’s alert and responsive nature is down to its hybrid construction. A steel backbone chassis with fibreglass bodywork keeps the Lotus at a featherweight 690 kg.

The 1971 Sprint version added a more powerful punch in the form of a tuned engine. Taking just 6.2 seconds to get to 60 miles an hour, this was faster than the contemporary Jaguar E-Type (7.4 seconds) and Lamborghini Muira (6.7 seconds).

Out on the road, the lack of weight is felt by the immediacy of the controls. The small 165/70 tires smoothing over bumps that would agitate stiffer sprung and heavier modern cars.

The Engine

Lotus engine’s are often unfairly overlooked as they were generally borrowed from other manufacturers. The Elan is no different and uses a Ford “Kent” engine modified with help from Cosworth. A Lotus cylinder head and light flywheel transformed the engine into a free revving, miniature exotic.

The nature of this buzzy engine sits well with the rest of the car. It’s brilliant fun to wring out every gear and feel the car squirm under power. The little engine won’t get you an instant speeding ban and it’s no less fun for it.

The Issues

The Elan is not without its foibles. The electric windows were a late replacement for the sliding windows intended by Chapman. They were considered dangerous in a crash, and an alternative was needed at short notice. The door design couldn’t fit a manual winder, so begrudgingly Chapman opted for the heavy electric option. A real rarity back in the 1960s.

Siezed brakes, water pump failure and hot starting issues (because of the location of the starter motor) are all common issues that demand commitment and patience from a prospective owner. But with Gordon Murray, Jay Leno and Co as fellow owners, it’s a small compromise.

The Legacy

The Elan is possibly the pinnacle of Chapman’s single minded approach to car design. While it was never designed as an outright speed machine, the Elan could more than hold its own with contemporaries. Even today, it would take a fast car to catch the Elan down a country lane.

Against its competition of the day? They wouldn’t see which way the Elan went.

A Frogeye Sprite or MG Midget would get to around 80-90mph at best. The Elan would go well past a hundred. The Elan’s agility would run rings around more powerful opponents like the MG V8 or Austin Healey. In later Sprint form it would out accelerate anything with a Jaguar or Lamborghini badge.

The combination of cutting edge Lotus design and the relatively crude and outdated design of competitors must have seemed incredible back in 1962. The Elan was a leap forward in car design and one of the finest sports cars to come from Britain.

The only real competition it had was from its Lotus siblings. The later Elan +2, Lotus Europa and older Lotus Elite are all heirs to the Lotus crown, but in my eyes the Elan, with it’s cute matchbox styling and wonderfully engaging drive marks it out as the holy grail of Lotus.

The Lotus Elite might have started the hybrid GRP and steel chassis design, but the Elan is where Lotus really showed what was possible. Since then, numerous cars have left the Lotus factory using the same materials and with the same character. In my view much of this stems from when that little Elan was launched.

Whether you’re an avid collector or appreciate great engineering feats when you see them, you can’t help but marvel at what this remarkable car achieved back in 1962.

If you struggle to appreciate the Lotus Elan, drive one, you’ll soon realize why it’s brilliant!

The Tiger Gets Its Stripes

Rootes initially contacted Ferrari in a bid to enhance the performance of the four cylinder engine. After the consultation, Ferrari went quiet. Carroll Shelby was contacted to see if he could work his magic in the same way he’d done with the AC Cobra.

Carroll Shelby and racing driver Ken Miles quickly built a prototype of the Tiger at Shelby American garage. The 1.7 litre four cylinder was replaced with the Ford Windsor “small block” V8. (Most Tiger’s have the 260 cubic inch engine, but in the final year of production got the 289 cubic inch version). The new engine was twice as powerful as that of the Alpine.

The engine bay of the Sunbeam was not large enough to house the V8 motor so it took some brute force and lateral thinking to make it work. The body shell and bulkhead had to be modified to fit the V8.

When Sir William Rootes was informed about the Tiger, he was angry not to have been involved from the outset. His sign off was required before any car went into production so the prototype was sent to England to receive its final approval.

From West Bromwich to New York

Once happy with the car Sir William contacted Henry Ford ll and ordered 3000 Ford V8s to fit to the upcoming Tiger. After some deliberation, it was decided that production should remain in Britain. This was sub contracted to the Jensen factory in West Bromwich.

The Sunbeam Tiger was launched at the New York Motor Show in 1964, just months after the prototype was finished and signed off.

Sunbeam Tiger Specification

The interior is almost identical to the Alpine with a four-speed manual transmission and a wood-rimmed steering wheel. The Tiger had a modern rack and pinion steering fitted in place of the Alpine’s recirculating ball steering. This made it easier to fit the engine and improved steering somewhat.

The new engine added 280 pounds of weight so suspension was changed accordingly. The Tiger never really lived up to its billing as a performance car. It was criticized for both handling and braking.

And yet, the Tiger is still a fixture in various racing events in America. It’s Anglo-American development earned it the title of “the poor mans AC Cobra”. It also accomplished some success on the circuit which boosted its popularity. The Tiger won two major races in 1965. It also finished second in the 200-mile Road America race.

After a few years of production, Chrysler acquired a majority stake in Rootes. The Sunbeam Tiger was discontinued, and Rootes sold its automotive properties to Chrysler. In addition to the automobiles, the company still had an interest in the chassis and bodies of the Sunbeam Alpine.

Around 7000 cars were built before production was ended. The Tiger is remembered fondly in the UK for being a successful cross Atlantic collaboration.