Glassy-eyed
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| Magazine Title: | Car and Driver |
|---|---|
| Published: | 1964 |
Car and Driver remarked on that in their Road Research Report on the Lotus Elan We've noticed it, too. Some of them are quite voluble. Car and Driver put it this way: "The Elan very simply represents the sports car developed in tune with the stale of the art. It comes closer than anything else on the market to providing a Formula car for ordinary street use. It fits like a Sprite, goes like a Corvette, and handles like a Formula Junior.
"Driving it is very simply another sort of automotive experience altogether. What you will get from a Lotus Elan that you aren't apt to he able to experience in a junior, is the absolute joy of charging-under all sorts of conditions and in all kinds of circumstances. A combination of the very tiny exterior dimensions of the car, the great acceleration, and the complete, reliable safety of it, makes hurrying into a pretty good sport in itself."
Some other points Car and Driver mentioned:
A well-balanced, positive, predictable chassis ...ride comfort far superior to any other sports cars ...cornering power, simply phenomenal ...absolutely neutral handling characteristics ...wonderfully quick steering response ...aerodynamics, very good... design, extremely clean and functional ...wonderfully soft ride ...infinite controllability ...tenacious road grip ...very low noise level ...the sleek, small slipperiness of the car.
Other people are rather quiet when they step out of the Lotus Elan.
They tend to express their feelings by reaching for their checkbooks.
They get what is probably the most sophisticated machine on the road. In Car and Driver's words: "It seems less a car than a system, with its elements complementing each other well enough to pretty well wipe out previous notions of how a car should go."
The chassis: a steel-box backbone based on the monocoque principle (making both the space frame and conventional chassis obsolescent).
The suspension: Chapman -designed, all-independent.
The engine: a Lotus 1.6 liter double overhead cam on a Ford-based 5-bearing bottom end with dual-throat Weber carburetors.
The gear box: close-ratio, all-synchro 4-speed.
The brakes: disks on all four.
The result: 0 to 60 mph. in 7.1 seconds, still accelerating when you run out of revs somewhere around 112.
Other features: blinking headlights that pop up out of the fenders; a slinky interior finish with surprisingly civilized comforts.
Cost: $4,294 with soft top, complete and delivered (plus local taxes). An optional extra removable hard top will be available soon.
A test drive? Fine. If you're willing to chance that glaze in your eyes. It could stop you from seeing yourself with anything else but a Lotus Elan.
Write or call Cox & Pulver, Inc., showroom 342 Madison Ave., New York 17, N.Y., YU 6-2560, for dealer information.
LOTUS/NEW YORK